PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Naruto Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lloyd Butler (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.

Sakuraba
vs
Butler

175 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
21
159 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Vitality

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Naruto Sakuraba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Lloyd Butler!
The judges for this bout are Dillan Fox, Ian Loll and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big left from Sakuraba misses.
Sakuraba stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Sakuraba wants it to stay on the feet.
Sakuraba misses with a looping right.
A head kick misses from Butler.
Butler slips under a jab.
Sakuraba misses with a left hand
and Butler counters with a right hand to the body.
Sakuraba slaps away a takedown attempt from Butler, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sakuraba misses with a looping left.
Butler misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Naruto Sakuraba has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lloyd Butler.
Butler throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Sakuraba avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sakuraba misses with a straight right.
Sakuraba lands a jab to the nose.
Butler tries to clinch up but Sakuraba circles away and keeps his distance.
Butler with a poor takedown

and Sakuraba decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Butler's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Sakuraba working some strikes from top position.
Sakuraba engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba tries to free his leg and advance position but Butler is retaining full guard.
Sakuraba lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Sakuraba trying to control but Butler is working from the bottom.
Butler wants to stand up but Sakuraba is controlling him.
Sakuraba looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Butler can't keep his opponent in guard - Sakuraba advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Sakuraba wants to lay and pray for a moment but Butler keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Butler really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Sakuraba pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Butler squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sakuraba avoids the attempt from Butler to control.
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!
Sakuraba in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

Sakuraba is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Butler to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Butler shrugs it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba unloading with bombs!
Sakuraba 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.
Butler is squirming around, avoiding Sakuraba's attempts to control the action.
Sakuraba tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Butler tries to lock up and control but Sakuraba gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Sakuraba trying to control but Butler is having none of it.
Sakuraba is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Butler is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Butler is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Sakuraba is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Sakuraba connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Butler taking shots to the head.
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!
Sakuraba breaks from Butler's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Sakuraba has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Butler's face.

Butler is rocked!
Sakuraba lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Butler is still in real trouble! Can Sakuraba finish him?
Butler is trying to stand.
Sakuraba landing punches.
Sakuraba fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Sakuraba lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sakuraba controlling from the full mount.
Sakuraba lands a nice shot to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Butler taking shots to the head.
Sakuraba prevents Butler from getting the reversal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naruto Sakuraba dominated that round.
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.

Sakuraba jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Butler seems to have recovered his senses.
Sakuraba misses the jab.
Butler displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Sakuraba throws out the jab.
Sloppy strikes from Sakuraba. Those never looked like landing.
Sakuraba throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Butler tries a head kick but it misses.
Sakuraba scores with a decent looking hook.
Sakuraba throws a jab when Butler was well out of range.

Sakuraba takes the fight into the clinch.

Sakuraba gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Butler regains guard.
Sakuraba wants to control from the top but Butler keeps moving.
Sakuraba passes into half guard.

Sakuraba is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Butler tries to kick Sakuraba off but Sakuraba keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Butler looking for submissions off his back.
Sakuraba wants to pass the guard but Butler is defending well.

Sakuraba is working for a submission of some sort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba slows the pace down in half guard.
Butler is in trouble now - Sakuraba has advanced to mount!
Sakuraba is landing with some decent strikes but Butler is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Sakuraba landing strikes from the mount.
Naruto Sakuraba overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sakuraba with the ground and pound from mount.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A nice elbow there by Sakuraba.
Sakuraba controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Sakuraba scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Sakuraba cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Butler is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Sakuraba wants to control the pace but Butler is squirming around nicely.
Sakuraba unloading with bombs!
Butler trying desperately to get to his feet.
Sakuraba scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Butler is looking to improve his position but Sakuraba isn't that keen on the idea.
Sakuraba scoring with strikes but Butler is staying in there.
Sakuraba wants to control the pace but Butler is squirming around nicely.
Sakuraba cracks Butler with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Sakuraba tries to control but Butler wriggling away.
Sakuraba landing shots from mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Sakuraba working for a submission but Butler is keeping him at bay.
Sakuraba putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naruto Sakuraba dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Sakuraba misses with a hook.
Sakuraba misses with an uppercut.
Sakuraba is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Butler can do to turn this around?
Butler throws the kick towards the body but Sakuraba avoids it.
Sakuraba is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Sakuraba buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Sakuraba throws a right hand that misses
and Butler counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Butler moves forwards but Sakuraba connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Lloyd Butler is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sakuraba throws a shot from downtown. Butler moves away and avoids it.
Sakuraba throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Butler counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Sakuraba!
Sakuraba working to try and regain half guard.
Sakuraba tries to hold on but Butler pushes him away.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sakuraba manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Sakuraba is pressing down on Butler's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Butler accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Butler trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Sakuraba working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Butler doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Butler manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Sakuraba looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Butler passes Sakuraba's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Butler wants to free his trapped foot but Sakuraba is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Butler wants to stand but Sakuraba has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Sakuraba moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Sakuraba is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Sakuraba keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Sakuraba not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Sakuraba missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Sakuraba content to control rather than advance.
Sakuraba frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sakuraba working Butler over with strikes here.
Sakuraba lands a big shot there that rocks Butler but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sakuraba landing shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Butler is trying to escape the mount.
A nice elbow there by Sakuraba.
Sakuraba controlling from the full mount.
Sakuraba lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The referee warns Butler that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Sakuraba lands a big shot to the head and Butler winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Naruto Sakuraba!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Naruto Sakuraba made sure he mentioned Vitality, along with how happy he was to win his fight.