PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Don Barnes (ranked 1224 p4p, 2075 weight class) and Pierre Ragout Mendy (ranked 173 p4p, 282 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Barnes
vs
Mendy

180 cm
30
176
23 - 17 - 1

188 cm
36
178
30 - 23 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Brawler
Good gas tank

Fantasy Threads (Laundry 15%)

Brooklyn Threads
Voodoo Nutrition

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 23 - 17 - 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 30 - 23 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Pierre Ragout Mendy!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Paul Aken and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A looping hook to the body misses from Mendy. Barnes does a little dance to reset his feet.
Mendy throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Barnes tries to counter with a takedown but Mendy is quick to defend against it.
Mendy on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Barnes. Barnes obviously looking to wear him down.
Nice body punch from Barnes.
Barnes works Mendy's body with a nice hook.
Mendy shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Barnes as he jumps to the side.
Mendy throws a left and a right that both miss

and Barnes counters with a shoot takedown. Mendy fights it but they end up in guard.
Mendy is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Barnes throwing strikes from guard but Mendy blocks nicely.
Barnes wants to pass the guard but Mendy is keeping the position.
Barnes lands a couple of digs.
Mendy wants to sweep here but Barnes controlling him for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendy is pulling down on Barnes's head to control his posture.
Mendy is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Barnes is controlling him.
Mendy working a defensive guard here.
Barnes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Barnes trying to control the position from guard on top but Mendy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barnes keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Mendy's head.
Barnes lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Mendy working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Barnes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendy is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Barnes has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Barnes trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Barnes with a flurry of punches that miss.
Barnes working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Barnes prevents Mendy from getting back to his feet.

Mendy has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Barnes is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Barnes misses with a body punch.
Mendy misses with a punch to the body.

Mendy gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Barnes regains guard.
Mendy wants to control from the top but Barnes keeps moving.
Barnes tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Mendy told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mendy loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Mendy from controlling successfully.

Mendy avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Mendy trying to control the position from guard on top but Barnes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mendy makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Mendy working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Barnes's head.
Barnes is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Mendy with a nice head shot there.

That's four 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.
Mendy missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Mendy won't allow Barnes to sweep him here.
Mendy trying to control the position from guard on top but Barnes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barnes looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

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

Mendy wriggles free and stands up.
Barnes tests Mendy's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Barnes pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Mendy back to the cage. Barnes follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Mendy takes a body punch but keeps moving.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Don Barnes dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Mendy misses with a low kick.
Barnes looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Barnes moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Mendy goes for a double leg but Barnes avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Barnes continues to drive forward.
Mendy misses with a series of wild punches.
Barnes avoids a kick to the body.
Mendy throws a right and a left that both miss.
Mendy throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Barnes looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Barnes throws a head kick that misses.
Mendy is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mendy misses the body punch

and Barnes counters with a takedown into side control.
Barnes trying to control the position but Mendy is working away.
Mendy managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Barnes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mendy tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Barnes wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendy manages to work his way to half guard, despite Barnes's best efforts.
Mendy manages to get to full guard.
Barnes content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Barnes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Barnes wants to control from the top but Mendy keeps moving.
Mendy wants to stand and escape but Barnes is having none of it.
Mendy seems keen to control Barnes's posture.
Don Barnes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Barnes looking to sit in guard and control but Mendy gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Barnes tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendy wants to control from the top but Barnes keeps moving.
Barnes wants to sweep here but Mendy controlling him for the moment.
Barnes is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Barnes prevents Mendy from improving his position.
Mendy on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Barnes thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Barnes is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Mendy can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mendy wants to get back to full guard.
Mendy is trying to maintain the position but Barnes is very close to passing his half guard.
Barnes slips a nice elbow through Mendy's hands, connecting with Mendy's forehead.
Ground and pound from Barnes.
Mendy gets full guard.
Mendy trying to keep a closed guard but Barnes is proving a slippery customer.
Barnes is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Mendy looking to control.
Barnes postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Barnes throwing strikes from guard but Mendy blocks nicely.
Mendy is trying to control the position but Barnes postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is in close to Mendy's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Barnes is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Mendy controlling the position.
Mendy is trying to control the position but Barnes postures up.
Barnes lands a couple of digs.
Barnes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Barnes with a flurry of punches that miss.
Barnes won't allow Mendy to get back to his feet.
Barnes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Barnes preventing the sweep.
Barnes in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Mendy looking to control.
Barnes wants to control from the top but Mendy keeps moving.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Don Barnes dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

A chopping leg kick lands by Barnes.
Mendy throws a lazy uppercut

and Barnes decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Mendy's guard.
Mendy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Mendy is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Mendy looking to control.
Mendy keeping full guard, as Barnes tries to pass.
Barnes is in close to Mendy's body, working some short punches and elbows.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Mendy holds on and takes a little breather.
Barnes preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Mendy swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Barnes stopping the sweep attempt from Mendy.
Mendy is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Mendy is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Mendy's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Mendy has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Barnes.
Mendy misses with a hook
and Barnes counters with a good low kick that Mendy was not able to check.
Barnes lands with a shot to the body.
Mendy shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Barnes as he avoids it easily.
Barnes misses with a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
A nice leg kick from Barnes, right into the meat of the thigh.

Barnes drives through with a takedown into Mendy's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Mendy is looking to stand back up but Barnes counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Mendy.

Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Mendy is looking to improve his position.
Mendy pushes Barnes off looking to stand but Barnes dives back in and keeps control.
Mendy is looking to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes moves nicely into side control.
Mendy manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Mendy trying to hold on to Barnes's head to control him but Barnes postures up.
Barnes scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Mendy is looking to improve his position.
Nice strikes from Barnes there.
Barnes working over Mendy with some ground and pound. Mendy looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Barnes stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mendy is looking to control Barnes's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Mendy avoid being mounted?
Barnes working Mendy over with strikes.
Mendy is doing well to control the position and prevent Barnes from advancing to side control.
Mendy is trying to stand.
Barnes is looking to take a break and control but Mendy is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barnes landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Pierre Ragout Mendy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Barnes seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Mendy does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Don Barnes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Barnes has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Don Barnes!
In his post fight interview, Don Barnes started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.