PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Katsu Laoka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bode Muller (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Laoka comes into the arena with Good Luck blaring out of the sound system. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Laoka
vs
Muller

188 cm
23
202 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

190 cm
22
200 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Good low kicks
Good gas tank

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 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Katsu Laoka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Bode Muller!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Felipe Paraventi and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Muller throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Laoka avoids the head kick by Muller.

Muller shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Laoka has Muller pulled in close to control his posture.
Muller trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Muller looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Muller loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Muller working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Muller trying to control the position from guard on top but Laoka is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muller is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Laoka is trying to keep Muller in close.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Muller misses with a straight right.
Laoka on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Muller. Muller obviously looking to wear him down.
Muller shoots in for a takedown but Laoka shows good takedown defense.
Laoka on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Muller. Muller obviously looking to wear him down.
Muller avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Muller avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Muller throws a low kick but it's checked well by Laoka.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Muller scores with a leg kick.
Bode Muller seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Muller shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Laoka but Laoka pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Laoka checks the leg kick.
Katsu Laoka is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Muller thows a body shot but no joy.
Muller shoots for a double leg takedown but Laoka sprawls well. He's pushed Muller's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Katsu Laoka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Bode Muller.
Laoka wants to clinch.
We've been told by Laoka's head coaches at Brophy's Evil Troid Academy (BETA) that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Muller looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Muller scoring well with a low kick there.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Muller.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Laoka throws a leg kick but Muller moved away.
Laoka swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Muller has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Laoka will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Muller missing with a left hand there. Laoka was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muller connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Muller keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Muller does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
A looping hook to the body misses from Laoka. Muller does a little dance to reset his feet.
Laoka throws a low kick, looking for Muller's leg but Muller calmly moves out of range.
Laoka tries to clinch up but Muller circles away and keeps his distance.
Laoka is looking to clinch but Muller is avoiding it.

Laoka clinches.
Laoka unloads a knee to the mid-section. Muller lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Laoka tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Muller avoids it.
Laoka lands a body shot in the clinch.
Laoka lands a good knee to the midsection. Muller won't want to take too many of those.
Muller looks winded!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Laoka is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Muller is defending well for now.
Laoka tries to land a knee to the head but Muller blocks with his arms.
Laoka scores a nice knee to the body.
Muller misses with a punch to the body.
Laoka lands a knee to the body.
Muller misses with some punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laoka unloads a knee to the mid-section. Muller lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Laoka lands a nice uppercut.
Laoka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Muller's face.
Laoka missing with knees to the body.
Muller can't get the takedown.
Laoka looking to throw knees to the head but Muller is blocking nicely.
Muller has a couple of punches blocked by Laoka.
Laoka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Muller's face.
Laoka using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Muller has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Muller blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
A head punch on the inside from Muller fails to land.
Laoka trying to land knees to the body.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Muller misses with a body punch.
Laoka with a knee to the head.
Laoka misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Muller.
Laoka connects with a knee to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Katsu Laoka dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Muller throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Laoka tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Muller uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Laoka.

Muller looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Laoka!
Muller misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Muller postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Muller scores with a couple of short elbows.
Muller throws a strike aimed at the side of Laoka's head but Laoka avoids it well.
Muller is chipping away with strikes.
Muller has knee on belly and moves into mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muller landing strikes from the mount.
Muller sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Laoka holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Muller tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Laoka can't escape the position.
Muller lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Muller looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Muller putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Laoka tries to reverse the position but Muller maintains control.
Muller controlling the position easily from mount.
Muller tries to control but Laoka wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muller misses with a head shot.
Muller throwing strikes here but Laoka is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Muller putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Laoka taking shots to the head.
Muller looking to control but Laoka is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Muller has hold of Laoka's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Laoka manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Muller punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Muller postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Laoka looks a forlorn figure.
Muller has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Muller scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Laoka?
Laoka really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Muller lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Muller throws some wild stikes that Laoka manages to avoid easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bode Muller showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Nice defenses there by Laoka.
Laoka throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Muller throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Laoka looks for the body kick but Muller saw that one coming.
Muller thows a left - swing and a miss!
No luck with that takedown attempt from Muller.
Laoka uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Muller has time to react.
Muller throws a leg kick which misses Laoka's front leg but catches the back leg as Laoka tries to avoid it.
Muller uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Laoka.

Laoka has closed the distance and engaged Muller in a clinch.
Laoka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Muller's face.

It looks like Bode Muller has been cut.
A short left from Laoka.
A knee to the head by Laoka.
Laoka misses with a knee strike.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Laoka unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Muller on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Muller takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muller takes a knee to the side of the body.
Laoka putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Muller in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Laoka working Muller over with knees to the body.
Muller avoiding damage as Laoka throws knees to the body.

Muller manages to break the clinch.
Laoka lands a nice looking body shot.
Laoka misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Laoka connects with a single shot there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Muller misses with a wild body shot.
Laoka avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Good work by Muller as he checks the leg kick.

Laoka drives through and clinches with Muller against the cage.
Laoka is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Muller is defending well for now.
Laoka utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Laoka tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Muller's elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Laoka unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Muller managing to block the knees to the body from Laoka.
Laoka misses with a knee to the head.
Laoka tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Muller avoids it.
Muller wants a takedown.
Muller working aggressively here.
Laoka with a knee to the head.
Laoka misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Muller.
Muller blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Laoka with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Muller pulls Laoka into guard.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Laoka wants to control from the top but Muller keeps moving.
Muller controlling Laoka's posture.
Laoka has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Katsu Laoka has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Laoka throws a looping overhand right but Muller ducks down to avoid it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Muller.
Muller tries to move into full mount but can't pass Laoka's legs.
Muller throws a strike aimed at the side of Laoka's head but Laoka avoids it well.
Muller in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Muller cracks Laoka with a big right hand but Laoka just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
An elbow from Muller crashes against the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Katsu Laoka showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Laoka has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:28
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Katsu Laoka!
Our winner, Katsu Laoka, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.