PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Lydell Poag (ranked 3713 p4p, 5369 weight class) and Aqua Best (ranked 458 p4p, 549 weight class). Lydell Poag has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Poag
vs
Best

191 cm
26
213
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
22
210
1 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Voodoo Nutrition

Warrior's Way

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Lydell Poag!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Aqua Best!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Trevor Gratis and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Poag thuds a left hand into Best's body.

Poag shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Best trying to control from the bottom.
Poag lands strikes from half guard.
Best wants to control but Poag is keeping busy.
Best tries to kick Poag off but Poag keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Poag thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Best on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Best trying to control but Poag postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Poag lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Poag is controlling the pace.
Poag trying to pass the guard but Best defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Poag performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Poag'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.
Best has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Poag is working away from the top position though.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Poag lands a nice short elbow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Poag missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Best on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Best tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Best is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Poag scores with a couple of nice shots.
Poag stops Best from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Best is trying to get back to full guard.
Poag looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Poag content to control rather than advance.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Poag lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Poag throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Best to regain full guard.

Best escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Poag gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Poag postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Best looking to control.
Poag stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Best swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Poag pushing down on Best's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Poag slips a nice elbow through Best's hands, connecting with Best's forehead.
Best taking some punishment here, with Poag in his half guard.
Poag trying to mount his opponent but Best defends it.
Poag controlling the pace.
We've been informed that Best has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Poag has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Poag working the head and body with strikes.
Poag drops an elbow to the side of Best's head.
Poag is taking a breather. Best says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Poag takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Poag definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Poag is nestled in close to Best, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Poag lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Poag looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Poag closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Best to the mat! Best manages to get full guard.
Poag has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Poag is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Best looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Poag will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Poag scoring with some ground and pound.
Poag postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Poag slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Lydell Poag overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Best trying to control the position.
Poag engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Poag knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Best on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Poag avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Best bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Poag's guard.

Poag wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

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.
Best is working Poag over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Poag is pulling down on Best's head. It's preventing any offense from Best, at least for the moment.
Poag looking to hit a scissor sweep but Best is one step ahead there.
Best tries to stand but Poag is controlling from the bottom.
Poag is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Best wants to pass the guard but Poag is keeping the position.
Poag is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Best can do to turn this around?
Best trying to control but Poag is working from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Poag jabs Best to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Lydell Poag seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Best shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Poag as he avoids it easily.
Best is looking to clinch.

Poag shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Best manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Poag connects with a couple of short punches.
Poag's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Best is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Best escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Poag gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Best is breathing heavily.
Poag sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Poag sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Best's guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Poag is controlling the pace.
Poag seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Best for as long as he can get away with.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Lydell Poag dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Poag stuffs the takedown attempt from Best. Best gets slowly back to his feet.
Good shot there by Poag.
Best uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Poag.

Poag shoots in and gets a takedown into Best's guard.
Best preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Poag slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Poag tries to free his leg and advance position but Best is retaining full guard.
Poag postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Best trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Poag is working Best over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Poag controlling from the top position.
Poag won't allow Best to sweep him here.
Poag controlling from the top position.
Poag working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Poag engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Poag stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Best swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Poag slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Poag throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Best tries to move into range but Poag moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Nice straight punches there by Poag. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Poag.
Poag lands with a precision combination! Left, right, uppercut and Best falls flat on his face, eyes wide open but he's out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:57 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Lydell Poag!