Three rounds Muay The, no striking to the back of the head or to the groin. Be strong, be fair, obey my instructions all the time. Touch gloves, good luck.
Pretty ready, time, go! With a head kick or an elbow. Watch that right kick of Superlek. He goes to the body with it about 49% of the time.
Loves to punish the body and just slowly break down his opponents. I like that because Taiki Naito has really good eyes. He's able to evade and counter. Superlek marching forward, feinting the right kick.
Ooh, went to the body with the push kick. That was nice. Everything off the right side so far for Superlek Ketmulka.
High kick, tries to thread it over the top of the left shoulder. Nice tip to the midsection from Superlek. Look at that good eyes.
I mean, he's mixing up his weapons really well. Tip into the body, tip into the legs. Oh, nice little sweep right there. Mitch is coming to the head a lot more with that round kick than I expected in the opening round. Yeah, he usually starts going to the body.
I mean, that's his favorite shot. He breaks down the arms. I think he wants a finish.
I think he wants to make it quick work. What did he predict? What did I say?
Head kick or elbow? Already that's what he's doing. That head kick, and he tried to bring the elbows into play. He's setting it up.
I like the way he's going up the middle. middle though with the push kick too. I have to say though, Naito looks unfazed so far, remaining relaxed on the outside. Ooh, you hear that? It's a mean leg kick.
Naito once again, that crazy game plan he had in that eight week camp to take Superleg's body kicks and counter off them. You can hear the corner of Naito saying be careful, take your time. Ooh, Naito hands. He wants him out of here in the first. Yeah, he wants to get him out of there, but Naito's doing a good job of defending.
You know, he's not really been fazed by a lot of these shots. He needs to put together some combinations, though. Get some of this pressure off of him.
And stamp a little authority of his own? He needs to earn that respect of Superlek, because right now Superlek is kind of picking and jiving right now. Nice little leg kick, though. Look at the way he's chopping up those legs.
See what I was saying about the leg kicks? That's what Naito does well, is he chops at your legs, especially disc- disrupting your balance and your rhythm. The defense is good so far for taking Naito, but defense will not win you the fight.
That's what he's doing. He's trying to counter these kicks that are coming from Superlek. But he's beaten him to the punch. He's not trying to take it.
I think he was just having fun with us. Here's a nice forearm guard to leg kick from Naito. What about a front kick? Resets himself.
Big outside leg kick, top of the 5 there from Superlek, rolls the right hand over. Nice job though, I know Superlek landed that right, but it was a nice little move from Naito to come underneath it and throw that left hook on the walk when he was running around. The circle at the introductions, he gave me a little look like he knew something that we might not know.
And it's showing here, he's doing a good job against Superlek. On the outside is HAL taking Naito in the first round against Superlek Yarmulke. He just texted me.
You cannot just randomly hit him. You must focus this time, okay? You might want to give it to Superlek.
Second round, set for three. Oh, stop time! A place where the sun never shines.
Recovery time here for Superlek. Taking Naito hunting after the leg kicks. A little straight, you can see.
Too high on the vine. That's a big roll-out shot to the six o'clock dragon. Who calls it that?
I've never heard that. Taiki Naito, see again, he's immediately starting to go after that leg. He's trying to counter, but knows he's taken. So you can see how a little bit more aggressive.
of Superlek is coming out after that illegal shot. Here's the body kick from Superlek off the right leg, the one he's renowned for. Yeah, I like the idea of Superlek going to the leg. You can already see the redness start to develop on Naito.
That was mean. Right leg is starting to power up now. Inside leg. Naito goes outside leg.
Tries to counter off the rail kick Naito. He's fast. Gets locked in the clinch here.
Superlick against the fence. Naito landed a high kick right there to cut the chin. Super leg.
Right. Running the back in, running the back. Watch the knees of that kidney area.
Naito is not being outclassed here by the tournament favorite. Like to see him set up that low kick a little bit. Like that little spinning back elbow he tried to land there, super leg.
That was sweet, nice low check from the The. Good inside leg kick from Naito, catch and counter from the Japanese. Nice push kick, he's landing that push kick right up the middle..
Naito on the outside as he was for much of the first round. Not a lot of movement though coming from Naito. He chooses to just keep his back there against the wall and rely on his eyes for defense. Another knee to the spine there and here's to lapsus, breaks them. Naito's gotta be careful not to turn though.
