PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ryuken Yanagi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Colt McLaren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Yanagi
vs
McLaren

175 cm
32
165 lbs
10 - 11 - 0

170 cm
24
165 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Milwaukee's Best 160

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 10 - 11 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ryuken Yanagi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Colt McLaren!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Illya Tyunina and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yanagi blocks a head kick by McLaren.
McLaren misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
McLaren ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Yanagi moves away.
Yanagi shoots in but no luck this time.
McLaren throws a sloppy head kick and Yanagi moves out of range easily.
McLaren fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Yanagi checks it well.
McLaren throws a head kick but Yanagi moves out of range.
McLaren walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Yanagi checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
McLaren throws a quick inside leg kick.
Yanagi gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and McLaren counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
McLaren prevents Yanagi from improving his position.
McLaren thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
McLaren passes to side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yanagi is looking to reverse the position.
Yanagi definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Yanagi is working to avoid the ground and pound but McLaren connects with a decent elbow.
McLaren creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Yanagi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
McLaren landing strikes.
Yanagi is working to avoid the ground and pound but McLaren connects with a decent elbow.
The strikes coming from McLaren are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
McLaren cracks Yanagi with a big right hand but Yanagi just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

McLaren tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no McLaren has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw McLaren working his ground and pound in the gym.
McLaren wants to control for a moment but Yanagi uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Yanagi is looking for a sweep. McLaren is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yanagi is working hard here to advance position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
McLaren passes the guard and advances to mount!
Yanagi really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
McLaren raining down shots from the mount!
McLaren scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Yanagi?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McLaren lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Yanagi hang on?
Yanagi tries to reverse the position but McLaren maintains control.
McLaren lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Yanagi hang on?
McLaren in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Yanagi bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Yanagi wants to control from the top but McLaren keeps moving.
McLaren is trying to control the position but Yanagi postures up.

McLaren working for a triangle but Yanagi defends it easily.
McLaren working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yanagi trying to control but McLaren is working from the bottom.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Yanagi chips away with some ground and pound.
McLaren manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
McLaren can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Yanagi is looking to escape.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Yanagi is in all sorts of trouble here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Colt McLaren dominated that round.
That's time! Yanagi's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

McLaren looks to score with a jab to the body but Yanagi is just out of range.
Yanagi has his takedown stuffed
and McLaren counters with an outside leg kick.
McLaren throws a low kick but Yanagi moves out of range easily.
Yanagi checks the leg kick nicely there.
McLaren attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Yanagi doesn't succeed with the takedown
and McLaren counters with a nice uppercut.
Yanagi tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but McLaren defends well and Yanagi ends up having to push McLaren into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryuken Yanagi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McLaren stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Yanagi blocking some punches.
Yanagi blocking some punches.
Yanagi is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McLaren misses with the head strike.
McLaren struggles to land a body shot inside as Yanagi controls his hands.
McLaren throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Yanagis head.
McLaren lands a left hand that snaps the head of Yanagi backwards.
McLaren misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A frustrated look appears on Yanagi's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Yanagi tries to break free but McLaren pushes him back against the cage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by McLaren.
McLaren doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

McLaren breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
McLaren defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Yanagi.
A head kick misses from McLaren.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McLaren throws a low kick but Yanagi avoids it.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Yanagi is defended easily by McLaren.
McLaren tries to clinch there but Yanagi circles away.
McLaren throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Yanagi avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
McLaren throws a nice looking combination but Yanagi bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
McLaren turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
McLaren is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Yanagi goes for a double leg but McLaren avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as McLaren continues to drive forward.
McLaren throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Yanagis head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McLaren stalling the fight.
McLaren misses with a hook to the ribs.
McLaren misses with the head strike.
McLaren dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
McLaren wants a takedown but no success here.
McLaren misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Yanagi is looking to take this one to the mat.
McLaren lands a right hand.
A short right hand to the side of the head by McLaren.
Yanagi blocks a body shot from McLaren.
McLaren manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Yanagi looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Yanagi.
A right handed body shot lands from McLaren.
McLaren tries for a takedown but Yanagi manages to get underhooks.

McLaren pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
McLaren tries to score with a low kick but Yanagi moves his leg out of the way.
McLaren looks to throw the jab but Yanagi is out of range.
Yanagi blocks a head kick by McLaren.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Yanagi closes this distance looking for a takedown but McLaren circles away.
Yanagi shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has McLaren pinned against the cage. McLaren gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
McLaren walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Yanagi checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Colt McLaren showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Yanagi fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but McLaren avoids it really well and circles away.
McLaren lands a nice leg kick that just misses Yanagi's sensitive parts.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Yanagi.
McLaren ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
McLaren throws a low kick, looking for Yanagi's leg but Yanagi calmly moves out of range.
McLaren defending well as Yanagi loads up on a big left hand.

Yanagi shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Yanagi was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
McLaren taking a bit of punishment here - Yanagi scoring with strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McLaren is trying to control Yanagi's posture but Yanagi avoids it.
McLaren gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yanagi throws a strike but McLaren avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Yanagi trying to control but McLaren is working from the bottom.
McLaren lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Yanagi!
McLaren cracks Yanagi with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
McLaren postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Yanagi looks a forlorn figure.
Yanagi is working to get back to half guard.
McLaren looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McLaren tries to control but Yanagi wriggling away.
McLaren raining down shots from the mount!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

McLaren is controlling this nicely and is looking to make no mistakes. Yanagi is trying to wiggle out of this horrible position. Yanagi flips to his side and attempts to get a leg in for half guard. McLaren anticipates the leg and manages to get behind Yanagi and secures both hooks! This could be bad! McLaren slips an arm under Yanagi chin and tries to position for a rear naked choke. McLaren has worked the choke in now and it looks tight. McLaren is squeezing on Yanagi like an anaconda would it's prey. Yanagi fails to tap and has fallen unconscious! We've got ourselves a winner by way of a rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Colt McLaren!
A victorious Colt McLaren thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.