PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Roronoa Zorro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lee Morimoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lee Morimoto told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Zorro
vs
Morimoto

188 cm
22
185 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

175 cm
24
192 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

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 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Roronoa Zorro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Lee Morimoto!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Marco Blurström and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zorro scores with a nice body kick.
Zorro slaps away a takedown attempt from Morimoto, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Zorro blocks a head kick by Morimoto.
Zorro turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Zorro tries to close the distance and clinch but Morimoto swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Zorro gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Morimoto controlling from the top position.
It looks like Morimoto might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Morimoto trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morimoto decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Zorro, up you get!
Morimoto swinging wildly here.
Zorro tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Morimoto paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Morimoto changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Zorro tries to avoid it but Morimoto manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Zorro to the ground. Zorro escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Morimoto will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Roronoa Zorro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lee Morimoto.
Morimoto attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Morimoto looks for a takedown but Zorro sprawls well.

Zorro gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Morimoto to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Morimoto looks gassed!
Morimoto is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zorro controls Morimoto momentarily but Morimoto frees himself.
Morimoto is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Lee Morimoto hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Morimoto shoots in for a double leg but Zorro sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morimoto has closed the distance and engaged Zorro in a clinch.
Morimoto stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Morimoto tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Zorro just stands there and leans against the cage.
Morimoto tries to land knees in the clinch but Zorro avoids the damage to the body.
Morimoto has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Zorro avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Zorro is trying to maintain a safe position but Morimoto gets an underhook and turns Zorro into the cage.
Morimoto fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Zorro is trying to break the clinch but Morimoto has him pressed against the cage.
Morimoto is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Zorro to keep the fight standing.
Zorro looking to slow down the pace here.
Zorro keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Morimoto's efforts to push away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morimoto trying to land knees to the body.

Morimoto jumps guard.
Zorro wanted to stand there but Morimoto had control of the position.
Zorro stopping the sweep attempt from Morimoto.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Zorro in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zorro stopping the sweep attempt from Morimoto.
Morimoto will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lee Morimoto 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.

Morimoto shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Zorro as he jumps to the side.
Zorro thows a left - swing and a miss!

Morimoto gets a clinch.
Zorro looking to slow down the pace here.
Morimoto is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Zorro gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Zorro is trying to break free.
Zorro is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Morimoto has picked Zorro up - he's going for a ride! Morimoto dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Morimoto controlling the action here.

Morimoto decides to return to a standing position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morimoto shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Zorro as he jumps to the side.
Roronoa Zorro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lee Morimoto.
Zorro tries to close the distance and clinch up but Morimoto swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Morimoto will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Zorro shoots in looking for a takedown but Morimoto manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Zorro's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Morimoto moves into the clinch successfully.
Zorro is looking to break free of the clinch but Morimoto has double underhooks.
Morimoto is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Morimoto lands a right hand.
Zorro wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Morimoto jumps guard and drags Zorro to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Zorro will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zorro with a flurry of punches that miss.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Morimoto is on top in guard.
Morimoto controls from within his opponent's guard.

Morimoto gets to his feet - Zorro follows without any prompting.
Zorro wants to clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zorro tries to clinch but Morimoto moves away

and Morimoto counters by clinching up.
Zorro is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Morimoto tries for a takedown but Zorro manages to get underhooks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zorro wants to get back to striking at distance but Morimoto won't allow it.
Morimoto prevents Zorro from breaking the clinch.
Zorro is looking to break free of the clinch but Morimoto has double underhooks.
Zorro avoids a wild elbow strike from Morimoto.

Morimoto jumps guard and drags Zorro to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Morimoto looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

Morimoto pushes Zorro off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Morimoto tries a head kick but it misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zorro tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Morimoto counters by moving into the clinch.
Zorro can't get the takedown.

Morimoto jumps into guard, dragging Zorro to the mat.
Morimoto is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Morimoto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Lee Morimoto has got the better of the ground game so far.
Zorro trying to control the position from guard on top but Morimoto is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Morimoto holds on and takes a little breather.
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!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Morimoto lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Morimoto closes this distance looking for a takedown but Zorro circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lee Morimoto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Morimoto shoots in looking for a takedown but Zorro manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Morimoto's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
No luck for Morimoto with that takedown attempt.
Morimoto dives in and grabs Zorro's left leg, looking for a takedown. Zorro pushes down on Morimoto's head and hops out.
Roronoa Zorro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lee Morimoto.

Morimoto forces Zorro back against the cage and clinches.
Zorro throws an elbow that misses.
Zorro working hard to break the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Zorro.
Zorro looking to stall.
Morimoto misses with an elbow strike.
Morimoto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Morimoto jumps into guard, dragging Zorro to the mat.

Morimoto wriggles free and stands up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zorro tries to clinch but Morimoto moves away

and Morimoto moves into the clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Morimoto lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Zorro or not.
Zorro is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Zorro is trying to break the clinch but Morimoto is controlling him.
Zorro tries to break free but Morimoto pushes him back against the cage.
Morimoto tries to score a body lock takedown but Zorro shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Zorro tries to break the clinch but Morimoto is controlling the position.
Morimoto is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Zorro is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morimoto tries to break free but Zorro pushes him back against the cage.
Zorro wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Zorro prevents Morimoto from breaking the clinch.
Zorro wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Morimoto is trying to drag Zorro to the mat but Zorro just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Zorro is trying to stall.

Zorro escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Morimoto looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Zorro is fending him off so far but Morimoto persists. Nope, Zorro circles away and we're back to standing.
Zorro shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Morimoto but Morimoto pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morimoto shoots in looking for a takedown but Zorro manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Morimoto's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Morimoto takes a kick to the side of the head.
Morimoto shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Zorro defends it nicely.
Zorro defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Morimoto.
Zorro throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

Morimoto has taken the fight to the clinch.
Zorro prevents the takedown attempt.
Lee Morimoto seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.

Zorro breaks the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morimoto throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Zorro.
Zorro stuffs the takedown.
Morimoto fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Zorro manages to avoid it.

Morimoto pushes Zorro up against the cage in a clinch.
Zorro stops a takedown attempt from Morimoto.
Zorro has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Morimoto has Zorro pressed against the cage.
Morimoto tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A frustrated look appears on Zorro's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Roronoa Zorro has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Lee Morimoto is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Zorro trying to stall but Morimoto improves his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Lee Morimoto.
Well Morimoto has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lee Morimoto!