PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Kyoji Horiguchi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Orlando Menez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Horiguchi
vs
Menez

164 cm
22
145 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

170 cm
21
144 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Lethal high kicks
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

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 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kyoji Horiguchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Orlando Menez!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Shirou Masuda and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Horiguchi throws a hook but Menez blocks it.
Horiguchi keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Menez with a lazy takedown attempt
and Horiguchi connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Horiguchi fails to land with a series of punches.
Menez shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Horiguchi but Horiguchi pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Kyoji Horiguchi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Orlando Menez.
Menez fails with the takedown.
Horiguchi has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Brown House in the buildup to the fight.
Horiguchi connects with a body shot that sends Menez's belly button to the back.

Menez drives through with a takedown into Horiguchi's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Horiguchi wants to stand but Menez is controlling the position.
Menez makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Menez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Horiguchi utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Menez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Horiguchi swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Menez with a flurry of punches that miss.
Horiguchi keeping moving, preventing Menez from controlling successfully.
Menez has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Horiguchi not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Menez scoring with punches to the head and body.
Menez slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Menez.
Menez is looking to work some ground and pound but Horiguchi has wrist control.
Menez stays in close to Horiguchi's body and controls the position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Menez with a lazy takedown attempt
and Horiguchi counters with a one-two to the body.
Kyoji Horiguchi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Horiguchi fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Menez shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Horiguchi pinned against the cage. Horiguchi gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Horiguchi throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Menez dodges the punch combination from Horiguchi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Menez changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Horiguchi looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Horiguchi tries to bench press Menez off him but Menez keeps the position.
Menez gets to mount! Horiguchi was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Horiguchi really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Menez scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Menez lands a heavy elbow.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Menez fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Menez landing strikes, looking to finish!
Horiguchi is in a horrible position here. Menez smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Menez with good strikes from the mount here!
BOOM! Menez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Horiguchi tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Horiguchi is in a horrible position here. Menez smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Horiguchi is trying desperately to improve position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Horiguchi leaves Menez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Menez has a takedown stuffed.
Menez lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

It looks like Kyoji Horiguchi has been cut.
Horiguchi lands with a hook. Menez tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Orlando Menez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Horiguchi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Menez tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Horiguchi swivels and escapes.
Kyoji Horiguchi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Orlando Menez.
Menez tries for a takedown but Horiguchi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Horiguchi keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Menez needs to keep his hands up - Horiguchi had a free shot at his head there.

It looks like Orlando Menez has been cut.
Menez shoots in for a double leg but Horiguchi sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Horiguchi throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Kyoji Horiguchi is winning the standup battle so far.
Menez shoots in for a takedown but Horiguchi shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horiguchi swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Horiguchi bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Menez's head backwards.
Horiguchi lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.

Menez is rocked!
Menez gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Horiguchi gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:19 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kyoji Horiguchi!
Kyoji Horiguchi was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.
The defeated Orlando Menez had this to say: 'I'll be back soon better then ever!! Thanks guys!!!'.