PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Challenger (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and thyago fitch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Challenger
vs
fitch

189 cm
20
205 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

173 cm
18
202 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

Dangerous GnP
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mark Challenger!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, thyago fitch!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Challenger.
fitch is trying to get back to his feet.
fitch is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Challenger will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Challenger thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
fitch wants to get back to his feet.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Challenger stands up and beckons fitch to his feet.

fitch gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Challenger has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Challenger is stalling in the full guard.
fitch wants to stand up but Challenger is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Challenger controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Challenger stops fitch from standing up.
Challenger looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
fitch wants to stand and escape but Challenger is having none of it.
Challenger slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
fitch is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
fitch looks gassed!

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.
Challenger sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Challenger wants to stand but fitch has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
fitch wants to get back to his feet but Challenger is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Challenger stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Challenger goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Challenger getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Challenger lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

Challenger feints and as fitch raises his hands in defense, Challenger changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Challenger sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed fitch's guard.
Challenger is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Challenger postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for fitch to stand up.

Challenger has taken the fight to the clinch.

Challenger pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Challenger changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. fitch looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
fitch wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
fitch wants to get back to his feet but Challenger is dominant here and he's now got fitch's back!
fitch is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
What can fitch do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
fitch has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Challenger is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Challenger dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

fitch gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Challenger moves into the clinch.

Challenger gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Still in half guard, Challenger seems content to control.
fitch looks like he's trying to stand up.
Challenger knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for fitch on the ground.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
fitch is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Challenger scores with a couple of nice shots.
Challenger is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Challenger tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fitch keeps the fight on the outside.

Challenger gets the takedown into side control.
fitch tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Challenger controlling from the back.
fitch controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Challenger struggling to keep hold of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Challenger landing with strikes.
fitch is trying to stand back up.

Challenger is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. fitch is defending well though. Challenger let's go of the attempt for now.
fitch trying to get back to his feet but Challenger is in full control for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Challenger just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
fitch holding both Challenger 's hands and preventing any damage.
Challenger scores with punches to the body.
Challenger is riding his opponent, not letting fitch buck him off.
fitch looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

fitch is trying escape back to his feet. He turns into his opponent's guard and eventually finds his way back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Challenger feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Challenger stands up and waves to fitch to follow him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Challenger dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Challenger is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in fitch's half guard.
fitch wants to get back to his feet.

Challenger gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Challenger changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. fitch looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
fitch wants to get back to his feet but Challenger drags him back down.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
fitch tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
Challenger slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fitch trying to get back to his feet but Challenger is in full control for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Challenger really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for fitch.
fitch controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
fitch looking very determined here, making life difficult for Challenger.
fitch wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Challenger controlling the position well here. fitch rolled but Challenger kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
fitch wants to get back to his feet.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Challenger controlling the positon.
Mark Challenger is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four 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.
fitch is trying to get back to his feet but Challenger has full control of the position and if anything, fitch has just worked his way into a worse spot.

fitch is looking to stand back up. He's having to work hard to escape but eventually he manages it.
fitch fails with the takedown

and Challenger counters with a nice double leg into side control. fitch won't be happy with that.
fitch is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Challenger is controlling him well.
thyago fitch has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Challenger remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Challenger showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Challenger has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:26
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Challenger!