PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Tatsuya Kawajiri (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Oscar Diaz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kawajiri comes to the cage accompanied by Water Pow . Diaz has chosen Trick Daddy - Let's Go ft Twista & Lil Jon as his entrance music. Oscar Diaz has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Tatsuya Kawajiri's chin.

Kawajiri
vs
Diaz

171 cm
26
146 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

169 cm
36
145 lbs
26 - 23 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

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 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Tatsuya Kawajiri!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 23 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Oscar Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Jeff Smith, Micheangelo Fripello and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kawajiri closes the distance and pushes Diaz back into the cage.
Kawajiri is looking for a takedown.
A short right from Kawajiri.
Kawajiri misses with a hook from the clinch.
Diaz is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Kawajiri is defending well.
Diaz prevents a takedown attempt there.
Diaz has a couple of punches blocked by Kawajiri.
Kawajiri misses with a hook from the clinch.
Kawajiri drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Diaz gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tatsuya Kawajiri. That's going to take a lot out of him.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Diaz creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Kawajiri misses with a hook from the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kawajiri.
A nice left hand lands by Kawajiri.
Kawajiri is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Diaz is defending well.
Kawajiri misses with a punch on the inside.
Diaz drops down looking for an ankle pick but Kawajiri pulls his leg out and moves away.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown but Kawajiri shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Diaz displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Kawajiri.
Diaz swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Kawajiri counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Kawajiri fails to land with a series of punches.
Horrible takedown by Diaz or perhaps it was just good defense by Kawajiri which made him look bad.
Kawajiri will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kawajiri moves in looking to clinch but Diaz pushes him off.
Diaz tries to clinch up but Kawajiri circles away and keeps his distance.
Tatsuya Kawajiri seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kawajiri rushes Diaz and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Diaz tries to score a body lock takedown but Kawajiri shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Kawajiri has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Diaz clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Diaz wants to control his opponent's hands but Kawajiri gets his hands free.
Kawajiri is landing with strikes from the back.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kawajiri controls the position.
Diaz is taking damage to the body and head.
Kawajiri lands strikes to the head.
Diaz is taking damage to the body and head.
Kawajiri is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Diaz up.
Kawajiri is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Kawajiri gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Kawajiri gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Kawajiri apologises and we restart here on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz throws a hook but Kawajiri avoids it easily.
Diaz takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Kawajiri swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Kawajiri throws a combination that misses
and Kawajiri takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Diaz blocks a leg kick.

Kawajiri drives through and clinches with Diaz against the cage.
Kawajiri is trying to drag Diaz to the mat but Diaz just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Diaz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Kawajiri softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

Kawajiri has Diaz pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Kawajiri pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Diaz tumbling to the mat - Kawajiri dives into Diaz's guard.
Kawajiri looking to sit in guard and control but Diaz gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kawajiri trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kawajiri wants to sweep but no luck.
Diaz wants to control from the top but Kawajiri keeps moving.
Kawajiri looking to hit a scissor sweep but Diaz is one step ahead there.
Diaz loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kawajiri wants to sweep here but Diaz controlling him for the moment.
Diaz wants to control from the top but Kawajiri keeps moving.

Diaz avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tatsuya Kawajiri dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Kawajiri cracks Diaz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Kawajiri shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Diaz as he jumps to the side.
Diaz connects with the punch.

Diaz rushes Kawajiri and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Diaz changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Kawajiri fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Diaz fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kawajiri pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawajiri tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Kawajiri moves out of range of the body kick.
Diaz throws the kick towards the body but Kawajiri avoids it.

Kawajiri closes the distance and pushes Diaz back into the cage.
Diaz is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Kawajiri has picked Diaz up - he's going for a ride! Kawajiri dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Diaz is not content to let Kawajiri control the position.
Diaz taking some punishment here, with Kawajiri in his half guard.
Kawajiri drops an elbow to the side of Diaz's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kawajiri keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Diaz keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kawajiri is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Diaz trying to control but Kawajiri postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Diaz won't allow Kawajiri to pass to mount.
Kawajiri thows a huge punch but Diaz dodges it nicely.
Diaz wants to control but Kawajiri is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to stand up here but Kawajiri is controlling him well.
Kawajiri tries to pass the half guard into mount. Diaz knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Kawajiri seems to be looking for submissions.
Diaz trying to control here.
Tatsuya Kawajiri overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kawajiri thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Kawajiri looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Kawajiri looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Kawajiri throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Diaz wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diaz is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kawajiri lands a nice short elbow.
Kawajiri trying to control the action but Diaz is working from the bottom.
Kawajiri thows a huge punch but Diaz dodges it nicely.
Diaz gets full guard.
Kawajiri trying to control but Diaz is working from the bottom.
Diaz trying to control the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kawajiri works a leg free and moves into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tatsuya Kawajiri dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Diaz is looking to clinch.
Kawajiri fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Kawajiri ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Nice uppercut lands for Kawajiri. That snapped Diaz's head back.
Diaz fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Kawajiri shoots in and bounces Diaz off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Kawajiri stands and throws Diaz's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Kawajiri working the body and head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz is not content to let Kawajiri control the position.
Diaz is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Kawajiri has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Kawajiri is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Diaz will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Kawajiri scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Diaz to see if he's OK.
Diaz is working to avoid the ground and pound but Kawajiri connects with a decent elbow.
Kawajiri lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Diaz down.
Kawajiri lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Diaz down.
Kawajiri is looking to take a break and control but Diaz is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kawajiri lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kawajiri works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Diaz regains half guard, as Kawajiri was trying to land strikes.
Diaz on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kawajiri prevents Diaz from improving his position.
Diaz has hold of Kawajiri's hands but Kawajiri slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Kawajiri trying to pass the guard but Diaz defending well.
Oscar Diaz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kawajiri wants to control but Diaz is keeping him busy.
Diaz tries to kick Kawajiri off but Kawajiri keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Kawajiri is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Diaz doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Kawajiri.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kawajiri drops an elbow to the side of Diaz's head.
Diaz is looking to improve his position.

Kawajiri is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Diaz doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Kawajiri.

Diaz looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kawajiri lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Kawajiri slips a nice elbow through Diaz's hands, connecting with Diaz's forehead.
Tatsuya Kawajiri is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Kawajiri winds up and cracks Diaz with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Kawajiri trying to control from half guard but Diaz is working away.

Diaz looking for submissions off his back.
Diaz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Diaz trying to hold on to Kawajiri's head to control him but Kawajiri postures up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Diaz gets full guard.
Diaz preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kawajiri working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Diaz's head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tatsuya Kawajiri showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Kawajiri 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 Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tatsuya Kawajiri!
Tatsuya Kawajiri thanked the fans post fight for their support.