PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jay McCull (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kevin Oliver (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

McCull
vs
Oliver

175 cm
19
158 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
22
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jay McCull!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Kevin Oliver!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Yves DeLean and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Oliver keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Oliver stuffs the takedown.
Nice sprawl there from Oliver as McCull shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jay McCull. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCull is looking to clinch but Oliver is avoiding it.
Oliver stuffs the takedown.
A punch combination from Oliver misses.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by McCull.
McCull looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Oliver is fending him off so far but McCull persists. Nope, Oliver circles away and we're back to standing.
McCull shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Oliver as he jumps to the side.

Oliver shoots in and bounces McCull off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Oliver trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Oliver passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Oliver working away.
McCull is breathing heavily.
Oliver controlling the position.

Oliver tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Oliver has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oliver working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Oliver working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
McCull is looking for a sweep.

Oliver working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Check out the look on Oliver's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Oliver has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Oliver looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
McCull tries to improve position but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McCull is not content to let Oliver control the position.
McCull is looking for a sweep.
McCull takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
McCull is trying to get back to his feet.
McCull on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Oliver advances to mount.
McCull is working to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Oliver won't let McCull get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
McCull tries to lock up and control but Oliver gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
McCull is looking to improve his position but Oliver isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McCull regains half guard.
Oliver prevents McCull from standing back up.
McCull gets back to full guard.
McCull lands a good elbow from the bottom.

McCull manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Oliver tries to clinch up but McCull circles away and keeps his distance.
McCull with a lazy takedown attempt

and Oliver counters with a nice double leg into guard.
McCull keeping busy, throwing shots from the bottom.
Oliver is in close to McCull's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Oliver works a leg free and moves into half guard.
McCull taking some punishment here, with Oliver in his half guard.
Oliver trying to control the action but McCull is working from the bottom.
Oliver drops an elbow to the side of McCull's head.
Oliver is nestled in close to McCull, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oliver not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
McCull on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Oliver is working for a submission of some sort.
This has been an exciting period of action!
McCull is trying to stand.

McCull is defending against the submission attempts here by Oliver.
McCull makes his way to full guard. A much better position for McCull.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McCull controls Oliver momentarily but Oliver frees himself.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

McCull throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

McCull has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Oliver can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kevin Oliver dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

McCull keeps the fight on the outside.
The fight stays on the outside here - McCull looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
McCull looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
McCull shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Oliver as he avoids it easily.

Oliver rushes McCull and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
McCull is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Oliver pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jay McCull. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCull wants to break the clinch but can't.
McCull wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
McCull is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Oliver has hold of one of McCull's legs. McCull is fighting the takedown attempt but Oliver gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Oliver with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Oliver with a nice head shot there.
Oliver wants to pass the guard but McCull is keeping the position.
Oliver wants to control from the top but McCull keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCull can't keep his opponent in guard - Oliver advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

Oliver is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Oliver lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Oliver is looking for a kimura but McCull is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Oliver to get the leverage.
McCull keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Oliver working McCull over with strikes.

Oliver is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, McCull has managed to free his arm - good work.
Oliver wants to pass the guard but McCull is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McCull is trying to maintain the position but Oliver is very close to passing his half guard.
McCull moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
McCull working a defensive guard here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now McCull is on top in guard.
McCull lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Oliver striking off his back but it's not causing McCull any problems.
McCull trying to control the position from guard on top but Oliver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
McCull preventing the sweep.
Oliver keeping full guard, as McCull tries to pass.
Kevin Oliver has got the better of the ground game so far.
McCull passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McCull working away.
Oliver sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Oliver is looking to improve his position.
Oliver is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
McCull looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Oliver with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Oliver wants to get back to full guard.
McCull slows the pace down in half guard.
Oliver wants to improve his position but McCull is controlling well.
McCull wants to stand up but Oliver has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Oliver gets back to full guard.

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.
McCull stopping the sweep attempt from Oliver.

Oliver looking for a guillotine here but McCull defends easily.

Oliver had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. McCull is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Oliver Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take McCull's back instead.
McCull turns into Oliver and is now in his guard.
Oliver tries to land a sweep but no joy.
McCull cracks Oliver with a solid left hand.
Oliver looking to hit a scissor sweep but McCull is one step ahead there.
McCull pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Oliver is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kevin Oliver showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

McCull throws a nice looking combination but Oliver bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
McCull misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Oliver shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts McCull as he jumps to the side.
McCull misses with a takedown attempt

and Oliver counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
McCull not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
McCull thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Oliver tries to free his leg and advance position but McCull is retaining full guard.
McCull keeping moving, preventing Oliver from controlling successfully.
Oliver prevents McCull from getting back to his feet.
Oliver distracts McCull with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Oliver throws and elbow that misses. McCull uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Oliver's guard. Nice move by McCull!
Oliver looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
McCull shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Oliver as he avoids it easily.
Oliver tries to clinch up but McCull circles away and keeps his distance.
McCull shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Oliver pinned against the cage. Oliver gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jay McCull. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCull closes this distance looking for a takedown but Oliver circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCull misses with a kick to the body.
McCull tries to clinch up

and Oliver moves into the clinch.
The is referee keeping an eye on Oliver - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
McCull wants to break free but Oliver has control.
Oliver is trying to work for a single leg takedown but McCull pulls him back up using the underhooks.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
McCull tries for a takedown but Oliver manages to get underhooks.
Oliver stops a takedown attempt from McCull.
Oliver stalls.

Oliver escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
McCull avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Oliver takes the fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oliver softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Oliver.

Oliver gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, McCull regains guard.
Oliver passes McCull's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Oliver lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
McCull slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Oliver pushes down on McCull's leg and manages to get into half guard.

McCull looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Oliver thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing McCull to regain full guard.

McCull looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Oliver stopping the sweep attempt from McCull.

McCull looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Oliver pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. McCull is keeping the position for now.
Oliver throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Oliver trying to control but McCull is working from the bottom.
Oliver scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Oliver wants to pass the guard but McCull is keeping the position.
Oliver content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Oliver connects with a couple of short punches.
Oliver with a flurry of punches that miss.
McCull not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Oliver won't allow McCull to get back to his feet.
Oliver stands and throws McCull's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Oliver working the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McCull tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Oliver tries for a kimura but McCull is defending well.
You can see the frustration on McCull's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Oliver is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but McCull is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
McCull manages to work his way to half guard, despite Oliver's best efforts.
Oliver seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Oliver connects with a nice short shot to McCull's temple.

McCull is rocked!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Oliver working the head and body with strikes.
Oh McCull is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
McCull is staying active underneath Oliver, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Jay McCull has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Oliver is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kevin Oliver comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Oliver 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kevin Oliver!