Superleg powering up on that rear leg again. Good job as they traded leg kicks there. That looked like superleg. Got better of it, the exchange. See good timing on those leg kicks, right?
They're both trading them, but Superlek's landing with the shin and uppercut. With that elbow, that uppercut elbow cut him between the eyes. That was beautiful.
Razor sharp. More elbows there. Here comes Superlek.
He said he'd knock him out with an elbow. Here they come. Superlek.
Naito's gotta move. He can't get trapped against the wall like that. He cannot allow Superlek to back him up because that's a dangerous spot when Superlek starts to tee off. What is it? He wants the elbows, another downward elbow, trying to crack the top of the skull, trying to crack the clavicle, goes to the liver, another elbow, and Naito tries to duke his way out.
30 seconds here for Superlek to do some work. He's turning on a showdown. There's that behind kick. It's a visage show from Superlek Kao, who has opened up Naito with the elbows here in the second. Lots of feints coming from Superlek here as he initiates.
He's got some, he's got his Superlek Naito back up. up against the wall. Naito has to circle out, he can't stay there. Oh, elbow range is where Superleg wants to be.
It's like he flipped a switch. He went from kicking range into elbow range. And elbow range has been devastating. Now we're starting to see Superleg level up and turn up the volume here. Look at that beautiful elbow right up the middle.
That's the one that looked like it caught him, the one that you mentioned, Chabelo. But just this pressure, Superlek's trying to go for the finish. He wants to get Naito out of there. You got it, you got this, Naito.
30 seconds. Will Superlek go back to that elbow range he enjoyed for the second half of the previous stanza? Will he return to kicking range and use that rear leg?
Yeah, I think he found a lot of success. when he closed the distance and got inside to those elbows. I think he hurt Naito.
Naito seemed to change his game after that elbow up the middle. I'd still like to see Naito move. I don't want to see him stand there.
I think he's relying on his ability to counter strike. Inside leg, high on the five, and a femoral profunda, downward elbow, missed the target for Superlek, tries a little twist and dump. Superlek strong inside that clinch.
Just a machine, the kicking machine. Mike, we're out of this about at 26. Setting the right leg. Yeah, he's loaded up. He's like powering it up. Oh, return the favor.
How do you do? OK. Here's your corner.
He loaded up on it too. Here's your corner. Here's your corner. He was ready to go. Full power.
I owe you one. Look at this. You can see him loading up. Powers up.
Bones takes the check. Oh, right there. You know, he just retracted the kick at the end, but he realized it was too high.
Luckily so for Taiki Naito. Naito's ready to go, though. Red?
Red? It's all for Taiki Naito to do. The Silent Sniper's gotta find a way to turn this around, folks.
Because Superlek is just dominant here, Dragon. Yeah, Naito needs to find an answer for this pressure and this aggressiveness coming from Superlek. Again, going to the body with that big right kick. Superlek on the balls of his feet.
The intensity. He throws that round kick from such a close distance. Very hard to do, but he's a master at it. Right under the arm.
Oh, telegraphed that elbow. He's going for a KO. Yeah, he's trying. He's trying to get...
Naito out of there. You can see why every fighter we asked, except for Naito, chose Superlek as their tournament favorite other than themselves. He is awesome.
Oh, nice leg kick landed by Superlek there. Naito who has never lost against a tie is staring down the barrel of his first. He's got one minute five to turn it around and again a step through knee from Superlake.
even on the outside in the clinch. Naito has that inside position, but the way that Superleg is able to clasp his hands, and he's just so strong inside there. Grunting behind those knees.
What a beast he is. to Black, 45 seconds down the clock. Naito's got to do something. It's been mostly defense for the Japanese Warrior. Downward elbow, almost clipped him on the jaw. Stop, stop, separate!
Separate, separate! There he goes, marching forward again. Naito's trying to time the counter. He needs to go first, he needs to be more aggressive. He has to change things up.
Ever since the middle of that second round, there he goes, but he's not following. He's not holding up with anything. Beautiful carry and counter there from Superlake.
That's counter. Superlek almost looks frustrated as he's ability not to find that home run shot. A unanimous decision and advancing to the semi-final, Superlek Kiyotmuka!