PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Tony Kazarian (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Norifumi Yamamoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kazarian comes to the cage accompanied by Limp Bizkit - My Way. Norifumi Yamamoto has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kazarian
vs
Yamamoto

165 cm
27
140 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

160 cm
19
134 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Enjoys gardening

GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tony Kazarian!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Norifumi Yamamoto!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Yuuki Gou and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yamamoto fails to land the takedown.
Kazarian throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Yamamoto tries for a takedown but Kazarian sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Kazarian stuffs the takedown attempt from Yamamoto. Yamamoto gets slowly back to his feet.
Tony Kazarian has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Norifumi Yamamoto.

Kazarian feints and as Yamamoto raises his hands in defense, Kazarian changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Kazarian advances to half guard.
Yamamoto avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kazarian.
Kazarian looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Yamamoto with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Yamamoto avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kazarian.
Kazarian working the head and body with strikes.
Kazarian not doing much here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kazarian's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kazarian is nestled in close to Yamamoto, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kazarian lands a nice short elbow.
Kazarian sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Yamamoto defending well though.
Kazarian moves nicely into side control.
Kazarian is working Yamamoto over with some ground and pound from side control.
Kazarian connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Yamamoto some visible discomfort.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Kazarian lands a decent elbow from side control.
Kazarian working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Yamamoto takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Yamamoto takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Kazarian lands a decent elbow from side control.
Kazarian working the ground and pound from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kazarian lands some shots froms side control.
Yamamoto really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kazarian. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kazarian working the head with strikes.
Kazarian trying to control the action but Yamamoto is working from the bottom.
Kazarian lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Yamamoto down.
Yamamoto looks gassed!
Kazarian is putting a hurting on Yamamoto here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kazarian in side control lands a decent elbow.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with a big elbow.
Kazarian is working Yamamoto over with some ground and pound from side control.
Yamamoto takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Kazarian lands a few punches from side control.
Kazarian is working Yamamoto over with some ground and pound from side control.
Kazarian landing strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kazarian lands a nice forearm strike.
A lull in the action here as Kazarian stalls from top position.

Kazarian is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Yamamoto knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yamamoto is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Kazarian content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Kazarian working the head with strikes.
Kazarian works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Kazarian working the ground and pound from side control.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Kazarian working the ground and pound.
Kazarian wants to control but Yamamoto is keeping him busy.
Kazarian controlling from side mount.
Kazarian wants to lay and pray for a moment but Yamamoto keeps working.
Kazarian scoring with punches from side control.
Kazarian looks up at the clock and then as Yamamoto takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Kazarian smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Kazarian working the body and head with strikes.

Kazarian looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kazarian is chipping away with strikes.
Yamamoto wants to get back to his feet.
Yamamoto takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Kazarian landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Kazarian lands an elbow.
Yamamoto seems a little lost for a moment, as Kazarian dominates the positioning.
Kazarian is working Yamamoto over with some ground and pound from side control.
Kazarian controls the position.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Kazarian working the ground and pound from side control.
Kazarian scoring with punches from side control.

Kazarian is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Yamamoto has escaped the position, nice work there.
Kazarian creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Kazarian trying to control the position but Yamamoto is working away.
Kazarian is chipping away with strikes.
Kazarian lands an elbow.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Yamamoto is trying to buck Kazarian off.

Kazarian tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Kazarian connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Yamamoto some visible discomfort.

Kazarian working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Kazarian lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with a big right hand but Yamamoto just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Kazarian tries for a kimura but Yamamoto is defending well.
Kazarian cracks Yamamoto with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Kazarian has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Kazarian lands with some strikes.

Kazarian working for a submission here. He's tucked his head under his opponent's arm, looking for an arm triangle. He's hopped off into side control, looking to tighten the submission... is it going to work? He's given up a good position looking for it. Yamamoto looks OK. Oh, I spoke too soon, he's out! That must have been tighter than I thought! Excellent work there by Kazarian! Submission of the night perhaps?

Ladies and gentlemen, after 9:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Tony Kazarian!
Tony Kazarian is the new bantamweight champion!
After winning the bout, Tony Kazarian thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.