PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Iain Tower (ranked 64 p4p, 9 weight class) and Rick Piano (ranked 55 p4p, 7 weight class). Tower comes into the arena with Kanye - Power blaring out of the sound system. Piano is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Rick going ham on a bitch. Iain Tower could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Rick Piano 's chin.

Tower
vs
Piano

210 cm
28
275 lbs
24 - 5 - 0

190 cm
27
275 lbs
24 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

UnderGround Supplements

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 24 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Iain Tower!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rick Piano !
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Piano throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Tower throwing a counter right hand but Piano manages to avoid it.
Tower ducks under a wild hook from Piano .
Piano closes the distance looking to clinch
and Tower counters with a good, hard body kick but Piano shrugs it off.
Tower defending well as Piano loads up on a big left hand.
Piano throws a lazy right hand but Tower sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Tower looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Piano misses with a looping right.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Tower crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Piano - the referee stops the clock and Tower gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Piano . Tower manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Nice body kick there by Tower.
Piano uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Tower.
Piano scores with a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Piano keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Piano looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Piano swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Tower appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Piano throws a sloppy head kick
and Tower counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Tower throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Piano lands with a nice body kick.
Piano pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Tower avoids the head kick by Piano .
Piano lunges at Tower with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Tower's hand.
Piano just misses with a punch to the body.
Piano gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Tower counters with a straight right hand.

It looks like Rick Piano has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Piano just misses with a punch to the body.
Piano throws an overhand right that lands on Tower's shoulder, as Tower tries to avoid the shot.
Tower loads up on a big right hand but Piano slips the punch.
Piano gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Tower.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Piano walks into a left hand.
Piano thows a left - swing and a miss!
Tower swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Piano looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Piano looks to throw the jab but Tower is out of range.
Piano pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Piano throws a hook but Tower blocks it.

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

Piano is rocked!
Piano scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Tower doesn't seem bothered though.
Piano is still on wobbly legs! Can Tower finish him?

Piano instigates a clinch.
Tower lands a hook to the side of the head.
Piano is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tower blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Piano seems to have recovered his senses.
Tower tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Tower blocks an elbow strike from Piano .
Tower lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Piano keeps control of Tower as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Piano just misses with a elbow thrown towards Tower's brow.
Piano throws an elbow but it misses.
Tower takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Iain Tower has been cut.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Piano .
Tower misses with a punch to the body.
Tower fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Tower pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Tower thows a left - swing and a miss!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Piano clinches up against the cage.

Tower escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Tower misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Piano .
Piano slips under a jab.
Piano misses with an uppercut. Tower saw that one coming.
Piano uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Tower.

Piano has closed the distance and engaged Tower in a clinch.
Piano pressing his opponent against the cage.

Tower breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Tower walks into a stiff left hand from Piano .
Tower throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
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 Iain Tower will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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.

Tower jabs Piano to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Tower steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Piano .
Iain Tower is winning the standup battle so far.
Tower moves forwards but Piano connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Piano blocks a low kick nicely.
Piano swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Piano throws a right hand that misses
and Tower counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Piano bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Tower's head backwards.
Tower avoids a kick to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tower throws an overhand right that lands on Piano 's shoulder, as Piano tries to avoid the shot.
Tower takes one to the side of the head.
Piano delivers a nice body kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A head kick misses from Piano .

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tower scores with a decent looking hook.
Tower misses with a left hand
and Tower takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Piano turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Rick Piano seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Piano digs a good hook to Tower's body.
Tower steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Piano . That one must have hurt.

Piano lands a big head kick that sends Tower tumbling to the mat! Piano takes a step backwards and waves Tower back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Tower is rocked!

Iain Tower's cut is getting worse.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Piano punishes Tower's body with a nice straight punch.
Oh Tower is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Piano misses with an uppercut. Tower saw that one coming.
A quick step to the side and Tower tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.

Piano drops Tower with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Tower looks back up at him and smiles so Piano waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.
Piano lands an uppercut out of nowhere! Tower falls backwards - clearly groggy! Piano dives in and finishes the fight with more strikes for a TKO finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rick Piano !
Rick Piano is the new heavyweight champion!
After the fight, Rick Piano was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.