PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shim Changmin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Saku Katsumoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shim Changmin had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Changmin
vs
Katsumoto

189 cm
32
197 lbs
16 - 13 - 0

180 cm
27
190 lbs
18 - 13 - 0

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

KAISER

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 16 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shim Changmin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Saku Katsumoto!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Shigeki Sano and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Changmin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Katsumoto dives in and grabs Changmin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Changmin pushes down on Katsumoto's head and hops out.
Saku Katsumoto seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Katsumoto throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Katsumoto takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Katsumoto throws out a leg kick but Changmin moves out of range and Katsumoto only half commits.
Katsumoto thows a body shot but no joy.
Katsumoto closes the distance and clinches up with Changmin, looking for a takedown. Katsumoto pushes Changmin against the cage but Changmin circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Changmin drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Changmin sprawls well. Changmin wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Katsumoto gets slowly back to his feet.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Katsumoto is looking to clinch.
Katsumoto misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Changmin blocks a head kick by Katsumoto.
Shim Changmin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Katsumoto tries to close the distance and clinch up but Changmin swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Katsumoto throws an overhand right that lands on Changmin's shoulder, as Changmin tries to avoid the shot.
Katsumoto tries to bum rush Changmin with a series of wild strikes but Changmin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Katsumoto falls off balance throwing a combination
and Changmin counters with a left to the body.
Katsumoto shoots in but Changmin avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Changmin defending well as Katsumoto loads up on a big left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto shoots in looking for a takedown but Changmin manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Katsumoto's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Katsumoto throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Changmin checks a low kick from Katsumoto.
Nice uppercut there from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with a combination
and Katsumoto takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
A looping hook to the body misses from Katsumoto. Changmin does a little dance to reset his feet.
Changmin stuffs the takedown.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Katsumoto throws a left and a right that both miss
and Changmin counters with a nice uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto misses with a double jab
and Katsumoto takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Katsumoto will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Changmin stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Changmin wants it to stay on the feet.
Katsumoto rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Changmin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Changmin uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with a hook. Changmin ducked under it nicely.

Katsumoto bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Katsumoto tries for a kimura but Changmin is defending well.
Changmin wants to control but Katsumoto postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Katsumoto is trying to get an arm triangle but Changmin is defending well.
Changmin stops Katsumoto from passing to mount.
Changmin struggling a bit here.
Changmin is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Katsumoto tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Katsumoto has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Changmin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Katsumoto on the ground.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Katsumoto tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Saku Katsumoto dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Katsumoto misses with a jab, cross combination.
Katsumoto moves in looking to clinch but Changmin pushes him off.
A head kick from Katsumoto lands but Changmin takes it in his stride.
A nice combination there by Katsumoto.
Changmin defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Katsumoto.
Horrible takedown by Katsumoto or perhaps it was just good defense by Changmin which made him look bad.
Katsumoto is looking to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto throws a left and a right that both miss
and Changmin counters with a straight right hand.

Katsumoto clinches.
Katsumoto has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Changmin after a bit of a struggle.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Changmin gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Katsumoto.

Katsumoto escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Katsumoto is defended easily by Changmin.
Katsumoto tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Changmin paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto is looking to clinch but Changmin is avoiding it.
Katsumoto has a takedown stuffed.
Katsumoto misses with a straight left.
Katsumoto lands an overhand right.
Katsumoto scores with the left hand. Changmin knows he should have avoided that one.
Katsumoto missing with a left hand there. Changmin was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Katsumoto throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Katsumoto throws a combination that misses
and Changmin counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto tries to clinch up
and Katsumoto takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Katsumoto fails with a takedown attempt.
Katsumoto misses with a double jab
and Changmin connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Katsumoto lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto is looking to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto throws a sloppy head kick and Changmin moves out of range easily.
Katsumoto misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Katsumoto closes the distance but Changmin moves to the side
and Changmin counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Changmin on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Katsumoto. Katsumoto obviously looking to wear him down.
Katsumoto misses with a few strikes there.
Katsumoto misses with a double jab
and Katsumoto takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Saku Katsumoto seems to be getting the better of the standup.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Katsumoto tries to score a power double leg takedown but Changmin sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Katsumoto somewhat.
Shim Changmin is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but Changmin shows good takedown defense.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Saku Katsumoto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Katsumoto gets in close and instigates a clinch.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Katsumoto is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Changmin is defending well.
Katsumoto has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Katsumoto has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Changmin is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Katsumoto tries to break the clinch but Changmin is controlling the position.
Changmin wants to break free but Katsumoto has control.

Changmin breaks from the clinch.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but Changmin shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with a two punch combination.
Changmin avoids the body shot from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto throws a hook but Changmin avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Changmin avoids it really well and circles away.
Katsumoto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Katsumoto tries for a takedown but Changmin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Katsumoto tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Changmin manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Katsumoto throws a combination that misses
and Changmin cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Changmin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Katsumoto.
Changmin is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Katsumoto swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Changmin gets caught napping as Katsumoto dives in and scores a takedown. Changmin manages to retain guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Katsumoto drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Changmin manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Katsumoto has Changmin in his guard.
Changmin seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Changmin wants to stand but Katsumoto is controlling his posture from full guard.

Katsumoto working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Changmin doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Changmin manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Katsumoto keeping full guard, as Changmin tries to pass.
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!
Katsumoto being controlled here, momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Changmin trying to control the position from guard on top but Katsumoto is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Shim Changmin wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Changmin slips a straight right by Katsumoto.
Katsumoto throws a right and a left that both miss.
Katsumoto shoots for a takedown but Changmin saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Katsumoto looks for a takedown but Changmin sprawls well.
Katsumoto just misses with a punch to the body.
Katsumoto misses with a combination
and Changmin counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Changmin circles away quickly and effectively.
Katsumoto wants to clinch but Changmin slips to the side
enabling Changmin to counter with a crisp jab.
Katsumoto swings away with a body shot that misses
and Changmin counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Katsumoto closes this distance looking for a takedown but Changmin circles away.
Katsumoto misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Katsumoto throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Changmin sees it coming and avoids it easily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Katsumoto throws a lazy right hand but Changmin sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Saku Katsumoto.
Well Katsumoto 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight for Saku Katsumoto!
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight for Saku Katsumoto!
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight for Saku Katsumoto!

Saku Katsumoto wins by unanimous decision!
Saku Katsumoto decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.