PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jay Le (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and GG Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Le
vs
Sato

183 cm
21
174 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

192 cm
18
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jay Le!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, GG Sato!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Hirohito Nitta and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Le avoids a kick to the body.
Sato misses with a takedown attempt - Le sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Le misses with a series of wild punches.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sato.
Sato moves into full mount!
Sato looking to control but Le is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Sato swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Le is now in Sato's guard. A big mistake from Sato there, giving up the dominant position!
Sato is controlling Le's posture.
Le wants to pass the guard but Sato is keeping the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Le preventing the sweep.
Le trying to stand up but can't free himself from Sato's guard.
Le has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Sato is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. GG Sato wasn't active enough on the ground.
Le will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Le throws a body punch but Sato moves out of range.
Le throws a head kick that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
No joy there for Le, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Le scores with a takedown into Sato's guard.
Sato is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Le tries to free his leg and advance position but Sato is retaining full guard.
Sato is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Le wants to pass the guard but Sato is keeping the position.
Sato keeping moving, preventing Le from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Le gets caught flat footed, as Sato shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Le looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Le controls Sato momentarily but Sato frees himself.
Sato with a flurry of punches that miss.

Sato drops back looking for a leg! Le is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Le manages to kick Sato off! Sato jumps back into Le's guard.
Sato wants to control from the top but Le keeps moving.
Sato is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sato drops back, looking for a kneebar! Le looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Le looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Le!
Sato looks gassed!
Sato sneaks back into half guard.
Sato is trying to get back to full guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Le throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Le decides to stand and escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but GG Sato will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Le scores a takedown into full mount!
Sato takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Sato tries to reverse the position but Le maintains control.
Le can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Sato is looking to escape.
Le is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Sato is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Sato is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Le sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato can't escape the position.
Jay Le overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sato wants to control but Le is having none of it.
Le trying to control but Sato is having none of it.
Le throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Le looking to control but Sato is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato is trying desperately to improve position.
Le wants to control the pace but Sato is squirming around nicely.
Sato is looking to improve his position but Le isn't that keen on the idea.
Sato tries to hold on but Le pushes him away.
Le prevents Sato from getting the reversal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Sato is breathing heavily.
Sato really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Le looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Sato is trying desperately to improve position.
Le in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Le sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Le seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Sato for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le'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.
Sato is wriggling around trying to escape.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Le with shots to the head and body - Sato looks very uncomfortable down there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jay Le dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Le looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sato manages to get to full guard.
Le works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Sato trying to control but Le postures up.
Sato trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Sato working to try and regain half guard.
Le controlling the position easily from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Le takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sato working to try and regain half guard.
Sato takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Le trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sato wants to hold on but Le pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Le sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Sato wants to control but Le is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Le drives through and clinches with Sato against the cage.

Le pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Le stuffs the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Le feints a jab promting Sato to slip. Le then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Sato slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

Le gets a takedown into half guard.
Le is trying to control. Sato wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Le performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Sato wants to control but Le is keeping busy.
Sato gets full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato has his hands on Le's head, controlling the position.
Le trying to control but Sato is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Jay Le just wasn't active enough.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sato looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Le stuffs the takedown.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Le closes the distance looking to clinch

and Sato counters with a nice double leg into side control. Le won't be happy with that.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jay Le showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Le has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jay Le!