PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sawao Kato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mister Rising (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mister Rising is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Kato
vs
Rising

180 cm
19
180 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

185 cm
20
174 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Sawao Kato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mister Rising!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Shigeki Sano and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kato misses with a takedown
and Rising counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Kato misses with a hook. Rising ducked under it nicely.
Rising just misses with a punch to the body.
Sawao Kato seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kato throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Rising counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Kato fails with the takedown
and Rising counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Rising misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kato darts in trying to clinch
letting Rising counter with a right hand.
Rising connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Kato fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sawao Kato. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kato with a lazy takedown attempt
and Rising counters with a left to the body.
Kato wants to clinch.
Kato shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Rising pinned against the cage. Rising gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kato misses with a double jab
and Rising counters with a series of strikes. Kato will be more careful next time no doubt.
A cross from Rising lands.
Rising connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Kato doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Rising counters with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Kato misses.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Kato lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Rising has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Rising and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
A jab from Rising does it's job there.
Kato closes the distance but Rising moves to the side
and Rising counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Kato thows a body shot but no joy.
Kato misses with a takedown attempt
and Rising counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rising slips under a jab.
Kato tries to clinch up but Rising circles away and keeps his distance.
Kato misses with a left hand
and Rising counters with a nice uppercut.
Kato tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Rising manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Kato gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Rising counters with a big head kick but Kato shrugs it off.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rising misses the body punch
and Kato counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kato rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rising moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mister Rising dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Rising digs a good body shot into Kato's ribs.
Kato with a lazy takedown attempt
and Rising counters with a head kick.
Kato shoots in looking for a takedown but Rising manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Kato's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Rising misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Kato wants to clinch.
Kato throws a body kick the misses
and Rising counters with a head kick. That will keep Kato thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Rising avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kato misses with the combination.
Mister Rising is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rising plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Kato doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Rising counters with a head kick. That will keep Kato thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sawao Kato. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kato looks to clinch
and Rising counters with a straight right hand.
Kato misses with a takedown
and Rising counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rising tries to sprawl but Kato drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Rising is defending against the submission attempts here by Kato.
Rising has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Kato is working away from the top position though.
Rising desperately trying to maintain half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rising wants to control but Kato is keeping busy.
Rising pushes Kato off looking to stand but Kato dives back in and keeps control.
Kato not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Kato thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Kato sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rising defending well though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kato looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rising with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Rising is not content to let Kato control the position.
Rising is trying to maintain the position but Kato is very close to passing his half guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Rising can do anything to dispel that myth.
Rising tries to kick Kato off but Kato keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Rising really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kato. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kato sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rising defending well though.
Kato missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Kato looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Kato not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Kato missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kato prevents Rising from standing back up.
Kato thows a huge punch but Rising dodges it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kato passes the guard and advances to mount!
Kato is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Rising can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rising avoids a series of strikes thrown by Kato.
Rising is trying desperately to improve position.
Kato controlling from mount.
Rising can't escape the position.
Kato has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Kato throwing strikes here but Rising is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Rising squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kato punching from mount but Rising doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Kato throwing strikes here but Rising is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Rising avoids a series of strikes thrown by Kato.
Rising wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
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 Sawao Kato will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Kato doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Rising counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Kato tries to clinch up
and Rising counters with a straight right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kato dives in and grabs Rising's left leg, looking for a takedown. Rising pushes down on Kato's head and hops out.
Kato tries for a takedown but Rising circles away easily
and Rising counters with a big head kick but Kato shrugs it off.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sawao Kato. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kato gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Rising counters with a head kick.
Kato falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rising counters with a good low kick that Kato was not able to check.
Kato blocks a head kick by Rising.
Kato blocks a head kick by Rising.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kato shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Rising eats them both and turns towards Kato to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Nice body punch from Rising.
Rising avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rising lands a lovely overhand right.
Kato throws an overhand right that lands on Rising's shoulder, as Rising tries to avoid the shot.
Rising connects with a right hand. Kato shakes it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rising circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kato shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
letting Rising counter with a right hand.
Kato tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Rising was well out of range. Poor timing from Kato.
Rising lands a high kick!

It looks like Sawao Kato has been cut.
Kato shoots and misses
and Rising counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Kato misses with a body kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kato wants to clinch but Rising slips to the side
and Rising counters with a straight right hand.
Kato misses with a wild combination.
Rising lands with a shot to the body.
Rising tries a head kick but it misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kato fails to land with a series of punches.
Kato moves to clinch but Rising breaks away
and Rising counters with a straight right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mister Rising comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Rising 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:30
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mister Rising!