PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Daigo Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Peter Higgens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sato comes to the cage accompanied by japanese war music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Sato
vs
Higgens

170 cm
26
145 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

172 cm
19
153 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Very confident

Bloodlust Horde Fightwear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Daigo Sato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Peter Higgens!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Roger Salmon and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Higgens takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Sato scores with a leg kick.
Higgens on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Higgens has managed to clinch.

Higgens pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Higgens swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Higgens throws a quick inside leg kick.
Higgens throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Higgens tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sato swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Sato stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Sato wants it to stay on the feet.
Higgens scores with a one two! Sato had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Higgens misses with the combination.
Higgens is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Higgens will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato throws an overhand right that lands on Higgens's shoulder, as Higgens tries to avoid the shot.
The fighters circle momentarily. Sato darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.

Higgens moves into the clinch.
Higgens on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Sato trying to land knees to the body.
Sato with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Sato throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Higgens blocks it with crossed arms.
Sato misses with a knee to the head.
Sato lands an uppercut.
Sato tries to work over Higgens's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Sato throws an elbow but it misses.
Sato misses with an elbow over the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato looking to throw knees to the head but Higgens is blocking nicely.
Sato trying to control the position but instead, Higgens has worked for underhooks and has pushed Sato into the cage.
Higgens blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Higgens goes for a takedown attempt but Sato pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Higgens keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Sato.
Higgens shoots in looking for a takedown. Sato tries to sprawl out of it but Higgens keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Sato manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Daigo Sato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Peter Higgens.

Higgens moves into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Higgens is looking to take this one to the mat.
Sato looking to throw knees to the head but Higgens is blocking nicely.
Sato tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Higgens's elbow.
Higgens has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Sato avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Higgens is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Sato looking to stall.
Sato misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Higgens.
Sato tries to land knees in the clinch but Higgens avoids the damage to the body.

Higgens breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Higgens uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Sato.

Higgens closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Sato lands a right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato misses with a short punch on the inside.
Higgens is looking to break free of the clinch but Sato has double underhooks.
Sato misses with a punch on the inside.
Sato lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Higgens blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Higgens is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Higgens working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Higgens scores with a shot to the side of Sato's head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Higgens tries to land a knee to the head but Sato blocks with his arms.

Higgens is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Sato can't fight it off and eventually Higgens manages to take the fight to the floor. Sato looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sato wants to sweep here but Higgens controlling him for the moment.
Higgens postures up in Sato's guard and throws a big left but Sato blocks it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Peter Higgens will probably get the nod.
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.

Higgens thumps Sato with a low kick.
Higgens tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sato swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Peter Higgens is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Higgens tries to clinch up.
Higgens fails with a takedown attempt.
Higgens scoring well with a low kick there.
Higgens falls off balance throwing a combination
and Sato counters with a nice uppercut.
Sato takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sato. Higgens does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sato looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Sloppy strikes from Higgens. Those never looked like landing.
Higgens dives in and grabs Sato's left leg, looking for a takedown. Sato pushes down on Higgens's head and hops out.
Higgens looks for a takedown but Sato sprawls well.
Daigo Sato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Peter Higgens.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Higgens clinches up with Sato and pushes him back against the cage.
Sato tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Sato.
Higgens is trying to break the clinch but Sato is controlling him.

Higgens manages to break the clinch.
Peter Higgens seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Higgens will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Higgens throws a head kick that misses.

Sato closes the distance and clinches.
Sato with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Higgens is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Higgens taking a breather.
Sato tries to throw a body punch but Higgens avoids it by throwing Sato back against the cage.
Sato lands a knee to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sato.
Sato tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Higgens escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Higgens fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Higgens connects with an inside leg kick.
Sato ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Higgens moves away.
Sato lands with a nice body punch.
Higgens throws a hook to the side of Sato's head but Sato sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Daigo Sato is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Higgens looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Sato is fending him off so far but Higgens persists. Nope, Sato circles away and we're back to standing.
A good leg kick by Sato.
Higgens moves in looking to clinch but Sato pushes him off.
Higgens darts in looking for a takedown but Sato gets double underhooks and turns Higgens into the cage.
Higgens is trying to break free.
Higgens goes for a takedown in the clinch but Sato prevents it.
Higgens is breathing heavily.
Sato using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Higgens has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Sato lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Higgens throws a head punch that misses.
Sato is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Higgens is defending well for now.
Higgens throws a punch but it's blocked by Sato.
Sato lands a left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Higgens breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Higgens throws a left and a right that both miss
and Sato counters with a nice body shot.
Higgens swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Sato connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Higgens walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Sato avoids a punch combination nicely.
Higgens stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Sato.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Higgens shoots in and drives through. Sato sprawls well.
Sato throws a leg kick which misses Higgens's front leg but catches the back leg as Higgens tries to avoid it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Higgens tries to bum rush Sato with a series of wild strikes but Sato uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Higgens throws a right and a left that Sato avoids nicely.
Sato pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Peter Higgens will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Higgens misses with a low kick.
Higgens misses with a wild combination.
Higgens throws a leg kick that is checked
and Sato counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Higgens thinking.

Higgens throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Sato tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Higgens is in Sato's guard.
Higgens preventing the sweep.
Sato trying to control the position.
Sato seems keen to control Higgens's posture.
Higgens preventing the sweep.
Higgens being controlled here momentarily.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Daigo Sato just wasn't active enough.

Higgens has closed the distance and engaged Sato in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Higgens taking a breather.
Higgens avoiding damage as Sato throws knees to the body.
Higgens managing to block the knees to the body from Sato.
Higgens is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Sato is defending well.
Sato pushes off an throws an elbow but Higgens leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Higgens blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sato fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A short right from Sato on the inside.

Higgens pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Higgens misses with a wild body shot.
Daigo Sato has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Higgens.
Sato moves out of range of the body kick from Higgens.
Sato showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Higgens.
No joy there for Higgens, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Higgens takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A combination from Higgens does no damage.
Higgens takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

Higgens has closed the distance and engaged Sato in a clinch.
Sato misses with a punch on the inside.
Sato misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Higgens.
Sato throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.

Higgens breaks from the clinch.
Sato buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Higgens misses with a combination
and Sato counters with a thumping low kick.
Higgens tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Sato manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Higgens clinches.
Higgens tries for a takedown. No joy.
Sato lands a good knee to the midsection. Higgens won't want to take too many of those.
Higgens's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Sato is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Higgens is defending well for now.
Higgens avoids a wild elbow strike from Sato.
Sato tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Higgens avoids it.
Sato tries a knee to the head but Higgens blocks it.
Sato lands an elbow that stopped Higgens in his tracks for a moment.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Higgens.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Higgens on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Sato is pressed up against the cage. Higgens has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Sato down to the mat. Sato avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Daigo Sato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Peter Higgens.
Higgens throws a chopping leg kick but Sato manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Higgens dives in and grabs Sato's left leg, looking for a takedown. Sato pushes down on Higgens's head and hops out.
Sato tries to clinch up.
Higgens shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sato pinned against the cage. Sato gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Sato wants to land a leg kick but Higgens is out of range.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sato uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Higgens.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sato tries to land a front kick but Higgens steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Sato displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Higgens.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Daigo Sato.
I think Higgens has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 28:29
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 28:29
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Peter Higgens!