PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ric Flair (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yoshiriro Itsuma (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Itsuma has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Flair
vs
Itsuma

170 cm
27
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

158 cm
23
135 lbs
5 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ric Flair!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yoshiriro Itsuma!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Kenichi Hosakawa and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Flair tries to clinch but Itsuma moves out of range.
Flair throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

Flair has managed to clinch.

Flair manages to break the clinch.
Flair slips under a jab from Itsuma.
Flair with a jab.
Flair looks for a takedown but Itsuma sprawls well.
Flair fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Flair lands with a nice body punch.
Flair is trying hard to land a takedown here. Itsuma sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Flair throws a combination. Itsuma tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

It looks like Yoshiriro Itsuma has been cut.
Itsuma looks gassed!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Itsuma takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Flair shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Itsuma manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Flair content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Flair wanted to stand there but Itsuma had control of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flair working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Itsuma has a closed guard, preventing Flair from standing up.
Flair postures up in Itsuma's guard and throws a big left but Itsuma blocks it.
Flair postures up and lands a big shot to Itsuma's brow.
Flair postures up and lands a big shot to Itsuma's brow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Flair decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Itsuma, up you get!

Itsuma clinches.

Flair manages to break the clinch.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Flair is defended easily by Itsuma.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ric Flair. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Itsuma tries to sprawl but Flair drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Itsuma trying to control from the bottom.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Flair is keen to just control but Itsuma is a slippery customer.

Flair decides to stand and escape the position.
Flair shoots in for a double leg but Itsuma sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Flair keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Itsuma takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Flair scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

Itsuma takes the fight into the clinch.
Flair pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Itsuma escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Itsuma throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Flair's waist but Flair gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Itsuma off to one side.
Itsuma walks into a jab.
Flair scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Itsuma avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Itsuma drives through with a takedown into guard.
Itsuma wants to stand and escape but instead Flair has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Flair 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.
Itsuma wants to sweep here but Flair controlling him for the moment.
Flair postures up and lands a big shot to Itsuma's brow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Flair drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Flair jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Flair trying to control the position from guard on top but Itsuma is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Flair postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Itsuma is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Flair, into his guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Itsuma seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Itsuma pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Flair is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ric Flair dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Yoshiriro Itsuma's cut.
That's time! Flair's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Flair thuds a left hand into Itsuma's body.
Flair tries for a takedown but Itsuma sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ric Flair is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Itsuma is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Flair shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Itsuma as he avoids it easily.
Flair tries to clinch but Itsuma is having none of it.
Itsuma shoots in but no luck this time.
Flair is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Flair shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Itsuma but Itsuma pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ric Flair. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Flair tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Ric Flair seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Flair misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Flair avoids a kick to the body.

Flair gets tackled into the cage by Itsuma. Itsuma maintains the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Itsuma throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Itsuma tries to circle away but Flair has him pinned against the cage.
Flair lands an uppercut.
Flair tries to stall but Itsuma uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Flair breaks from the clinch.
Flair misses with a takedown

and Itsuma counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Flair's guard now.
Itsuma stops Flair from standing up.

Itsuma decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Flair, up you get!
Ric Flair is winning the standup battle so far.

Itsuma closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Flair to the mat! Flair manages to get full guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Flair doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

Flair throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Itsuma stopping the sweep attempt from Flair.
Itsuma stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Flair swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Flair is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Itsuma defends well.
Flair looking to hit a scissor sweep but Itsuma is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Itsuma wants to control from the top but Flair keeps moving.
Itsuma is looking to advance position but Flair has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Flair landing shots from mount.
Ric Flair overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The referee warns Itsuma that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Flair dominating with strikes here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flair lands with some strikes.
Flair will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Flair lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Flair pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Flair looking to control but Itsuma is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Flair is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Itsuma can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Flair looking to finish with strikes here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Itsuma wants to control but Flair is having none of it.
Flair trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ric Flair dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Yoshiriro Itsuma's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Flair is looking to slow Itsuma down with leg kicks.
Flair tries to clinch but Itsuma is having none of it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Flair looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Good shot there by Flair.
Flair throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Flair throws a nice head kick!
Flair moves in looking to clinch but Itsuma pushes him off.
Itsuma on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Flair's corner calls for a 1-2. Flair obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Flair stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Flair wants it to stay on the feet.
Flair lands a nice looking body shot.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Flair closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Itsuma quickly recovers to half guard.
Itsuma really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Flair. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Itsuma is trying to stand.

Flair is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Itsuma doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Flair.
Itsuma taking some punishment here, with Flair in his half guard.
Itsuma trying to control but Flair postures up.
Flair scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Flair takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Itsuma throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Flair takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Itsuma is refusing to be controlled, as Flair sits in half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Flair lands a nice short elbow.
Itsuma tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Itsuma is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Itsuma is refusing to be controlled, as Flair sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flair lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Flair working the head and body with strikes.
Flair looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Itsuma with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Flair looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Itsuma with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Itsuma wants to control but Flair is keeping busy.

Itsuma actively working from the bottom here.
Flair is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Itsuma can do to turn this around?
Flair wants to take a breather but Itsuma is having none of it.

Flair decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Ric Flair is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Itsuma walks into a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flair lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Flair lands with a thumping leg kick.

Itsuma closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Flair struggling a bit here.
Itsuma is looking to take a break and control but Flair is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Flair is looking to reverse the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Itsuma trying to control the action but Flair is working from the bottom.
Yoshiriro Itsuma has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Itsuma postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ric Flair showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Flair, 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 Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ric Flair!