PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jordan Blanket (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Takamura Ippo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ippo has chosen Enforcer - Destroyer as his entrance music. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Blanket
vs
Ippo

170 cm
25
150 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

168 cm
19
147 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jordan Blanket!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Takamura Ippo!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ippo throws a head kick that Blanket semi-blocks.
Ippo connects with a nice looking jab.
Ippo goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Ippo chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Ippo will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Ippo keeps Blanket at a distance using the push kick.
Ippo throws a big shot that misses.
Blanket looks for a takedown but Ippo sprawls well.
Ippo swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Blanket looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Blanket shoots in looking for a takedown but Ippo manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Blanket's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Blanket drops his hands momentarily and Ippo takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ippo clinches with his opponent.
Ippo lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the ropes.
Ippo softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
A left hand lands to the body for Ippo.
Blanket working hard to break the clinch.
Blanket is trying to break the clinch but Ippo is controlling him.
A shot in the inside from Ippo.
Ippo gets through Blanket's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Blanket jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Ippo walks away with a smile on his face. Blanket gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jordan Blanket. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Blanket takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Ippo with a hook.
Ippo lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
A solid leg kick lands there for Ippo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ippo dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Blanket. That did some damage!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Ippo gets caught napping as Blanket dives in and scores a takedown. Ippo manages to retain guard.
Ippo looking to hit a scissor sweep but Blanket is one step ahead there.
Ippo seems keen to control Blanket's posture.
Blanket trying to control but Ippo is working from the bottom.
Ippo controlling the position.
Blanket stopping the sweep attempt from Ippo.
Blanket trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Blanket is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Blanket wants to control from the top but Ippo keeps moving.
Blanket 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ippo has Blanket pulled in close to control his posture.
Blanket trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ippo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Blanket with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ippo wants to sweep but no luck.
Blanket landing with the ground and pound.
Blanket engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Blanket trying to control but Ippo is working from the bottom.
Ippo preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Blanket won't allow Ippo to sweep him here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Blanket wants to control from the top but Ippo keeps moving.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Ippo wants to sweep but no luck.
Ippo keeping moving, preventing Blanket from controlling successfully.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Ippo feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Blanket's calf.

Ippo pushes Blanket up against the ropes in a clinch.
Ippo lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Blanket backwards.
Still in the clinch, Ippo scores with a nice short uppercut.
Ippo lands a nice elbow.
Ippo lands a left hand that snaps the head of Blanket backwards.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takamura Ippo 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.

Blanket takes one to the side of the head.
Ippo thuds his right hand into Blanket's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Ippo looks to land a combination. Blanket sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Ippo throws a low kick but Blanket moves out of range easily.
A left and a right from Ippo both land. Nice combination.
Takamura Ippo seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Ippo has taken the fight to the clinch.
Nice body punch from Ippo.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Ippo.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Ippo creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ippo looking to slow down the pace here.
Ippo can't find room to land a body shot as Blanket controls the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ippo lands a nice shot to the body.
Ippo is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Ippo scores with a shoulder strike.
Ippo lands an uppercut.
Ippo lands a right hand that snaps the head of Blanket backwards.
Blanket tries to pull guard but Ippo won't allow it.
Ippo lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Ippo lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ippo lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Blanket jumps guard but Ippo turns him against the ropes and keeps the fight standing.
A short right from Ippo.
Ippo lands an uppercut.
Ippo is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Blanket is keeping busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Blanket as Ippo tries to tie him up.
A short left from Ippo.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ippo working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Ippo lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ippo works on Blanket's body with a couple of short punches.
Blanket wants to get back to striking at distance but Ippo won't allow it.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Ippo.
Ippo working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Ippo.
Ippo looking to slow down the pace here.
Ippo makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Ippo lands an elbow that stopped Blanket in his tracks for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short left from Ippo.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Ippo.
Ippo lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A short left from Ippo.
Ippo lands a hook to the side of the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Ippo.
Ippo lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Ippo gets through Blanket's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Ippo.
Ippo has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Ippo'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.
Ippo looking to slow down the pace here.
Takamura Ippo seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Blanket tries to pull guard but Ippo holds him up against the ropes and eventually Blanket drops back down to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jordan Blanket. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Ippo lands a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A shot in the inside from Ippo.
Still in the clinch, Ippo scores with a nice short uppercut.
Ippo lands a left hand.
Ippo digs a right hand underneath Blanket's ribcage. Blanket let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Ippo throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ippo lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Ippo lands a body punch in the clinch.
Ippo taking a breather.
Blanket fails to pull the fight into his guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takamura Ippo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Ippo wants to clinch.
Ippo lands an overhand right.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blanket sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Blanket avoids the head kick by Ippo.
Blanket misses with a double jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanket is pinned up against the ropes taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Ippo displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Blanket.

Blanket looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Ippo has control of Blanket's left arm, preventing Blanket from doing any damage.
Blanket is looking to work some ground and pound but Ippo has wrist control.
Blanket trying to control but Ippo is working from the bottom.
Ippo wants to sweep but no luck.
Takamura Ippo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ippo is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Blanket trying to control the position from guard on top but Ippo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ippo looking to hit a scissor sweep but Blanket is one step ahead there.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Ippo pulls Blanket in close to prevent any damage.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Ippo can do anything to dispel that myth.
Blanket won't allow Ippo to sweep him here.
Ippo keeping moving, preventing Blanket from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Ippo scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanket closes the distance and clinches up with Ippo, looking for a takedown. Blanket pushes Ippo against the ropes but Ippo circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Blanket shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Ippo is looking for a sweep. Blanket is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Blanket is trying to control the action in half guard but Ippo is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Blanket is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Ippo sees it coming and defends easily.
Ippo is trying to maintain the position but Blanket is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanket thows a huge punch but Ippo dodges it nicely.
Ippo trying to control from the bottom.
Blanket not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ippo tries to get to full guard but Blanket has control of the leg.
Blanket not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Blanket is looking to take a break and control but Ippo is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Blanket looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ippo trying to hold on to Blanket's head to control him but Blanket postures up.
Jordan Blanket has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ippo is trying to get back to full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Jordan Blanket.
I think Ippo has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight for Takamura Ippo!
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight for Takamura Ippo!
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight for Takamura Ippo!

Takamura Ippo wins by unanimous decision!
Takamura Ippo was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.