PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John French (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yuji Nakano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

French
vs
Nakano

185 cm
24
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
20
280 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, John French!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yuji Nakano!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Kenichi Hosakawa and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
French throws a right and a left that Nakano avoids nicely.

French forces Nakano back against the cage and clinches.
Nakano is trying to break the clinch but French is controlling him.
French keeps control of Nakano as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Nakano jumps guard and drags French to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

Nakano is working an open guard so French takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Yuji Nakano seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
French swats away the attempt to clinch by Nakano.
French stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and French wants it to stay on the feet.
Nakano doesn't manage to clinch there - French circles away.
Nakano misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
French circles away from the clinch attempt.
French lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nakano circles away quickly and effectively.
Nakano tries to clinch there but French circles away.
Nakano tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but French paws at him with a jab and circles away.
French fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Nakano manages to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

French decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Still in half guard, French seems content to control.

French is trying to work for a kimura but Nakano is defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
French looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Nakano really doesn't want to stay on the ground with French. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Nakano is trying to maintain the position but French is very close to passing his half guard.

French is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
French not doing much here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
French throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

French gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Nakano tries to score a power double leg takedown but French sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Nakano somewhat.
Nakano tries to clinch but French moves out of range.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nakano shoots for a double leg takedown but French sprawls well. He's pushed Nakano's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
John French has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yuji Nakano.

French pushes Nakano up against the cage in a clinch.
French lands an uppercut.
Stalling in the clinch from French.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakano tries for a takedown. No joy.
Nakano looks gassed!
With the fighters clinched against the cage, French creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Nakano misses with a shot to the kidneys.

French manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

French pushes Nakano off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Nakano is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in French's half guard.
French is positioning himself well to prevent Nakano advancing to mount.
French 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.
French moves into full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakano would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Nakano stopping the sweep attempt from French.
This has been an exciting period of action!
French manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
French with good strikes from the mount here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nakano in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Nakano sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John French dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

French rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Nakano moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Nakano throws a combination that misses

and French counters with a nice double leg into side control. Nakano won't be happy with that.

French decides to stand up, so the ref orders Nakano to his feet.

French gets a double leg takedown into Nakano's guard.
Nakano avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
French controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

French gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

French gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

French pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Nakano scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Nakano is breathing heavily.
French will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Nakano tries to close the distance and clinch up but French swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's one minute gone in the round.

French shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
John French overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
French missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
French not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Nakano is trying to defend against the ground and pound but French scores with a couple of nice shots.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
French passes the guard and advances to mount!
Nakano is in a horrible position here. French smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! French connects with a massive shot to the dome!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nakano wants to try and get back to his feet.
French landing punches.
French controlling from mount.
BOOM! French connects with a massive shot to the dome!
French takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
French with a couple of short strikes.
French landing shots from mount.
French lands a heavy elbow.
French controlling the position easily from mount.
French in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakano is bucking up trying to escape but French cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A big strike lands for French! That's really hurt Nakano and he's turned his back - French keeps firing away and the ref dives in to stop the fight! French jumps to his feet to celebrate the victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John French!