PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Smashy Cartwright (ranked 823 p4p, 1083 weight class) and Genji Kamogawa (ranked 92 p4p, 163 weight class). Cartwright comes to the cage accompanied by The Hammer. Kamogawa has chosen The Veer Union - Bitter End as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Cartwright
vs
Kamogawa

174 cm
32
157
11 - 6 - 1

170 cm
32
149
17 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

Good wrestler
Brawler
Good gas tank

Brooklyn Apothecary
Brooklyn Threads

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 11 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Smashy Cartwright!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 13 - 0, fighting out of London, Genji Kamogawa!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Phil Schofield and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cartwright shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Cartwright throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Cartwright looks to land a strike but Kamogawa avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Cartwright wants to pass the guard but Kamogawa is keeping the position.
Kamogawa bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cartwright's guard.

Cartwright seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Cartwright 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kamogawa sitting in guard here, content to control.
Cartwright wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cartwright looking for a sweep. Not yet Cartwright, not yet.
Cartwright pulls Kamogawa in close to his closed guard and prevents Kamogawa from doing any damage or advancing position.
Kamogawa stopping the sweep attempt from Cartwright.
Cartwright is adopting a defensive guard.

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.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kamogawa swings for the body but Cartwright moves out of range.

Cartwright looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Kamogawa manages to get to full guard.
Kamogawa keeping full guard, as Cartwright tries to pass.
Kamogawa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cartwright trying to control the position from guard on top but Kamogawa is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cartwright working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Cartwright postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Cartwright postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Kamogawa looking to control.
Cartwright tries to free his leg and advance position but Kamogawa is retaining full guard.
Cartwright trying to control but Kamogawa is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cartwright postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Cartwright postures up and lands a big shot to Kamogawa's brow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cartwright lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Cartwright postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Cartwright throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kamogawa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cartwright throws a big right hand that misses.
Cartwright postures up and lands a big shot to Kamogawa's brow.
Cartwright engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Cartwright postures up and lands a big shot to Kamogawa's brow.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cartwright missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Kamogawa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cartwright.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Smashy Cartwright dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Kamogawa gets caught napping as Cartwright dives in and scores a takedown. Kamogawa manages to retain guard.
Cartwright throws a big elbow that misses.
Kamogawa avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Cartwright trying to control the position from guard on top but Kamogawa is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cartwright has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Cartwright loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Kamogawa is pulling down on Cartwright's head. It's preventing any offense from Cartwright, at least for the moment.
Cartwright throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kamogawa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cartwright throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Kamogawa keeping moving, preventing Cartwright from controlling successfully.
Cartwright throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cartwright throws a big right hand that misses.
Cartwright stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kamogawa swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Smashy Cartwright overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kamogawa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Cartwright scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Cartwright trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Kamogawa preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Our spies down at at London MMA Club inform us that Kamogawa has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Cartwright missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Cartwright stays in close to Kamogawa's body and controls the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Cartwright moves out of range as Kamogawa strikes.
Genji Kamogawa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kamogawa just misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kamogawa lands a nice hook to Cartwright's body. Cartwright takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Kamogawa misses with a straight left.
Cartwright gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Cartwright keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kamogawa thows a left - swing and a miss!
Kamogawa misses with the combination.

Cartwright clinches up against the cage.

Cartwright manages to pull guard.
Cartwright has his hands on Kamogawa's head, controlling the position.
Cartwright looking to hit a scissor sweep but Kamogawa is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cartwright looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kamogawa preventing the sweep.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cartwright looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kamogawa looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Kamogawa misses with a looping left.

Cartwright gets a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cartwright misses with a knee strike.
Kamogawa softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Cartwright is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Kamogawa gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Kamogawa misses with the head strike.
A head punch on the inside from Kamogawa fails to land.
Cartwright has been working on his balance at Irish Collar & Elbow Academy (ICE), so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by Kamogawa.
Cartwright tries to pull guard but Kamogawa won't allow it.
Cartwright blocking some punches.
Kamogawa throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Cartwrights head.
Kamogawa misses with the head strike.
Cartwright is trying to pull guard but Kamogawa has him pressed against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Smashy Cartwright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kamogawa fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Cartwright blocks an uppercut.
Cartwright cracks Kamogawa with a nice body shot.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kamogawa.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cartwright blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Cartwright ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Cartwright no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cartwright wants to sweep but no luck.

Cartwright looking for a guillotine here but Kamogawa defends easily.
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 Smashy Cartwright will probably get the nod.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Kamogawa throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Cartwright stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

Cartwright shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Kamogawa napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Cartwright tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Cartwright is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cartwright throws a strike aimed at the side of Kamogawa's head but Kamogawa avoids it well.
Cartwright trying to control the action but Kamogawa is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kamogawa is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Cartwright with the ground and pound but Kamogawa regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Cartwright missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Kamogawa gets back to full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cartwright accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cartwright slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Kamogawa dodges the ground and pound from Cartwright.
Genji Kamogawa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Cartwright.
Cartwright lands some shots froms side control.
An elbow from Cartwright crashes against the mat.
Cartwright misses with the ground and pound.
Cartwright tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Cartwright is trying to ground and pound but Kamogawa uses the momentary lack of control by Cartwright to regain half guard.
Kamogawa regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Cartwright.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cartwright accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cartwright trying to control but Kamogawa is working from the bottom.
Cartwright throws a big right hand that misses.
Cartwright works over Kamogawa with some ground and pound from guard.
Cartwright throws a big elbow that misses.
Kamogawa avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kamogawa avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Cartwright lands a couple of elbows.
Smashy Cartwright is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Cartwright showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Cartwright throws a big right hand that misses.
Kamogawa can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Cartwright controls the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kamogawa looks to throw the jab but Cartwright is out of range.

Cartwright shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Cartwright showed some decent athleticism there.
Cartwright not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kamogawa is looking to improve his position.
Cartwright is just content to waste time from the top position. Kamogawa takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Smashy Cartwright showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cartwright, 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:27
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Smashy Cartwright!
A relieved looking Smashy Cartwright thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.