PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nicholas Paul (ranked 4870 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ikehara Washi (ranked 24855 p4p, 0 weight class). Ikehara Washi has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Nicholas Paul's chin.

Paul
vs
Washi

225 cm
23
346 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

202 cm
24
278 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Nicholas Paul!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Ikehara Washi!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Chris Saunders and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Paul shoots in looking for a takedown. Washi tries to sprawl out of it but Paul keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Washi manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Paul shoots in and bounces Washi off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Paul controls from within his opponent's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Washi looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Paul throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Paul controlling from the top position.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Washi looking for a sweep. Not yet Washi, not yet.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Washi misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Washi looks winded!

Paul drives through with a takedown into Washi's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Paul is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Paul gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paul shoots in looking for a takedown but Washi manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Paul's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Washi shoots in and drives through. Paul sprawls well.
Washi misses with a head kick.
Paul wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.

Paul shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Paul looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Paul has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Washi trying to control here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nicholas Paul dominated that round.
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.

Paul fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Washi to the ground. Paul is now in Washi's guard.
Paul not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Paul scoring with punches to the head and body.

Paul drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Paul jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Paul is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Washi can do to turn this around?
Paul slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Washi is breathing heavily.
Paul keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Washi's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paul prevents Washi from getting back to his feet.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Paul looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Paul bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Washi tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Paul controlling the pace for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Paul lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Paul controlling the position easily from mount.
Paul lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Washi hang on?

Paul looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Paul prevents Washi from getting the reversal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Paul is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Washi can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Paul content just to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Paul working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Washi is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Washi regains half guard.
Paul perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nicholas Paul dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Paul gets the takedown into side control.
Washi tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.

Paul has hold of Washi's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Washi manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Paul will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Paul looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Washi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Paul content just to control the position here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Washi is in all sorts of trouble here.
Paul scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Washi tries to control Paul's body but Paul pushes him off. Washi squirms to his side and now Paul has his back!

Paul is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Washi defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

Paul is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Washi defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Washi is covering up but some of the strikes from Paul are getting through and doing damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Paul biding his time, looking for the opening.

Paul looking for the choke from the back.

Washi fending off the submission attempt from Paul.

Paul looking for the RNC.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Washi preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Paul.

Paul working for a choke but Washi is defending well.
Washi covers up after that shot from Paul.
Washi trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.

Paul has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.
Paul is riding his opponent, not letting Washi buck him off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Washi breaks Paul's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Paul is looking to stand back up but Washi counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Paul.
Paul tries to kick Washi off but Washi keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nicholas Paul showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Paul, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Roger Salmon scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nicholas Paul!