PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frans Hougard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Takashi Katsumoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hougard
vs
Katsumoto

170 cm
26
190 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

170 cm
31
175 lbs
22 - 12 - 1

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Dragon
Nutrition Your Way!

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 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Frans Hougard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 12 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Takashi Katsumoto!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Saam Ante and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hougard throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Katsumoto gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks it.
Katsumoto gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike from Katsumoto.

Katsumoto breaks the clinch.

Katsumoto closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Hougard using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Katsumoto has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Hougard has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
The referee is keeping an eye on Katsumoto - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Katsumoto is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Katsumoto throws an elbow but misses.
Katsumoto lands with a left to the head.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Katsumoto's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Hougard missing with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hougard missing with knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto just leaning against Hougard, taking a breather.
Katsumoto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Hougard misses with a knee to the head.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hougard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Katsumoto is defending well for now.
Katsumoto tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Katsumoto just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hougard's brow.
Hougard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Katsumoto.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike from Katsumoto.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hougard using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Katsumoto has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks with his arms.
Hougard missing with knees to the body.
Katsumoto pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Katsumoto looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks it.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside.

Katsumoto manages to break the clinch.
Takashi Katsumoto seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hougard fails in his attempt to clinch.

Katsumoto clinches.
Katsumoto tries to land knees in the clinch but Hougard avoids the damage to the body.
Katsumoto blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hougard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Katsumoto.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Katsumoto just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hougard's brow.
Hougard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hougard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hougard misses with a knee strike.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Katsumoto stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Katsumoto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside that Hougard shrugs off.
Katsumoto comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks with his arms.
Hougard trying to land knees to the body.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside that Hougard shrugs off.
A short right from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto lands with a right to the head.
Hougard takes an elbow to the temple.
Hougard takes an elbow to the forehead.
Hougard looking to throw knees to the head but Katsumoto is blocking nicely.
Katsumoto throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Katsumoto pushes off an throws an elbow but Hougard leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Katsumoto.
Hougard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Katsumoto throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Katsumoto stalling against the cage.
Katsumoto lands a damaging elbow.
Katsumoto misses with an elbow over the top.
Hougard landing some nice looking knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hougard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Katsumoto.
With the fighters up against the cage, Katsumoto throws an elbow but misses.
Katsumoto avoiding damage as Hougard throws knees to the body.

Katsumoto breaks from the clinch.

Katsumoto closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Hougard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hougard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hougard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Katsumoto lands a damaging elbow.
Katsumoto softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Katsumoto on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Katsumoto breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Katsumoto has Hougard up against the cage in a clinch.
Katsumoto lands a good knee to the midsection. Hougard won't want to take too many of those.
Hougard looking to throw knees to the head but Katsumoto is blocking nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takashi Katsumoto dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Katsumoto goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Katsumoto closes the distance and pushes Hougard back into the cage.
Hougard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Katsumoto crunches a lovely knee into Hougard's ribcage.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Hougard missing with knees to the body.
Takashi Katsumoto seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Hougard takes an elbow to the temple.

It looks like Frans Hougard has been cut.

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

Katsumoto closes the distance and clinches.
Katsumoto content to slow the pace in the clinch.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Katsumoto. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Hougard missing with knees to the body.
Katsumoto lands an elbow just above Hougard 's eye.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside that Hougard shrugs off.
Katsumoto missing with knees to the body.
Katsumoto gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Hougard lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Hougard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Katsumoto is defending well for now.
Katsumoto throws an elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto throws an elbow that misses.
Katsumoto connects with a nasty looking knee right to Hougard's face.
Katsumoto tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hougard's elbow.
Katsumoto is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Hougard is keeping busy.
Katsumoto's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.

Katsumoto escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Katsumoto clinches up with Hougard and pushes him back against the cage.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike.
Katsumoto trying to land knees to the body.
Hougard trying to land knees to the body.
Hougard throws a knee to the head but misses.
Hougard takes an elbow to the temple.
Katsumoto creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Hougard's defenses.
Hougard takes a knee to the side of the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hougard looking to throw knees to the head but Katsumoto is blocking nicely.
Katsumoto wants a takedown but no success here.
Hougard is looking to control Katsumoto's arms but Katsumoto gets an underhook and turns him. Now Hougard has his back to the cage.
Hougard dodges an elbow strike from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto is struggling to control the position.
Katsumoto throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Katsumoto drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Katsumoto avoiding damage as Hougard throws knees to the body.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with an elbow over the top.

