PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Erran Morad (ranked 1691 p4p, 2989 weight class) and Anti Happy (ranked 155 p4p, 253 weight class). Happy comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Bvana iz lagune & Mikri Maus - AntiHepi kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Morad
vs
Happy

178 cm
40
157
22 - 22 - 0

172 cm
34
158
16 - 24 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Very quick

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 22 - 22 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Erran Morad!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 24 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Anti Happy!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Daniel Blasius and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Happy changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Morad tries to avoid it but Happy manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Morad to the ground. Morad escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
A telegraphed right hand from Morad misses the target.
Nice cross by Morad.
Happy shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Morad as he jumps to the side.

Happy darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Happy slows the pace down in half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Happy is trying to control the action in half guard but Morad is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Morad wants to control but Happy is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Morad manages to get to full guard.
Happy trying to control but Morad is working from the bottom.
Morad seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Happy sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Morad's guard.

That's two 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.
Morad trying to control here.
Happy controlling the pace.
Morad wants to control but Happy is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Happy seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Morad does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Happy is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Happy prevents Morad from improving his position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Happy takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morad turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Happy shoots for a double leg takedown but Morad sprawls well. He's pushed Happy's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Erran Morad has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Anti Happy.
Happy closes the distance and clinches up with Morad, looking for a takedown. Happy pushes Morad against the cage but Morad circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Morad half committed to a counter leg kick.
Morad lands with a hook. Happy tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Happy misses with a takedown attempt
and Morad connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Morad defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Happy.
It looked like Morad wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

Happy drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Morad holds on and takes a little breather.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Happy trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Happy pushing down on Morad's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Well, if Happy is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Happy wants to control but Morad is keeping him busy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morad trying to control but Happy postures up.
Happy trying to control from half guard but Morad is working away.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Anti Happy will probably get the nod.
That's time! Morad's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Morad scores with a three punch combo!
Nice shot lands for Morad.
Happy shoots for a takedown but Morad saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Happy avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Happy tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Morad swivels and escapes.
Happy looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Morad jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Morad throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Happy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Erran Morad has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Anti Happy.
Jab by Morad.
Happy shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Morad as he avoids it easily.
Morad stuffs the takedown.

Morad closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Morad lands in his opponent's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Happy wants to control the position but Morad says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morad working Happy over with strikes.
Happy wants to improve his position but Morad is controlling well.
Happy wants to control but Morad is keeping busy.

Morad is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Happy has managed to free his arm - good work.

Morad is working for a submission of some sort.
Happy is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

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.

Morad seems to be looking for submissions.

Morad is looking for a kimura but Happy is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Morad to get the leverage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Morad is working for a submission of some sort.

Happy looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Happy trying to hold on to Morad's head to control him but Morad postures up.
Happy is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Happy has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Morad is working away from the top position though.

Morad seems to be looking for submissions.
Happy controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Erran Morad is winning the standup battle so far.
A low kick lands for Morad.

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.
Happy moves out of range as Morad strikes.
Morad bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

Morad gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Happy to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Morad is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Happy can do to turn this around?
Morad looking for a sweep. Not yet Morad, not yet.
Morad wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Happy is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Morad is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Morad has escaped and now he's on top!

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Happy bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Morad's guard.

And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Erran Morad dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Happy shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Morad sprawls well. Morad wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Happy gets slowly back to his feet.
Morad throwing a counter right hand but Happy manages to avoid it.
Morad misses with a body shot.
Morad lands with a shot to the body.
Morad throws a hook but Happy blocks it.
Morad scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Happy moves out of range of the leg kick from Morad.
Happy chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Morad can pounce on him.
Horrible takedown attempt by Happy or perhaps it was just good defense by Morad, which made it look bad.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Happy goes for a double leg but Morad avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Morad continues to drive forward.
Erran Morad has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Anti Happy.
Happy checks a low kick from Morad.
Morad throws a jab but it's blocked by Happy.
Morad throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Happy misses with a takedown
and Morad counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morad turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
A shot to the liver by Morad. Beautiful body shot.
Morad missing with a left hand there. Happy was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Happy changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Happy shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Morad but Morad pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Morad tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Morad jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Happy moves out of range as Morad strikes.
Morad throws a chopping leg kick but Happy manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Morad misses with a body shot.
Happy needs to keep his hands up - Morad had a free shot at his head there.
Happy misses with a takedown attempt - Morad sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Happy manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Morad on his heels. He'll look to pass Morad's guard now, I'm sure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Happy is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Morad is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Morad keeping full guard, as Happy tries to pass.
Happy trying to control the position from guard on top but Morad is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Happy stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morad swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Happy trying to control but Morad is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Morad throws a jab but it's blocked by Happy.
Happy throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Morad's waist but Morad gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Happy off to one side.
Morad throws a leg kick but Happy moved away.
Morad with a nice calf kick.
Happy takes a jab right on the kisser.
Erran Morad seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morad lands a really nice looking cross but Happy seems unphased.
Happy with a poor takedown
and Morad counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

Morad closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Happy quickly recovers to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Happy is refusing to be controlled, as Morad sits in half guard.
Morad is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Happy is doing well to control the position and prevent Morad from advancing to side control.
Happy moves into full guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Happy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Morad is one step ahead there.
Morad is looking to work some ground and pound but Happy has wrist control.
Morad with a flurry of punches that miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
Erran Morad showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Morad 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 Aafke Stam scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 29:28

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