PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jorgen Kruth (ranked 286 p4p, 303 weight class) and Kotaro Asakura (ranked 19 p4p, 20 weight class). Kruth comes to the cage accompanied by Black Hole Sun- Soundgarden. Asakura has chosen Venom by $ B as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Kruth
vs
Asakura

176 cm
29
148
16 - 4 - 0

173 cm
28
137
18 - 10 - 0

BJJ Red Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Great elbows
Granite chin

Conviction
NARCOS

Hoarse Pills
Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jorgen Kruth!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kotaro Asakura!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Taro Takaoka and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kruth shoots in looking for a takedown but Asakura manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Kruth's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Kruth shoots in for a double leg but Asakura sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
It seemed like Asakura was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Kruth throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Asakura on the side of the head.

Kruth closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Kruth lands in his opponent's guard.

Asakura kicks Kruth off and gets to his feet.
Asakura bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Kruth uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Asakura.
Kruth lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Kruth throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Asakura was covering up waiting for the punch and Kruth finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Kruth engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Kruth seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Asakura for as long as he can get away with.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Asakura tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Asakura can't keep his opponent in guard - Kruth advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Asakura wants to improve his position but Kruth is controlling well.
Kruth throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Asakura is staying active underneath Kruth, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Asakura trying to hold on to Kruth's head to control him but Kruth postures up.
Asakura really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kruth. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Kruth trying to mount his opponent but Asakura defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kruth not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kruth trying to control the action but Asakura is working from the bottom.
Asakura is trying to maintain the position but Kruth is very close to passing his half guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Kruth controlling the action here.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Kruth scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Kruth prevents Asakura from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kruth wants to work for an arm triangle but Asakura is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Kruth is trying to control. Asakura wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Kruth is trying for a kimura here. Asakura looks like he's in a lot of pain... and he's tapping out! Kruth wins by kimura!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:42 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Jorgen Kruth!
Jorgen Kruth was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.