PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Yoko Honda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Garrett Reddish (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Reddish has chosen Biting Elbows - Bad Motherfucker as his entrance music. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Honda
vs
Reddish

195 cm
28
275 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

198 cm
20
250 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yoko Honda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Garrett Reddish!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Sosuke Kotani and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Reddish swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Reddish scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Honda looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Reddish is fending him off so far but Honda persists. Nope, Reddish circles away and we're back to standing.
Reddish tries a quick counter leg kick but Honda is wise to it.
Reddish scores with a nice head shot.
Honda takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Honda shoots in but Reddish avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Reddish scores with a shot to the body.
Honda on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Reddish throws a head kick that Honda semi-blocks.
Honda shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Reddish as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yoko Honda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Reddish misses with a double jab

and Honda decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Reddish's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Reddish is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Honda is controlling him.
Honda wants to pass the guard but Reddish is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reddish wants to stand but Honda is controlling the position.
Honda is working Reddish over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Reddish is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Honda is controlling him.
Honda passes Reddish's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Reddish really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Honda. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Reddish blocking the ground and pound attempt from Honda.

Honda is working for a submission of some sort.
Honda prevents Reddish from standing back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Reddish is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Honda scores with a couple of nice shots.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Honda wants to lay and pray for a moment but Reddish keeps working.
Honda with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Honda seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Reddish wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Honda is controlling the pace.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Reddish tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Honda counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Reddish is trying to stand up here but Honda is controlling him well.
Honda looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Reddish with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Honda throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Honda looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Reddish with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Honda there.
Honda is keen to just control but Reddish is a slippery customer.
Reddish is trying to stand up here but Honda is controlling him well.
Honda controlling the pace.
Reddish tries to kick Honda off but Honda keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Honda has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Honda performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Honda trying to control from half guard but Reddish is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Yoko Honda will probably get the nod.
That's time! Honda's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Reddish.
Reddish feints and then cracks Honda's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Honda down.
Reddish throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Honda stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Reddish looks to land a right hand but Honda moved out of range.
Honda feinted with a counter takedown.
Reddish connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Reddish lands with a nice body kick.
Reddish lands with a shot to the body.
Honda has his takedown stuffed
and Reddish counters with a straight right hand.
Yoko Honda is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Honda closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Reddish to the mat! Reddish manages to get full guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Honda wants to control from the top but Reddish keeps moving.
Honda prevents Reddish from getting back to his feet.
Honda is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Honda prevents Reddish from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Honda slips nicely into half guard.
Honda content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Reddish blocking the ground and pound attempt from Honda.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Reddish looks like he's trying to stand up.
Reddish felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

Reddish makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Reddish buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
No luck for Honda with that takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Reddish throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
A head kick misses from Reddish.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Honda.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yoko Honda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Reddish connects with an inside leg kick.
Reddish lands a head kick!
Honda takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Reddish cracks a nice hook into Honda's ribs.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Reddish lands a nice hook to Honda's body. Honda takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Honda closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Reddish quickly recovers to half guard.
Honda is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Reddish wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Honda looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Reddish is not content to let Honda control the position.
Honda slows the pace down in half guard.
Honda is trying to control the action in half guard but Reddish is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Yoko Honda overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Reddish is defending against the submission attempts here by Honda.
Honda is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Reddish has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Reddish is trying to stand up here but Honda is controlling him well.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Reddish. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Honda trying to mount his opponent but Reddish defends it.
Honda stops Reddish from getting back to his feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Reddish misses with a looping left.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Garrett Reddish showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Honda closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Reddish quickly recovers to half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Honda is keen to just control but Reddish is a slippery customer.
Reddish wants to get back to his feet.
Honda wants to take a breather but Reddish is having none of it.
Honda is really struggling to control Reddish but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Honda stalling.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Honda is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Reddish wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Honda perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Honda 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.
Reddish tries to kick Honda off but Honda keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Honda winds up and cracks Reddish with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Honda stops Reddish from getting back to his feet.
Honda wants to take a breather but Reddish is having none of it.
Honda not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Reddish tries to kick Honda off but Honda keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Honda avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Reddish. Honda shrugs it off though.
Reddish displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Honda.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by Honda or perhaps it was just good defense by Reddish, which made it look bad.
Honda misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yoko Honda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Reddish looks to throw a body kick

and Honda counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Reddish wants to get back to his feet.
Honda not doing much here.
Reddish is trying to stand back up but Honda is controlling him

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Honda wants to take a breather but Reddish is having none of it.
Honda is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Reddish is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Honda is looking for a kimura here.
Honda working over Reddish with some ground and pound. Reddish looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Honda moves nicely into side control.
Honda in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Honda taking a breather here.
Honda throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Honda throws an elbow but Reddish slips to the side and avoids it well.
Honda prevents Reddish from escaping the position.
Honda cracks Reddish with a big elbow.
Honda taking a breather here.
Honda moves into full mount!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Honda tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Honda unloading with bombs!

And that's the end of the fight!
Yoko Honda showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Honda 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yoko Honda!