PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tom Hagen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rikki Tavarius (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tavarius is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by It Dont Come Easy. Rikki Tavarius told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Hagen
vs
Tavarius

178 cm
33
201 lbs
19 - 4 - 0

186 cm
33
201 lbs
21 - 16 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Knockout power

Project Mayhem

KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tom Hagen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rikki Tavarius!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Taro Takaoka and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A left lands for Tavarius.
Tavarius connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Hagen momentarily.
Tavarius just misses with a punch to the body.

Tavarius shoots in and bounces Hagen off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Hagen is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Hagen is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Hagen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Tavarius throws an elbow that misses. Hagen uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Tavarius's guard. Nice move by Hagen!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hagen advances to half guard.
Tavarius has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Hagen is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Tavarius sees it coming and defends easily.
Hagen thows a huge punch but Tavarius dodges it nicely.

Hagen is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Tavarius really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Hagen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Hagen in half guard on the top. He's looking for a kimura... He's got it locked and he's managed to free his trapped foot. Tavarius tries to escape but it's on too tight and he has to tap! Great BJJ skills there from Hagen!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Tom Hagen!
After winning the bout, Tom Hagen thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.