PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kendo Hirigushi (ranked 710 p4p, 87 weight class) and Mike Charles (ranked 1735 p4p, 190 weight class). Charles has chosen Renegades Of Funk - Rage Against The Machine as his entrance music. Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Hirigushi
vs
Charles

181 cm
31
160 lbs
21 - 12 - 0

175 cm
33
158 lbs
21 - 9 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

BuriedAlive// Fight Gear
Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 21 - 12 - 0, fighting out of London, Kendo Hirigushi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 9 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mike Charles!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Daniel Franklin and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fighters circling - Hirigushi throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Charles thows a left - swing and a miss!
Charles cracks Hirigushi with an open hand slap.
Hirigushi misses with a series of wild punches.
Sloppy strikes from Hirigushi. Those never looked like landing.
Charles throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Charles throws a hook but Hirigushi avoids it easily.
Mike Charles seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Charles connects with a single shot there.
Charles lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hirigushi ducks under a wild hook from Charles.
Hirigushi throwing a counter right hand but Charles manages to avoid it.
Charles throws out a powerful jab.
Charles fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Hirigushi definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Charles feints a jab promting Hirigushi to slip. Charles then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Hirigushi slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Charles lands a right hook to the body.
Charles wants to slow Hirigushi down by chopping away at his legs.
Charles lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Hirigushi ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Charles moves away.
Charles misses the shot to the body.
Charles throws a leg kick
and Hirigushi cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Charles connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Charles fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Hirigushi scores with a three punch combo!
Charles tries to bum rush Hirigushi with a series of wild strikes but Hirigushi uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Charles ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hirigushi stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Charles.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hirigushi throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Charles throws a leg kick
letting Hirigushi counter with a right hand.
Hirigushi takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Hirigushi uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Charles.
A right-left combo lands from Hirigushi.
Hirigushi takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Charles throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Charles loads up on a big right hand but Hirigushi slips the punch.
Charles avoids the body shot from Hirigushi.
Charles jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Hirigushi throws a big counter combination but Charles scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Charles throws a leg kick but Hirigushi checks it.
A shot to the liver by Charles. Beautiful body shot.
Charles displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Hirigushi throws out the jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charles takes a swing at Hirigushi's ribcage but misses.
Charles uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Hirigushi has time to react.
Charles throws a front kick aimed at Hirigushi's knee but Hirigushi avoids it well.
Hirigushi was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Charles lands with a straight right. Hirigushi didn't see that one coming.
Charles scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Charles scores with the left hand. Hirigushi knows he should have avoided that one.
Hirigushi defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Charles.
Hirigushi dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hirigushi lands a nice hook to Charles's body. Charles takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Some wild striking there from Hirigushi.
Hirigushi ducks right into an uppercut from Charles.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hirigushi jabs Charles right on the nose. Charles blinks but takes it well.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A punch combination from Hirigushi misses.
Hirigushi avoids the head kick by Charles.
Charles shoots for a takedown but Hirigushi saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Charles attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Charles throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Hirigushi stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Charles swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Hirigushi throwing a counter right hand but Charles manages to avoid it.
Charles just misses with a punch to the body.
Hirigushi connects with a right hand. Charles shakes it off.
Charles throws a lazy uppercut
and Charles takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Charles is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Hirigushi had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Charles tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Hirigushi was well out of range. Poor timing from Charles.
Charles jabs Hirigushi to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Charles swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Charles 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.

Hirigushi checks the leg kick nicely there.
A little feinted left hand from Hirigushi on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Hirigushi thuds his right hand into Charles's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Hirigushi throws a series of punches but Charles avoids them all with ease.
Good leg kick by Charles there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Charles thuds a left hand into Hirigushi's body.
Charles steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Hirigushi.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hirigushi. Charles does a little dance to reset his feet.
Charles connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Charles misses with a looping right.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Charles is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
This entire fight has taken place on the feet so far and you wonder whether Hirigushi might be better served trying to take this one to the ground because he's losing the standup battle so far.
Hirigushi checks a low kick from Charles.
Kendo Hirigushi is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Charles does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Charles ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hirigushi. Charles does a little dance to reset his feet.
Charles throws a big shot that misses.
Charles has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Charles misses with a low kick as Hirigushi jumps back.
Charles displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Charles misses with an attempted mid kick.
A right-left combo lands from Charles.
Charles scores with a jab to the jaw.
Hirigushi drops his hands momentarily and Charles takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Charles shoots in for a takedown but Hirigushi shows good takedown defense.
Charles throws a nice looking combination but Hirigushi bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Hirigushi throws a nice looking combination but Charles bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Charles tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hirigushi misses with a wild combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hirigushi takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Charles misses with the combination.
Charles throws a push kick but Hirigushi slaps the foot to one side.
Charles throws a big shot that misses.
Hirigushi throwing a counter right hand but Charles manages to avoid it.
Charles scores with a nice right hand.
Charles misses with a body shot.
A little feinted left hand from Hirigushi on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Hirigushi takes one to the side of the head.
Hirigushi throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Charles looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Hirigushi is looking to counter punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charles fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Hirigushi has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Charles throws a hook but Hirigushi blocks it.
Hirigushi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
It looked like Hirigushi was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Hirigushi takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Charles throws a leg kick but Hirigushi checks it.
Hirigushi swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Charles with a nice cross.
The fighters circle momentarily. Hirigushi darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Charles throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Hirigushi throws a looping overhand right but Charles ducks down to avoid it.
Charles throws a lazy uppercut
and Hirigushi counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Charles moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Kendo Hirigushi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Charles lands with a hook. Hirigushi tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Charles scores with a nice head shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Charles will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
A bone on bone clash there as Hirigushi blocks the leg kick.
An attempted straight right counter from Hirigushi misses the target.
Sloppy strikes from Hirigushi. Those never looked like landing.
Hirigushi steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Charles.
Charles misses with a few strikes there.
Nice shot by Hirigushi.
Charles throws a leg kick but Hirigushi sees it coming and moves out of range.
A little feinted left hand from Hirigushi on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Charles throws a hook but Hirigushi avoids it easily.
Hirigushi went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Charles throws a half hearted mid kick.
Charles ducks under a wild hook from Hirigushi.
Mike Charles seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Charles swinging wildly here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Charles showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Charles with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Charles throws a body punch but Hirigushi moves out of range.
Charles throws a low kick but Hirigushi moves out of range easily.
Hirigushi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Charles.
Charles misses with a left hand
and Hirigushi makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Hirigushi uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Charles.
Hirigushi throwing a counter right hand but Charles manages to avoid it.
Charles lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Charles throws a leg kick
letting Hirigushi counter with a right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Charles thows a left - swing and a miss!
Charles throws a lazy uppercut
and Hirigushi counters with a stiff right hand.
A jab from Hirigushi misses.
Charles fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
It looked like Hirigushi was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hirigushi digs a good body shot into Charles's ribs.
Charles throws a low kick but Hirigushi moves out of range easily.
Charles misses the body punch

and Hirigushi counters with a crisp one two that drops Charles! Hirigushi thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Charles to his feet! Charles is in big trouble!

Charles is rocked!
Charles leaves his chin hanging out and Hirigushi seizes the opportunity with an uppercut! Charles crumbles to the floor in a heap! The referee steps in and tends to the downed fighter! What a knockout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:22 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Kendo Hirigushi!
Kendo Hirigushi decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.