PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Naomasa Yi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Christian Birchmont (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Yi
vs
Birchmont

168 cm
25
151 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

177 cm
21
147 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Naomasa Yi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Christian Birchmont!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Johanna Lukiainen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yi misses with a hook.
Yi throws a jab when Birchmont was well out of range.
Birchmont lands with a right hand.
Yi takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Yi moves into the clinch.
Yi looking to slow down the pace here.
Yi misses with a hook to the ribs.
Yi tries for a takedown. No joy.
Birchmont lands a left hand.
Yi leaning his opponent against the ropes.
A short uppercut from Birchmont.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Birchmont.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Yi is trying to maintain a safe position but Birchmont gets an underhook and turns Yi into the ropes.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Birchmont creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Birchmont throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Yis head.

Yi ties up his opponent against the ropes and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Yi no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

Yi escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Birchmont gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Birchmont wants to stand but Yi is controlling his posture from full guard.

Yi working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Birchmont doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Birchmont manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Birchmont wants to stand but Yi is controlling his posture from full guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yi wants to improve his position but instead Birchmont has moved into half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Yi looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Birchmont is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Yi trying to control but Birchmont postures up.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Birchmont wants to stand but Yi has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yi trying to hold on to Birchmont's head to control him but Birchmont postures up.
Birchmont wants to stand but Yi has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Yi misses with a straight right.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yi throws a lazy uppercut
and Yi takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Birchmont thuds his right hand into Yi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Birchmont misses the shot to the body.
A left lands for Yi.

Birchmont gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Yi missing with knees to the body.
Yi is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Yi swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Birchmont lands with a short shot to the head.
Birchmont misses with some punches.
Birchmont scores with an uppercut up the middle.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Yi is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Birchmont pulls him back up using the underhooks.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
Yi throws a punch but it's blocked by Birchmont.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Christian Birchmont dominated that round.
That's time! Yi's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Birchmont tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in the close the distance. Yi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
A swing and a miss from Yi.
Yi on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Yi is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Birchmont's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Yi scores with a decent looking hook.
Birchmont tries to clinch but Yi is having none of it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Birchmont looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Birchmont tries to clinch but Yi is having none of it.
Christian Birchmont seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Birchmont wants to clinch.
Yi jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Birchmont lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Birchmont tries to clinch up.
Yi walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Birchmont works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Yi shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Yi showed some decent athleticism there.
Yi tries to pass to full mount but Birchmont defends it.
Birchmont looks like he's trying to stand up.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Yi lands a nice short elbow.

Yi is looking for a kimura but Birchmont is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Yi to get the leverage.
Birchmont gets back to full guard.
Yi missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Yi thows a big elbow that misses.
Yi tries to free his leg and advance position but Birchmont is retaining full guard.
Birchmont wants to get back to his feet but Yi is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Yi trying to control the position from guard on top but Birchmont is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birchmont wants to stand up but Yi is controlling him.
Yi slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Yi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Yi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Yi creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Birchmont sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Birchmont pushes Yi away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Yi gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Birchmont stops Yi from passing to mount.
Yi throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Birchmont is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Birchmont on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yi trying to control the action but Birchmont is working from the bottom.
Yi connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Birchmont some visible discomfort.
Yi working the body and head with strikes.
Birchmont regains half guard, as Yi was trying to land strikes.
Birchmont tries to kick Yi off but Yi keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Yi is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Yi controlling from the top position.

Birchmont scrambles and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yi looks to score with a jab to the body but Birchmont is just out of range.
Yi stuns Birchmont with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Birchmont scores with a decent looking hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Birchmont moves in looking to clinch but Yi pushes him off.
Birchmont lands a nice shot that snaps Yi's head back.
Yi looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Yi instigates a clinch.
Birchmont lands with a right to the head.

Yi gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Birchmont regains guard.
Yi 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.

Birchmont pushes Yi off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Yi throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Birchmont counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Birchmont dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Birchmont jabs at Yi's body.

Birchmont drops Yi with a beautiful combination! Yi stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Birchmont is looking for the KO!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Christian Birchmont showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Birchmont fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Yi, pushing him back against the ropes.

It looks like Naomasa Yi has been cut.
Birchmont throws a head punch that misses.
Birchmont has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Yi taking a breather.
Yi's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Yi just leaning against Birchmont, taking a breather.
Birchmont lands with a short shot to the head.
Yi wants a takedown but no success here.
Yi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Birchmont scores with a shoulder strike.
Birchmont lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Yi's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Birchmont lands with a short shot to the head.
A short uppercut from Birchmont.
Yi is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Birchmont is keeping busy.
A shot in the inside from Birchmont.

Yi is rocked!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Birchmont creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Oh Yi is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
A nice left hand lands by Birchmont.
Birchmont tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Yi's elbow.
Yi seems to have got his legs back now.
Birchmont lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Yi misses with a body punch.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Birchmont creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Birchmont lands a hook to the side of the head.
Still in the clinch, Birchmont scores with a nice short uppercut.
Birchmont unloads with a big right hand that wobbles Yi! He's leaning against the ropes trying to keep his feet but Birchmont is unloading with more strikes now! Yi drops to his knees and the referee stops the fight for a TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:40 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Christian Birchmont!