PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hanamichi Sakuragi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jin San (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). San has chosen Voices as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Hanamichi Sakuragi has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sakuragi
vs
San

190 cm
26
194 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

198 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hanamichi Sakuragi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jin San!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Yuuki Gou and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
San fails with the takedown

and Sakuragi counters with a single leg into guard. San didn't expect that.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
San looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
San keeping full guard, as Sakuragi tries to pass.
Sakuragi scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Sakuragi knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for San on the ground.
Sakuragi thows a big elbow that misses.
Sakuragi controls from within his opponent's guard.
Sakuragi postures up.
Sakuragi scoring with punches to the head and body.
San being controlled here, momentarily.
Sakuragi missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuragi scoring with punches to the head and body.
Sakuragi's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Sakuragi's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Sakuragi decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on San, up you get!

Sakuragi looking to score a takedown here. San is defending well but Sakuragi drives through and ends up in San's guard.

Sakuragi drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Sakuragi jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Sakuragi with a nice head shot there.
Sakuragi stands up over San, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Sakuragi scoring with some ground and pound.
Sakuragi connects with a couple of short punches.
Sakuragi with a nice head shot there.
San is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Sakuragi is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Sakuragi scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Sakuragi is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Sakuragi stands and throws San's legs to the side, diving into side control.
San taking a bit of punishment here - Sakuragi scoring with strikes.
Sakuragi scoring with punches and elbows.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sakuragi lands a nice forearm strike.
Sakuragi grinds an elbow into San's temple.
Sakuragi is working San over with some ground and pound from side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Sakuragi landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
San taking punishment in the form of punches.

San is rocked!
Sakuragi content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Sakuragi lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Sakuragi moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

Sakuragi working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
San can't do much from the bottom here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Sakuragi stalls from top position.
Sakuragi is putting a hurting on San here, landing some big shots from side control.
Sakuragi is chipping away with strikes.
Sakuragi has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Sakuragi landing strikes from the mount and San is in trouble!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Sakuragi cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sakuragi with a couple of short strikes.
Sakuragi sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sakuragi looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hanamichi Sakuragi dominated that 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.

Sakuragi shoots in and gets a takedown into San's guard.
Sakuragi engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Sakuragi's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Sakuragi working some strikes from top position.
Sakuragi not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Sakuragi has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Sakuragi with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
San is breathing heavily.
Sakuragi lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Hanamichi Sakuragi overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sakuragi is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuragi seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down San for as long as he can get away with.
Sakuragi advances to half guard.
Sakuragi controlling the action here.
San wants to get back to his feet.
Sakuragi lands with a punch from half guard.
Sakuragi looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks San with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Sakuragi is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuragi raining down hammerfists from mount.
Sakuragi lands with some vicious ground and pound - can San hang on?
Sakuragi is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that San can do to turn this around?
Sakuragi landing strikes from the mount.
San is still in real trouble! Can Sakuragi finish him?
Sakuragi lands a big shot there that rocks San but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Sakuragi cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Sakuragi working the ground and pound effectively.
Sakuragi controlling from the full mount.
Sakuragi scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish San?
Sakuragi controlling the pace for now.
San seems to have recovered his senses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sakuragi quickly switches position and commits to an armbar! It's a big risk for Sakuragi but it's paid off an San is forced to tap! Nice work by Sakuragi.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:21 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Hanamichi Sakuragi!