PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Baofu Taiwa (ranked 6119 p4p, 6415 weight class) and Havig Singh (ranked 642 p4p, 666 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Taiwa
vs
Singh

175 cm
18
175
1 - 1 - 0

190 cm
23
169
0 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Likes comics

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Baofu Taiwa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Havig Singh!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Roger Salmon and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Singh finds it's way through Taiwa's defenses.
Singh throws a right and a left that Taiwa avoids nicely.

Taiwa dives in and scores a takedown into Singh's guard.
Taiwa won't allow Singh to get back to his feet.
Taiwa is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Singh wants to stand and escape but Taiwa is having none of it.
Taiwa controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Taiwa has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Singh can't keep his opponent in guard - Taiwa advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Taiwa looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Singh looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Taiwa is pressing down on Singh's thigh, looking to free his foot. Singh is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taiwa not doing much here.

Singh manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Taiwa keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.
Taiwa drops down looking for an ankle pick but Singh pulls his leg out and moves away.

Singh tries to sprawl but Taiwa drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Taiwa keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Taiwa seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Singh for as long as he can get away with.
Singh is trying to stand.
Taiwa takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Singh is trying to stand back up but Taiwa is controlling him
Taiwa is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Singh is trying to stand up here but Taiwa is controlling him well.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Taiwa in particular looking to stall.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Taiwa tries to pass to full mount but Singh defends it.
Taiwa slows the pace down in half guard.
Singh pushes Taiwa off looking to stand but Taiwa dives back in and keeps control.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Taiwa looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Singh scores with a kick to the midsection.
Singh comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Horrible takedown attempt by Taiwa or perhaps it was just good defense by Singh, which made it look bad.
Taiwa looks for a takedown but Singh sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Baofu Taiwa. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Taiwa dives in and scores a takedown into Singh's guard.
Singh wants to stand up but Taiwa is controlling him.
Taiwa engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Taiwa prevents Singh from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taiwa passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Singh wants to get back to his feet but Taiwa drags him back down.

Taiwa looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Singh is trying to escape the position but Taiwa is controlling the position.
Taiwa prevents Singh from escaping the position.
Singh is trying to escape the position but Taiwa is controlling the position.
Taiwa continues to stall.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Baofu Taiwa dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Taiwa tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Singh swivels and escapes.
A nice side step and Singh releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Some wild striking there from Singh.
Taiwa attempts a counter takedown but Singh avoids it well and moves away.
Left hook, right uppercut from Singh.
Singh lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Singh is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Singh scores with a jab.
Singh goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Singh scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Singh enables Taiwa to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Singh manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

Singh kicks Taiwa off and gets to his feet.
Taiwa on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Singh. Singh obviously looking to wear him down.

Taiwa darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Singh is trying to stand up here but Taiwa is controlling him well.
Taiwa controlling the pace.
Singh is trying to stand up here but Taiwa is controlling him well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Singh is breathing heavily.
Taiwa is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Taiwa.
Taiwa continues to hold on tight.

Taiwa is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Taiwa works his way into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taiwa is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Singh is trying to get back to his feet.
Taiwa controls the position.
Singh tries to escape but Taiwa is in control.
You can see the frustration on Singh's face as Taiwa controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taiwa's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Singh is trying to buck Taiwa off.
Taiwa just content to control the position.
Taiwa prevents Singh from escaping the position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Taiwa taking a breather here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Taiwa tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Taiwa has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Singh seems a little lost for a moment, as Taiwa dominates the positioning.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Taiwa working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Havig Singh will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Singh throws out a powerful jab.
Taiwa with a poor takedown
and Singh counters with a nice body shot.
No joy there for Singh, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Taiwa fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Singh avoids it really well and circles away.
Singh lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Singh misses with a low kick as Taiwa jumps back.

Taiwa feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Taiwa prevents Singh from getting back to his feet.
Taiwa slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Taiwa thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Singh wants to stand but Taiwa is controlling the position.
Baofu Taiwa overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Taiwa is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Singh stuns Taiwa with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Singh fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Taiwa.
Taiwa tries to score a power double leg takedown but Singh sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Taiwa somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Baofu Taiwa. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Singh gets caught napping as Taiwa dives in and scores a takedown. Singh manages to retain guard.
Taiwa pushing down on Singh's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Taiwa is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Singh is trying to stand back up but Taiwa is controlling him
Taiwa slows the pace down in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
More hug and hope from Taiwa.
Singh is trying to stand.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

Taiwa seems to be working for a kimura but Singh defends the submission attempt.
Taiwa is controlling the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Singh pushes Taiwa off looking to stand but Taiwa dives back in and keeps control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Nice jab there from Singh.
Taiwa shoots for a takedown but Singh saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Taiwa drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Taiwa 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.
Singh is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Taiwa is controlling him.

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 Baofu Taiwa.
I think Taiwa has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Paul Gruel scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 29:28
Judge Josh West scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Baofu Taiwa!
A pretty intense looking Baofu Taiwa took the opportunity post-fight to ask for a shot at the title.