PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Don Barnes (ranked 1092 p4p, 738 weight class) and Chet Knox (ranked 155 p4p, 106 weight class). Knox is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Chet Baker | Almost Blue. Chet Knox will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Barnes
vs
Knox

180 cm
25
176
15 - 10 - 1

177 cm
25
177
3 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 15 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Don Barnes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Chet Knox!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Paul Aken and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barnes misses with a hook to the body
enabling Knox to counter with a crisp jab.
Barnes lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Knox circles away quickly and effectively.
Barnes dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Knox. That did some damage!
Barnes throws a series of punches but Knox moves out of range.
Knox unleashes a big counter combination but Barnes bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Barnes misses with a body shot
and Barnes takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Knox looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Barnes misses with a hook
and Knox counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
We've been hearing reports that Barnes has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Barnes throws a wild body kick that Knox sees coming a mile off.
Knox throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Barnes sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Knox throws a right hand that misses

and Barnes counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Knox!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Knox manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Knox passes to side control.
Knox remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Knox wants to control but Barnes is keeping him busy.
Barnes is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Knox trying to control the position but Barnes is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Knox controlling the position from side mount.
Barnes is looking to regain half guard here but Knox keeps moving and retains side control.
Barnes can't do much from the bottom here.
Barnes is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is not content to let Knox control the position.
Barnes regains half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Barnes tries to get to full guard but Knox has control of the leg.
Knox works his way into side control.
Barnes is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Knox is trying to control. Barnes wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Barnes tries to get to full guard but Knox has control of the leg.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Knox misses with a looping right.
Knox with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Barnes closes the distance and clinches up with Knox, looking for a takedown. Barnes pushes Knox against the cage but Knox circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Chet Knox will probably get the nod.
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.

Barnes lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Barnes misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barnes misses with a combination
and Knox cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Knox's coach down at The Gulag Public Gym was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Knox's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Barnes takes a swing at Knox's ribcage but misses.
Knox is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Barnes with a body shot.

Knox tries to sprawl but Barnes drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Barnes seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
The fighters are battling for position here. Knox manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes throwing strikes from guard but Knox blocks nicely.
Knox bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Barnes's guard.

Knox controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Don Barnes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Barnes wants to sweep here but Knox controlling him for the moment.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Knox from controlling successfully.
Knox preventing the sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Knox from controlling successfully.
Barnes has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Knox has passed into side control.
Barnes tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Knox wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The ground and pound from Knox seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
You can see the frustration on Barnes's face as Knox controls the position.
Barnes gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knox seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Barnes does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Knox passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Barnes!
Barnes is trying desperately to improve position.
Barnes is working hard here to advance position.
Knox controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Knox prevents Barnes from improving his position.
Knox wants to take a breather but Barnes is having none of it.
Barnes wants to improve his position but Knox is controlling well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Knox wants to control but Barnes is keeping him busy.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Don Barnes will probably get the nod.
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. This is the final round!

Barnes misses with a jab to the body
and Knox counters with a stiff right hand.
Knox lands a nice shot to the body.
Knox wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Barnes throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Knox connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Barnes throws a body kick that misses.
Knox checks the leg kick.
Barnes rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Knox moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Knox slips a jab and a cross from Barnes.
Despite the aggression on Knox's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes lands a leg kick that knocks Knox off balance momentarily.

Barnes shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Barnes was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
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!
Knox gets back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox is trying to maintain the position but Barnes is very close to passing his half guard.
Knox is looking to improve his position.
Barnes throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Knox regains full guard. Nicely done.
Barnes throwing strikes but missing.
Barnes trying to control but Knox is working from the bottom.

That's two 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.
Barnes is looking to work some ground and pound but Knox has wrist control.
Barnes lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Barnes won't allow Knox to sweep him here.
Barnes is looking to work some ground and pound but Knox has wrist control.
Barnes lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Knox looking for a sweep. Not yet Knox, not yet.
Barnes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Barnes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Barnes throws a big right hand that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes postures up in Knox's guard and throws a big left but Knox blocks it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Chet Knox is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Knox tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Knox throws a looping overhand right but Barnes ducks down to avoid it.
Knox throws an overhand right that lands on Barnes's shoulder, as Barnes tries to avoid the shot.
Knox tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Barnes was well out of range. Poor timing from Knox.
Barnes is looking to score with low kicks.

Barnes looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Knox!
Barnes is working Knox over with some ground and pound from side control.
Knox is looking to reverse the position.
Knox gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Knox wants to control but Barnes is keeping busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Knox makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Knox.
Barnes trying to control the position from guard on top but Knox is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barnes with a flurry of punches that miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
Don Barnes showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Barnes 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Don Barnes!
Don Barnes 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.
Chet Knox spoke after the fight, saying '"If you haven't lost in this sport, you haven't fought the right guys yet." (Matt Hughes)'.