PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Horace Cuba (ranked 1251 p4p, 1801 weight class) and Japa Koniu (ranked 164 p4p, 239 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Cuba
vs
Koniu

200 cm
24
270
18 - 9 - 0

198 cm
43
235
27 - 26 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Warrior Fight Store
Voodoo Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Horace Cuba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 26 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Japa Koniu!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cuba throws a shot from downtown. Koniu moves away and avoids it.
Cuba throws a left and a right that both miss
and Koniu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cuba's knee momentarily.
Cuba gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
enabling Koniu to counter with a crisp jab.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Cuba is defended easily by Koniu.
Cuba swings for the body but Koniu moves out of range.

Cuba has Koniu up against the cage in a clinch.
Koniu working hard to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cuba blocks the elbow strike.
Koniu lands an elbow inside that Cuba shrugs off.

It looks like Horace Cuba has been cut.
Cuba blocks a body shot from Koniu.
Koniu misses with a body punch.
Koniu's coach down at St Petersburg MMA Gym was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Koniu's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Cuba.
Koniu missing with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cuba blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Koniu misses with a knee to the head.
Cuba tries a body shot but Koniu blocks it.
Koniu dodges an elbow strike from Cuba.
Koniu is trying to push Cuba away but Cuba has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Cuba doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Cuba taking a breather.
Koniu throws an elbow that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Cuba.
Koniu dodges an elbow strike from Cuba.
Cuba misses with an elbow strike.
Koniu lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Koniu tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Koniu is leaning against Cuba and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Koniu.
Cuba stalling the fight.

Cuba lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Cuba has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Koniu is trying to stand up.
Koniu is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Koniu avoids a series of strikes thrown by Cuba.
Koniu is trying to stand.

Cuba looking for a guillotine from mount but Koniu is having none of it.
Cuba thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Koniu squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Cuba lands a nice shot to the head.
Koniu is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Cuba controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Koniu trying desperately to get to his feet.
Cuba punching from mount but Koniu doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Koniu wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Cuba.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Koniu's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Cuba controlling from the full mount.
Koniu wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Koniu really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Cuba. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cuba wants to control the pace but Koniu is squirming around nicely.
Cuba tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Cuba lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Koniu trying desperately to get to his feet.
Cuba controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cuba sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Koniu really wants to buck Cuba off and get back to his feet.

Cuba has control of Koniu's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Koniu regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Koniu is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Cuba throws some wild stikes that Koniu manages to avoid easily.
Koniu is trying to stand up.
Cuba thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Cuba looking to control and managing it successfully.
Koniu is trying to stand.

Koniu bucks Cuba off and manages to get back to his feet!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Cuba closes the distance and clinches.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Horace Cuba dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Horace Cuba's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Cuba ducks under a wild hook from Koniu.
Koniu scoring well with a low kick there.
Cuba throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Koniu counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Koniu throws a low kick but Cuba avoids it.
Koniu uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Cuba.
Cuba tries for a takedown but Koniu sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Cuba punishes Koniu's body with a nice straight punch.
Koniu throws a hook but Cuba blocks it.
Cuba misses with a lunging right hand
and Koniu counters with a thumping low kick.
Koniu thows a body kick. Cuba tries to catch it but that hurt him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cuba misses with a right hand
and Koniu counters with a nice uppercut.
Cuba misses the shot to the body.
Cuba misses with a body shot.
Koniu with a nice calf kick.
Horrible takedown attempt by Cuba or perhaps it was just good defense by Koniu, which made it look bad.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cuba misses with a takedown attempt
and Koniu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cuba's knee momentarily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Horace Cuba. That's going to take a lot out of him.

A big head kick from Koniu and Cuba is sent sprawling to the canvas!

Cuba is rocked!

Koniu gets to his feet - Cuba follows without any prompting.
Oh Cuba is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Cuba drops his hands momentarily and Koniu needs no second invitation. He sets himself and throws a perfect high kick, that clips Cuba just on the top of the head. Cuba drops like a sack of potatoes to the canvas, out cold! Oooooooh yeah! Stick a fork in Cuba - he's done!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Head Kick). Japa Koniu!
A very excited looking Japa Koniu made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.