PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hideo Kenta (ranked 4448 p4p, 0 weight class) and Christian Neffgen (ranked 4195 p4p, 0 weight class). Kenta comes to the cage accompanied by ISIS. Christian Neffgen has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kenta
vs
Neffgen

179 cm
20
200 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

195 cm
25
200 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Hideo Kenta!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Christian Neffgen!
The judges for this bout are Dirk Anderson, David Hoff and Sandra Marshall.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Neffgen leaves Kenta with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Neffgen closes the distance and clinches.
Neffgen throws a knee to the head but misses.
Kenta blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Kenta jumps guard but Neffgen stands there with Kenta around his waist. Kenta gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Neffgen blocks a body shot from Kenta.
Neffgen missing with knees to the body.
Neffgen cracks Kenta with a nice body shot.
Kenta working hard to break the clinch.
Neffgen looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Neffgen pulls Kenta into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kenta preventing the sweep.
Neffgen can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kenta controls the pace.
Kenta forces his way into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neffgen is trying to control but can't.
Kenta tries to pass the half guard into mount. Neffgen knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kenta content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Kenta seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Neffgen for as long as he can get away with.
Neffgen won't allow Kenta to pass to mount.

Kenta is looking for a kimura but Neffgen is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Kenta to get the leverage.

Kenta is working for a submission of some sort.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Neffgen can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kenta trying to pass the guard but Neffgen defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kenta sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Kenta is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Kenta trying to control the action but Neffgen is working from the bottom.

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.
Kenta is taking a breather. Neffgen says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Kenta is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Neffgen is just riding it out for now. Kenta eventually gives up the hold.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kenta stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hideo Kenta dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Neffgen has Kenta up against the cage in a clinch.
Neffgen keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Kenta's efforts to push away.
Neffgen tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Neffgen jumps into guard, dragging Kenta to the mat.
Kenta with a flurry of punches that miss.
Neffgen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kenta. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kenta wants to stand but Neffgen has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neffgen trying to keep a closed guard but Kenta is proving a slippery customer.
Kenta stays in close to Neffgen's body and controls the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kenta drops back looking for a leg! Neffgen is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Neffgen manages to kick Kenta off! Kenta jumps back into Neffgen's guard.

Kenta is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Kenta wants to pass the guard but Neffgen is keeping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kenta scoring with some ground and pound.
Kenta sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Kenta trying to control the position from guard on top but Neffgen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kenta shoots for a takedown but Neffgen saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Neffgen tries a head kick but it misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neffgen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Kenta.

Neffgen gets a clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Neffgen.
Kenta blocks an elbow strike from Neffgen.
Neffgen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Kenta blocks it with crossed arms.

Neffgen ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Neffgen no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Kenta trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hideo Kenta overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Kenta is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Kenta working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neffgen can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kenta controls the pace.
Neffgen keeping moving, preventing Kenta from controlling successfully.
Kenta tries to free his leg and advance position but Neffgen is retaining full guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Neffgen can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kenta controls the pace.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Neffgen closes the distance and pushes Kenta back into the cage.

Neffgen jumps guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Christian Neffgen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Neffgen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Kenta.
A head kick misses from Neffgen.

Neffgen has Kenta up against the cage in a clinch.

Neffgen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kenta fails with the takedown.

Neffgen has closed the distance and engaged Kenta in a clinch.
Neffgen throws an elbow but it misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kenta tries for a takedown but Neffgen manages to get underhooks.
Kenta stalling in the clinch but Neffgen improves position.
Neffgen missing with knees to the body.

Kenta decides to pull guard.
Neffgen lands a couple of digs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neffgen lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Neffgen working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Kenta's head.
Kenta bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Neffgen's guard.

Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kenta landing some decent shots from guard.
Kenta is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Kenta wants to control from the top but Neffgen keeps moving.
Neffgen is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kenta throws a big elbow that misses.

Kenta is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Kenta stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Neffgen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Kenta trying to control the position from guard on top but Neffgen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kenta stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Neffgen swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Kenta's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Neffgen is trying to control the position but Kenta postures up.
Kenta stopping the sweep attempt from Neffgen.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Kenta engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Kenta takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Neffgen throws a head kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Neffgen rushes Kenta and presses him up against the cage.

Neffgen pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Neffgen closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Kenta wants a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hideo Kenta. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kenta is trying to drag Neffgen to the mat but Neffgen just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Kenta is looking for a takedown.
Christian Neffgen seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.

Neffgen's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Neffgen goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

Neffgen closes the distance and clinches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Neffgen manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kenta throwing strikes from guard but Neffgen blocks nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Christian Neffgen comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Neffgen 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 Dirk Anderson scores the fight 28:29
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Christian Neffgen!
After winning the bout, Christian Neffgen thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.