Katsumoto breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Katsumoto clinches.
Hougard misses with a knee to the head.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Katsumoto just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hougard's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Katsumoto.
Hougard misses with a knee to the head.
Katsumoto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Hougard using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Katsumoto has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Katsumoto lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Hougard avoids a wild elbow strike from Katsumoto.
Hougard with a knee to the head.
Katsumoto displaying some good clinch control by pressing Hougard up against the cage.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
With the fighters up against the cage, Katsumoto throws an elbow but misses.
Hougard tries to land knees in the clinch but Katsumoto avoids the damage to the body.
Hougard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Katsumoto is defending well for now.
Come on Katsumoto - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Katsumoto throws an elbow but it misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto looking to slow down the pace here.
Katsumoto putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hougard in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Katsumoto avoids it.
Hougard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Katsumoto creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Katsumoto lands a left hand.
Katsumoto crunches a lovely knee into Hougard's ribcage.
Katsumoto landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Katsumoto is struggling to control the position.
Katsumoto lands an elbow that stopped Hougard in his tracks for a moment.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hougard tries a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks it.
With the fighters up against the cage, Katsumoto throws an elbow but misses.
Katsumoto content to slow the pace in the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takashi Katsumoto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Frans Hougard's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Katsumoto moves into range and lands a nice body kick.

Katsumoto takes the fight into the clinch.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike.
Katsumoto throws an elbow but it misses.
Hougard prevents a takedown attempt there.
Katsumoto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Hougard lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Katsumoto is looking to control Hougard's arms but Hougard gets an underhook and turns him. Now Katsumoto has his back to the cage.
Katsumoto has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Katsumoto lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Hougard takes an elbow to the forehead.
Katsumoto lands an elbow that stopped Hougard in his tracks for a moment.
Katsumoto trying to stall but Hougard improves his position.
Katsumoto lands an elbow just above Hougard 's eye.
Katsumoto avoiding damage as Hougard throws knees to the body.
Katsumoto lands a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto throws an elbow but it misses.
Hougard blocks an elbow strike from Katsumoto.
Hougard takes an elbow to the forehead.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Katsumoto manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Hougard misses with a knee strike.
Hougard looking to throw knees to the head but Katsumoto is blocking nicely.
Katsumoto lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Katsumoto pushes off an throws an elbow but Hougard leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Katsumoto is trying to stall.
Hougard landing knees to the body.
Katsumoto working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Katsumoto working some nice short punches in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto connects with a knee to the head.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hougard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside that Hougard shrugs off.
Katsumoto managing to block the knees to the body from Hougard.
Katsumoto lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hougard backwards.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Katsumoto avoiding damage as Hougard throws knees to the body.
Hougard wants to break the clinch but can't.
Katsumoto stalling.
Katsumoto lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Hougard backwards.
Katsumoto on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hougard looking to throw knees to the head but Katsumoto is blocking nicely.
Katsumoto connects with a knee to the head.
Katsumoto misses with an elbow strike.
Hougard trying to land knees to the body.
Katsumoto gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Katsumoto obliges.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hougard takes an elbow to the temple.
Katsumoto lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Katsumoto scores with a knee to the head.

Hougard is rocked!
Hougard takes an elbow to the temple.
Oh Hougard is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hougard tries to land knees in the clinch but Katsumoto avoids the damage to the body.
Katsumoto digs a right hand underneath Hougard's ribcage. Hougard let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Hougard seems to have got his legs back now.
Katsumoto lands a damaging elbow.
Hougard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Katsumoto is defending well for now.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks it.
Katsumoto creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Hougard's defenses.
Katsumoto lands a hook that snaps the head of Hougard backwards.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Katsumoto.
Hougard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside.
Katsumoto stalling against the cage.
Katsumoto lands an elbow inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto is pushing Hougard up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hougard tries to land knees in the clinch but Katsumoto avoids the damage to the body.
Hougard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Katsumoto.
Takashi Katsumoto is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow.

Katsumoto escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Katsumoto clinches.
Katsumoto lands a nice elbow.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the head but Katsumoto blocks with his arms.
Hougard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Katsumoto blocks it with crossed arms.
Hougard tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Katsumoto avoids it.
Katsumoto gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Katsumoto goes for a takedown attempt but Hougard pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Katsumoto has taken the fight to the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Takashi Katsumoto comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
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 Albert Achterberg scores the fight 27:30
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Takashi Katsumoto!
Takashi Katsumoto bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.