PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alexander Khalifman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hiroshi Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Khalifman comes to the cage accompanied by Ringo Mogire Beam! (ZSZS OVA2 Ver.). Sato comes into a darkened arena with his song building. In The Morning kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Hiroshi Sato has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Khalifman
vs
Sato

185 cm
26
190 lbs
20 - 4 - 1

185 cm
22
203 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Alexander Khalifman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Hiroshi Sato!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Wesley Smith and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good work by Sato as he checks the leg kick.
Sato misses with a hook
and Khalifman counters with an inside leg kick.
Sato misses with a body kick.

Sato shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Sato postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Khalifman looking for a sweep. Not yet Khalifman, not yet.
Sato throwing strikes but missing.
Khalifman tries to strike from the bottom.
Khalifman manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sato is trying to escape the mount.
Khalifman tries to control but Sato wriggling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khalifman breaks from Sato's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Sato is desperately trying to improve his position but Khalifman has a good base and remains in mount.
Sato wants to control but Khalifman is having none of it.
Sato regains half guard.
Sato is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Khalifman's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Khalifman's back!
Sato is trying to stick to Khalifman's back but Khalifman is turning into Sato. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Sato's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Khalifman.
Sato working a defensive guard here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Sato is on top in guard.
Sato missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman trying to keep a closed guard but Sato is proving a slippery customer.
Sato wants to control from the top but Khalifman keeps moving.
Sato won't allow Khalifman to sweep him here.
Khalifman wants to improve his position but instead Sato has moved into half guard.
Khalifman wants to improve his position but Sato is controlling well.
Sato is trying to control the action in half guard but Khalifman is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Sato prevents Khalifman from improving his position.
Sato is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Khalifman moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Khalifman is trying to keep Sato in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato working some strikes from top position.
Khalifman trying to control the position.
Sato trying to control but Khalifman is working from the bottom.
Sato keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Khalifman's head.
Sato postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Sato stopping the sweep attempt from Khalifman.
Sato lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Khalifman keeping moving, preventing Sato from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sato is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Sato tries to lock up and control but Khalifman gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Khalifman looking to control and managing it successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sato is squirming around, avoiding Khalifman's attempts to control the action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hiroshi Sato will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Khalifman misses with a hook.
Khalifman thows a leg kick but Sato checks it
and Sato counters with a straight right hand.
Khalifman throws a low kick but it's checked well by Sato.
Khalifman shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Khalifman throws a leg kick but Sato sees it coming and checks it nicely.
A low kick from Khalifman is predictable there
and Sato counters with a nice low kick that buckles Khalifman's knee momentarily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A chopping leg kick lands by Khalifman.
Sato fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Khalifman manages to avoid it.
Sato takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Khalifman feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Sato's calf.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khalifman moves out of range as Sato throws a body kick.
Sato bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Khalifman is looking to slow Sato down with leg kicks.
A low kick from Khalifman misses
and Sato counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Khalifman thinking.
Sato fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Khalifman avoids it really well and circles away.
Khalifman throws a solid leg kick but Sato takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Khalifman.
A low kick from Khalifman misses

so Sato counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Khalifman wants to sweep here but Sato controlling him for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sato is squirming around, avoiding Khalifman's attempts to control the action.
Sato is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Poor strikes thrown by Khalifman there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Khalifman looking to control and managing it successfully.
Khalifman thowing shots but they're missing.
Hiroshi Sato has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman raining down hammerfists from mount.
Sato working to try and regain half guard.
Khalifman looking to control but Sato is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sato really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Sato manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Khalifman slows the pace down in half guard.
Khalifman throwing shots but Sato is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman is pressing down on Sato's thigh, looking to free his foot. Sato is holding on for now.
Sato is trying to maintain the position but Khalifman is very close to passing his half guard.
Khalifman not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sato is controlling Khalifman's position as best he can from this difficult position.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Still in half guard, Khalifman seems content to control.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Sato throws a wild body kick that Khalifman sees coming a mile off.
Khalifman just misses with a punch to the body.
Sato staying out of range there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Alexander Khalifman will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Sato blocks a low kick nicely.
Khalifman throws a low kick but Sato moves out of range easily.
Sato keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Khalifman misses with a low kick as Sato jumps back.
Khalifman throws a leg kick

and Sato counters with a shoot takedown. Khalifman fights it but they end up in guard.
Sato throwing strikes from guard but Khalifman blocks nicely.
Khalifman pulls Sato in close to his closed guard and prevents Sato from doing any damage or advancing position.
Khalifman tries to strike from the bottom.
Sato wants to control from the top but Khalifman keeps moving.
Sato throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato being controlled here momentarily.
Khalifman not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Sato trying to control the position from guard on top but Khalifman is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Sato takes a swing at Khalifman's ribcage but misses.
Khalifman misses with a low kick.
Khalifman tries to land a leg kick but Sato saw it coming and moves away.
Khalifman throws a leg kick that is checked

and Sato counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Sato.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Sato misses with a knee to the head.
Khalifman blocks a punch to the side of the head.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
A hook to the body from Khalifman.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Sato.
Sato creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Stalling in the clinch from Khalifman.
Sato tries to work over Khalifman's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Sato misses with a body punch.
Sato can't find room to land a body shot as Khalifman controls the action.
Sato comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Alexander Khalifman has been cut.
Still in the clinch, Sato scores with a nice short uppercut.
Khalifman blocks an elbow strike from Sato.
Sato looking to throw knees to the head but Khalifman is blocking nicely.
Khalifman is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato misses with a punch on the inside.
Khalifman managing to block the knees to the body from Sato.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato tries to stall but Khalifman uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Sato takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Khalifman blocks an uppercut.
Sato swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Khalifman.

Khalifman pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sato checks a low kick from Khalifman.
Khalifman throws a leg kick that is checked

and Sato counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Khalifman!
Sato lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Khalifman hang on?
Khalifman regains half guard.
Sato has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Khalifman controlling the position well.
Khalifman missing with punches from the bottom.
Khalifman is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khalifman is looking to control Sato's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Khalifman avoid being mounted?
Sato lands with a punch from half guard.

Sato seems to be looking for submissions.
Khalifman gets back to full guard.
Khalifman controls Sato momentarily but Sato frees himself.
Sato missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sato trying to control the position from guard on top but Khalifman is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hiroshi Sato comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Sato has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge Cecil Peabody scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hiroshi Sato!