PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Akaro Horiguchi (ranked 5866 p4p, 0 weight class) and Conor King (ranked 4340 p4p, 0 weight class). Horiguchi's entrance music is Girl From The North Country. A fine choice. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Horiguchi
vs
King

176 cm
19
168 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
161 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Good low kicks
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Akaro Horiguchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Conor King!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Skip Squint and Ben Watson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
King uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Horiguchi.
King raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Horiguchi pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A little jabbing left from King on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
King avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Horiguchi works the jab nicely.
King throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
King takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

King lands a left and a right that send Horiguchi crashing to the mat, dazed. King thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

It looks like Akaro Horiguchi has been cut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Horiguchi checks the leg kick.
King checks a leg kick.
Horiguchi slips a jab and a cross from King.
An attempted straight right counter from Horiguchi misses the target.
Horiguchi throws a lazy uppercut
and King counters with a one-two to the body.

Horiguchi is rocked!
Horiguchi lunges at King with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by King's hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.

King shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Horiguchi napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Oh Horiguchi is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

King decides to stand back up.
Horiguchi seems to have got his legs back now.
Horiguchi misses with an uppercut
and King counters with a nice uppercut.
Horiguchi throws out a loose jab but King uses good head movement to avoid it.
King wants to counter the offense by Horiguchi and move into the clinch position.
Horiguchi lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
King misses with a takedown
and Horiguchi counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Horiguchi thows a left - swing and a miss!
King tries to counter by closing the distance.
A lazy left from King finds it's target.
Horiguchi throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Horiguchi misses with a hook
letting King counter with a right hand.
Horiguchi lands a jab to the head.
King throws a leg kick which misses Horiguchi's front leg but catches the back leg as Horiguchi tries to avoid it.
Horiguchi misses with a left hand
and King counters with a stiff right hand.
Horiguchi looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Horiguchi scores with a head kick.
Horiguchi connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
King misses with a head kick.
Horiguchi misses with a body shot.
Horiguchi tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and King is able to avoid easily.
Akaro Horiguchi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Horiguchi lands with a thumping leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by King.
King moves out of range of the strikes.
King misses with a leg kick
and King takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
King keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
King was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
King uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi just misses with a punch to the body.
Horiguchi throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
King lands a nice shot to the body.
Horiguchi throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A countering left hand to the body from King misses.
King looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
King thuds his right hand into Horiguchi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

King moves into range and clinches up with Horiguchi.

Horiguchi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
King misses the shot to the body.

King has Horiguchi up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
King blocks an uppercut.
Horiguchi can't find room to land a body shot as King controls the action.
King tries for a takedown. No joy.

King breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Horiguchi takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Horiguchi lands with a slapping head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Conor King will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Akaro Horiguchi's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

King moves out of range as Horiguchi strikes.
King unleashes a big counter combination but Horiguchi bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Akaro Horiguchi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Horiguchi throws a body punch but King moves out of range.
Horiguchi throws a poor cross that misses
and King counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Horiguchi tries a head kick but it misses.
King darts in looking for a takedown but Horiguchi gets double underhooks and turns King into the cage.
Horiguchi misses with a low kick.
King on the wrong end of a nice hook.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Horiguchi misses with an uppercut
and King cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Horiguchi jabbing away but nothing is landing.
King loads up on a big right hand but Horiguchi slips the punch.
Horiguchi stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from King.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horiguchi throws an overhand right that lands on King's shoulder, as King tries to avoid the shot.
King is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Horiguchi thumps King with a low kick.
King stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Akaro Horiguchi is winning the standup battle so far.
King fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
King scores with a nice right hand.
Horiguchi fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Horiguchi jabbing away but nothing is landing.
King now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Horiguchi misses with a hook. King ducked under it nicely.

King rushes Horiguchi and presses him up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
King has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Horiguchi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Jab from Horiguchi.
King lands a jab to the nose.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Horiguchi throws a hook to the side of King's head but King sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Horiguchi lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
King wants to land a leg kick but Horiguchi is out of range.
King lands a slapping body shot.
Horiguchi throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
King misses with a leg kick
and Horiguchi counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Horiguchi scores with a nice right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Horiguchi misses with a lunging right hand
and King counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Horiguchi rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and King counters with a crisp one two that drops Horiguchi! King thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Horiguchi to his feet! Horiguchi is in big trouble!
A bone on bone clash there as King blocks the leg kick.
A little jabbing left from King on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
King defending well as Horiguchi loads up on a big left hand.
Horiguchi tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but King was well out of range. Poor timing from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Horiguchi throws a lazy uppercut
and King counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Horiguchi thinking.
Horiguchi throws a hook but King avoids it easily.
King uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Horiguchi.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi throws the kick towards the body but King avoids it.
Horiguchi throws a lazy uppercut
and King counters with a head kick that crumples his opponent - he's in a world of trouble! King looks at the referee who does nothing so King lands a crushing right that sends Horiguchi to the floor! This time the ref steps in to end the fight.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:15 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Conor King!