PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Thomas Martins (ranked 5936 p4p, 24881 weight class) and Gamba Osaka (ranked 424 p4p, 492 weight class). The key to victory for Thomas Martins has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Martins
vs
Osaka

175 cm
19
150
1 - 1 - 0

150 cm
18
146
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Thomas Martins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gamba Osaka!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Steven Brown and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Martins has taken the fight to the clinch.
Osaka looking for a takedown.
Osaka takes a knee to the side of the body.

Osaka escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Osaka darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Osaka slows the pace down in half guard.
Osaka trying to control the action but Martins is working from the bottom.
Osaka should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Martins taking some punishment here, with Osaka in his half guard.
Martins works his way to full guard. Good work.
Martins will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Osaka keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Martins's head.
Martins is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Martins manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Osaka taking a breather.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Martins.
Martins scores with an uppercut up the middle.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Osaka has eaten all the pies!
Osaka tries to break free but Martins pushes him back against the cage.
Come on Martins - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
A head punch on the inside from Martins fails to land.
Osaka leaning against his opponent.

Osaka drags the fight down to the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Martins wants to control from the top but Osaka keeps moving.
Osaka wants to sweep but no luck.

Martins 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.
Osaka is pulling down on Martins's head. It's preventing any offense from Martins, at least for the moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Osaka's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

Osaka looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Martins passes into side control.
Martins creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Osaka sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Osaka tries to bench press Martins off him but Martins keeps the position.
Osaka throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.
Osaka is trying to improve his position.
Martins tries to move to mount but Osaka blocks the move with his legs.
Osaka has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Martins stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Martins rushes Osaka and presses him up against the cage.
Martins looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Osaka has Martins pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Martins manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.

Martins manages to pull guard.
Osaka missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Osaka controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Osaka is in close to Martins's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Osaka stands up over Martins, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Osaka slips nicely into half guard.
Osaka stalling.
Osaka lands strikes from half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Martins is looking to escape.
Martins tries to get to full guard but Osaka has control of the leg.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Osaka is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Osaka scoring with strikes to the body and head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Martins dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Osaka tries to keep at a distance but Martins has taken the fight into the clinch.
Osaka is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Osaka escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Osaka fails to land the takedown.

Martins moves into the clinch.
Osaka is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Martins is defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Osaka tries to break free but Martins pushes him back against the cage.
Osaka wants to take the fight to the mat but Martins manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Thomas Martins has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gamba Osaka.
Osaka is trying to push Martins away but Martins has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martins leaning against his opponent.
Osaka is trying to push Martins away but Martins has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Osaka controlling the action here for a moment.
Martins keeps control of Osaka as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Osaka tries for a takedown but Martins manages to get underhooks.
Osaka looking for a takedown.
Martins is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Osaka can do to turn this around?
Osaka tries to pull guard but Martins won't allow it.
Osaka is breathing heavily.
Martins avoiding damage.
Martins lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Osaka tightens his grip and picks Martins up, before dumping him to the ground. Martins manages to land in guard.
Osaka with a flurry of punches that miss.
Martins is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Martins looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Gamba Osaka has got the better of the ground game so far.
Osaka wants to pass the guard but Martins is keeping the position.
Martins keeping moving, preventing Osaka from controlling successfully.
Osaka pushes down on Martins's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Martins tries to kick Osaka off but Osaka keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martins tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Martins is looking to improve his position.
Osaka slows the pace down in half guard.
Osaka working Martins over with strikes.

Martins looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Osaka keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Osaka is continuing to stall.
Osaka stalling away here and it's allowed Martins to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Osaka content to stall in guard here.
Osaka trying to control the position from guard on top but Martins is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Osaka pushing down on Martins's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Martins on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Osaka is keen to just control but Martins is a slippery customer.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Martins tries to kick Osaka off but Osaka keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Osaka controlling the action here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Thomas Martins will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Osaka gets tackled into the cage by Martins. Martins maintains the clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Martins stops a takedown attempt from Osaka.

Martins manages to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Martins scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

It looks like Gamba Osaka has been cut.
Martins misses with the combination.

Martins gets a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Osaka is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Osaka has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Martins regains guard immediately.
Osaka trying to control the position from guard on top but Martins is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Osaka throws an elbow that misses. Martins uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Osaka's guard. Nice move by Martins!

Martins missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Osaka looking for a guillotine here but Martins defends easily.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Osaka holds on and takes a little breather.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Osaka has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Osaka wants to hit a sweep here but Martins passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Osaka there!
Osaka takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Osaka is in all sorts of trouble here.
Osaka wants to control but Martins is having none of it.
Martins wants to control the pace but Osaka is squirming around nicely.
Martins controlling from the full mount.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Osaka can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Poor strikes thrown by Martins there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Martins lands a couple of good shots and Osaka has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Osaka tries to roll but Martins sticks to his back.

Martins is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Osaka is defending well though. Martins let's go of the attempt for now.
Osaka trying to control the hands but Martins won't let him.
Osaka can't escape the position.
Osaka looking very determined here, making life difficult for Martins.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Osaka breaks Martins's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Osaka not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The adventures of Osaka the control monster continue. Boring.
Martins trying to keep a closed guard but Osaka is proving a slippery customer.
Thomas Martins is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Osaka trying to control the position from guard on top but Martins is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Osaka is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gamba Osaka has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Osaka stopping the sweep attempt from Martins.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thomas Martins showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Martins, 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27
Judge William Gold scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thomas Martins!