PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Akihiro Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Toshi Antos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sato
vs
Antos

183 cm
20
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
18
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Akihiro Sato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Toshi Antos!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Sosuke Kotani and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sato fails in his attempt to clinch.
Akihiro Sato seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sato tries to clinch up

and Antos counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Antos drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Sato dives on top into guard.

Antos is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Sato creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Antos's defenses.
Sato creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Sato just misses with a elbow thrown towards Antos's brow.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato lands a damaging elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato lands an elbow just above Antos 's eye.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Antos dodges an elbow strike from Sato.
Come on Sato - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Sato pushes off an throws an elbow but Antos leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Sato comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Sato leaning his opponent against the cage.
Sato is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Antos dodges an elbow strike from Sato.
Antos jumps guard but Sato stands there with Antos around his waist. Antos gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Sato lands a damaging elbow.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Sato lands a nice elbow.
Sato lands an elbow inside.
Antos tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Sato smiles and moves away.
Sato tries to clinch but Antos is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sato moves into the clinch successfully.
Sato lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Sato misses with an elbow strike.
Sato lands an elbow that stopped Antos in his tracks for a moment.
Sato throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
Antos avoids the elbow strike from Sato, against the cage.
Sato has Antos pressed against the cage.
Sato lands a nice elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Sato lands an elbow just above Antos 's eye.
Sato looking to stall.
Sato looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Antos letting Sato take a breather here.
Antos jumps guard but Sato stands there with Antos around his waist. Antos gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Akihiro Sato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Toshi Antos.
Antos blocks an elbow strike from Sato.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sato lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Sato pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Akihiro Sato dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Sato has taken the fight to the clinch.
Sato is looking to control Antos's arms but Antos gets an underhook and turns him. Now Sato has his back to the cage.
Sato looks to throw an elbow but misses.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
Sato looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Sato looking to slow down the pace here.
Antos blocks an elbow strike from Sato.
Sato throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Sato lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Sato throws an elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Antos tries to pull guard but Sato won't allow it.
Sato creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Antos's defenses.
Sato lands an elbow inside.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Antos tries to circle away but Sato has him pinned against the cage.
Sato pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato misses with an elbow over the top.
Sato lands a nice elbow.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Sato.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Antos dodges an elbow strike from Sato.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Antos avoids a wild elbow strike from Sato.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Sato.
Sato gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Antos takes an elbow to the forehead.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Antos fails to pull guard.
Sato lands an elbow inside that Antos shrugs off.
Antos tries to pull guard but Sato won't allow it.
Akihiro Sato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Toshi Antos.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Sato misses with an elbow over the top.
Antos fails to pull guard.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Sato just misses with a elbow thrown towards Antos's brow.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Sato.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Sato is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Sato pushes off an throws an elbow but Antos leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
Sato pushes off an throws an elbow but Antos leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Sato lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Sato creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Sato throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Sato misses with an elbow strike.
Sato throws an elbow that misses.
Sato misses with an elbow strike.
Sato stalling in the clinch but Antos improves position.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sato creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Antos's defenses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Akihiro Sato dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Sato looks to clinch

and Antos counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Antos.
Antos tries to free his leg and advance position but Sato is retaining full guard.
Sato bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Antos's guard.
Antos wants to get back to his feet but Sato is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Antos keeping moving, preventing Sato from controlling successfully.

Antos uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Antos fails to land the takedown.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sato tries to clinch up

and Antos counters with a takedown into side control.
Antos takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Antos swings around for an armbar but Sato sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Antos's guard.
Antos is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Sato is controlling him.
Sato wants to stand but Antos is controlling his posture from full guard.
Sato trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Sato pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Antos is keeping the position for now.
Sato's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Sato wants to get up but he can't break Antos's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Antos is looking to stand up but Sato isn't so interested in that idea.
Sato not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

Akihiro Sato has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Antos gets tackled into the cage by Sato. Sato maintains the clinch.
Sato lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Sato throws an elbow but misses.
Sato lands an elbow that stopped Antos in his tracks for a moment.
Antos takes an elbow to the temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Antos blocks an elbow strike.
Sato lands an elbow inside that Antos shrugs off.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Nice elbow from Sato.
Sato lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato has Antos pushed against the cage.
Antos jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Sato walks away with a smile on his face. Antos gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Sato tries to clinch up.
Sato tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Toshi Antos has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato fails with an attempt to clinch.

Sato moves into the clinch.
Antos blocks an elbow strike.
Antos blocks the elbow strike.
Sato stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Sato lands a damaging elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Sato just misses with a elbow thrown towards Antos's brow.
Akihiro Sato is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sato lands an elbow inside that Antos shrugs off.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Akihiro Sato.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sato, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27

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