PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Satoshi Kobayashi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eliod Bunkley Iii (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bunkley Iii has chosen Knocksville Girl as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Kobayashi
vs
Bunkley Iii

185 cm
20
190 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

185 cm
29
193 lbs
19 - 18 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Very quick

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Satoshi Kobayashi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Eliod Bunkley Iii!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Alan Glass and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Bunkley Iii closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Kobayashi actively working from the bottom here.
Bunkley Iii winds up and cracks Kobayashi with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Bunkley Iii is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Kobayashi is just riding it out for now. Bunkley Iii eventually gives up the hold.
Bunkley Iii tries to pass to full mount but Kobayashi defends it.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Bunkley Iii working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.

Kobayashi actively working from the bottom here.
Ground and pound from Bunkley Iii.

Bunkley Iii is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ground and pound from Bunkley Iii.
Bunkley Iii looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Kobayashi with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Bunkley Iii connects with a nice short shot to Kobayashi's temple.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Kobayashi is defending against the submission attempts here by Bunkley Iii.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bunkley Iii is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Kobayashi doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Bunkley Iii.
Bunkley Iii lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Kobayashi looking for submissions off his back.
Bunkley Iii has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Bunkley Iii is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Bunkley Iii working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kobayashi taking some punishment here, with Bunkley Iii in his half guard.
Kobayashi taking some punishment here, with Bunkley Iii in his half guard.
Bunkley Iii scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Kobayashi is rocked!
Bunkley Iii lands a big elbow from half guard. That looks like it's hurt Kobayashi quite badly. Kobayashi pulls Bunkley Iii in close trying to recover. Bunkley Iii postures up and lands two really hard shots that put Kobayashi on queer street! The ref takes a look and decides to call an end to the fight! Possibly an early stoppage but Kobayashi doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eliod Bunkley Iii!
In his post fight interview, Eliod Bunkley Iii started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.