PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Dylan Toal (ranked 2985 p4p, 5402 weight class) and Merab Sunkist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Toal
vs
Sunkist

180 cm
20
181
4 - 7 - 0

185 cm
22
171
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dylan Toal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Merab Sunkist!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Lou da Vinci and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sunkist fails with the takedown.

Sunkist closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Toal pushes Sunkist off looking to stand but Sunkist dives back in and keeps control.

Sunkist stands up and beckons Toal to join him on the feet.

Sunkist gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Sunkist pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sunkist avoids a punch combination nicely.
Toal fails to land with a series of punches.
Toal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sunkist circles away quickly and effectively.
Nice takedown defense from Toal. No joy for Sunkist on that attempt.
Sunkist looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Dylan Toal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Merab Sunkist.
No joy there for Toal, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Sunkist shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Toal as he avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
No luck for Sunkist with that takedown attempt.
Sunkist dodges the punch combination from Toal.
Sunkist dodges the punch combination from Toal.
Dylan Toal is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Nice takedown defense from Toal. No joy for Sunkist on that attempt.
Sunkist closes the distance and clinches up with Toal, looking for a takedown. Sunkist pushes Toal against the cage but Toal circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Some wild striking there from Toal.
Toal looks to land a combination but Sunkist avoids it well.
Sunkist throws a fast counter high kick but Toal manages to duck under it in time.
Sunkist slips a jab and a cross from Toal.

Sunkist closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Sunkist breaks from the clinch.
Toal misses with a wild combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Toal. No joy for Sunkist on that attempt.
Sunkist darts in looking for a takedown but Toal gets double underhooks and turns Sunkist into the cage.
Sunkist looks winded!
Toal looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Toal looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Sunkist has closed the distance and engaged Toal in a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sunkist is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

Toal breaks from the clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Toal. Those never looked like landing.
Toal misses with the combination.

Sunkist moves into range and clinches up with Toal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sunkist has had enough of the clinch but Toal keeps him there for the moment.
Toal letting Sunkist take a breather here.
Toal gets underhooks to prevent Sunkist's takedown attempt.
Sunkist drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Toal gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Sunkist keeps control of Toal as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's four 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.
A frustrated look appears on Toal's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Toal blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sunkist wants to break free but Toal has control.
Sunkist goes for a takedown in the clinch but Toal prevents it.

Toal breaks the clinch.
Toal stuffs the takedown attempt from Sunkist. Sunkist gets slowly back to his feet.
A punch combination from Toal misses.
A punch combination from Toal misses.
Sunkist with the counter takedown but Toal avoids it easily.
A punch combination from Toal misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dylan Toal dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Toal lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Toal slaps away a takedown attempt from Sunkist, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Sunkist clinches up against the cage.
Toal has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Sunkist goes for a takedown attempt but Toal pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Toal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sunkist circles away quickly and effectively.
Sunkist is looking to slow Toal down with leg kicks.
Sunkist is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Toal.
Toal throws a series of punches but Sunkist moves out of range.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Sunkist.
Dylan Toal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Merab Sunkist.
Toal throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sunkist.

Sunkist clinches up with Toal and pushes him back against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sunkist is working for takedown but Toal is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sunkist is stalling here.
Toal has Sunkist pressed against the cage, preventing Sunkist from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Toal stops a takedown attempt from Sunkist.
Sunkist is breathing heavily.

Toal breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Toal misses with a double jab
and Sunkist counters with a good, hard body kick but Toal shrugs it off.
Sunkist tries for a takedown but Toal sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Toal misses with a few strikes there.
Sunkist is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Toal.
Toal throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Sunkist looks for a takedown but Toal sprawls well.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sunkist dives in for a single leg takedown but Toal sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
A combination from Toal does no damage.
Toal tries to bum rush Sunkist with a series of wild strikes but Sunkist uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Toal throws a right and a left that Sunkist avoids nicely.
Sunkist goes for a double leg but Toal avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Toal continues to drive forward.
Toal throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Toal will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Toal rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sunkist moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Toal fails to land with a series of punches.
Sunkist drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Toal defends it well.
Sunkist changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Toal tries to avoid it but Sunkist manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Toal to the ground. Toal escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Sunkist dives in and grabs Toal's left leg, looking for a takedown. Toal pushes down on Sunkist's head and hops out.
Toal swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Toal lands with a nice combination. Sunkist backs away looking to recover.
Sunkist's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Sunkist duly obliges.
Dylan Toal is winning the standup battle so far.
Toal misses with a wild combination.

Sunkist moves into the clinch.
Sunkist tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Sunkist tries to stall but Toal uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Sunkist is trying to break the clinch but Toal is controlling him.
Toal looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Toal breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sunkist gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Sunkist is trying to force a seperation but Toal has the dominant position.
Sunkist tries to pull guard but Toal won't allow it.

Toal manages to break the clinch.
Sunkist fails to land the takedown.
Toal throws a right and a left that both miss.
Sunkist wants to counter the offense by Toal and move into the clinch position.
Sunkist misses with a head kick.
Dylan Toal is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sunkist shoots in looking for a takedown. Toal tries to sprawl out of it but Sunkist keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Toal manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Toal throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dylan Toal dominated that second round.
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!

Sunkist closes the distance and pushes Toal back into the cage.
Sunkist throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.

Toal breaks from the clinch.
Sunkist shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Toal as he jumps to the side.

Sunkist has taken the fight to the clinch.

Toal escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sunkist showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Toal.
Sloppy strikes from Toal. Those never looked like landing.
Sunkist pushes Toal away with a front kick.
Toal lands with a nice combination. Sunkist backs away looking to recover.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A bone on bone clash there as Toal blocks the leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sunkist showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Toal.
Toal displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Sunkist.
Toal rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sunkist moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sunkist tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Toal misses with a series of wild punches.
Toal swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Sunkist counters with a straight right hand.

Toal gets tackled into the cage by Sunkist. Sunkist maintains the clinch.
I was talking to Toal's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.

Toal breaks from the clinch.
Toal looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Sunkist clinches.
Sunkist changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Toal fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Dylan Toal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Merab Sunkist.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Toal.
Sunkist shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Sunkist closes this distance looking for a takedown but Toal circles away.
Toal is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sunkist can do to turn this around?
Toal rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sunkist moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Sunkist closes the distance and clinches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Toal manages to break the clinch.
Sunkist tries a head kick but it misses.
Toal goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Toal moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Sunkist dives in and grabs Toal's left leg, looking for a takedown. Toal pushes down on Sunkist's head and hops out.
Toal scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Toal throws a nice looking combination but Sunkist bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

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

Toal has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Sunkist is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Toal manages to break the clinch.
Sunkist shoots in for a takedown but Toal shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Toal misses with a jab, cross combination.
Dylan Toal seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice takedown defense from Toal. No joy for Sunkist on that attempt.
A punch combination from Toal misses.

Sunkist clinches.
Sunkist jumps guard but Toal stands there with Sunkist around his waist. Sunkist gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Sunkist wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Toal has him pressed against the cage.

Toal manages to break the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sunkist changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Toal tries to avoid it but Sunkist manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Toal to the ground. Toal escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Toal misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Toal looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Sunkist gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Toal avoiding damage as Sunkist throws knees to the body.

Toal pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sloppy strikes from Toal. Those never looked like landing.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Toal stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Toal wants it to stay on the feet.
Toal swinging wildly here.
Merab Sunkist has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sunkist shoots in looking for a takedown. Toal tries to sprawl out of it but Sunkist keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Toal manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dylan Toal showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Toal, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dylan Toal!
Dylan Toal thanked the fans post fight for their support.