PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Luke Withers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Honcho (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Withers comes into the arena with Snap your fingers snap your neck blaring out of the sound system. Honcho has chosen 30 Seconds to Mars- Battle of One as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Mike Honcho will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Withers
vs
Honcho

184 cm
19
187 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

181 cm
24
165 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Canadian Fighter Clothing

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Luke Withers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mike Honcho!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Dean Styles and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Withers misses with a low kick.

Withers shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Withers throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Honcho is adopting a defensive guard.
Withers missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Honcho is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Withers is controlling him.
Withers wants to pass the guard but Honcho is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Honcho controls Withers momentarily but Withers frees himself.
Withers throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Withers on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Honcho throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A big left from Honcho misses.
Withers ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Honcho connects with a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Honcho connects with a body shot.
Honcho lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

It looks like Luke Withers has been cut.
Honcho throws a right and a left that Withers avoids nicely.
Withers avoids a punch combination nicely.
Withers throws a sloppy head kick and Honcho moves out of range easily.
Withers showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Honcho.
Withers misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Withers lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Honcho has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Honcho and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Honcho throws a combination. Withers tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Withers ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Withers throws a nice inside leg kick.
Honcho throws a body punch but Withers moves out of range.
Honcho buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Honcho throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Withers's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Honcho throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Withers.
Honcho checks a leg kick.
Nice straight punches there by Honcho. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Honcho.
Honcho throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Withers is breathing heavily.
Honcho looks to land a combination but Withers avoids it well.
A low kick from Withers is predictable there
and Honcho counters with a good, hard body kick but Withers shrugs it off.
Withers has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Withers takes a body punch but keeps moving.
A lazy left from Honcho finds it's target.
Honcho throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Withers.
Honcho throws a nice outside leg kick.
Honcho throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Withers throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Withers slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Honcho throws a nice looking combination but Withers bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Honcho checks a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Withers throws a leg kick
and Withers takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
A leg kick checked by Honcho.
Honcho misses with a body punch

and Withers counters with a single leg into guard. Honcho didn't expect that.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Withers tries to free his leg and advance position but Honcho is retaining full guard.
Withers has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Withers postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Withers trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Honcho manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Withers can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Honcho controls the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Honcho dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Luke Withers's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Honcho misses with a two punch combination.
Honcho lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Withers throws a leg kick
and Honcho connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Honcho scores with a crisp jab that stopped Withers in his tracks.
Honcho lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Honcho.
Withers slips a jab and a cross from Honcho.
Withers throws a leg kick which misses Honcho's front leg but catches the back leg as Honcho tries to avoid it.

Withers drives through and clinches with Honcho against the cage.
Withers unloads a knee to the mid-section. Honcho lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Honcho tries to circle away but Withers has him pinned against the cage.
Honcho wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Withers has him pressed against the cage.
Honcho is trying to break the clinch but Withers is controlling him.
Honcho wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Withers has him pressed against the cage.
Withers tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Honcho stalls.
Honcho is breathing heavily.
With the fighters up against the cage, Withers throws an elbow but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Honcho wants to break the clinch but can't.
Honcho looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Honcho looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Honcho has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Honcho is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Withers wants a takedown.
Withers has Honcho pressed against the cage, preventing Honcho from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Honcho working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Honcho wants to break free but Withers has control.
Withers keeps control of Honcho as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Withers tries to score a body lock takedown but Honcho shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Honcho is looking to break free of the clinch but Withers has double underhooks.
Honcho wants to break the clinch but can't.
Withers tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Honcho avoids it.

Honcho breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Honcho throws a hook to the side of Withers's head but Withers sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Withers shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Mike Honcho seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Withers staying out of range there.
Honcho digs a good hook to Withers's body.

That's two 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.
Honcho throws a body punch but Withers moves out of range.
Withers throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Honcho counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Honcho leaves Withers with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Luke Withers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Withers fails to land the takedown.
Honcho tries to clinch but Withers is having none of it.
Honcho chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Honcho connects with the punch.
Honcho connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Honcho throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Mike Honcho seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Withers keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Honcho.
Honcho lands the left hand.
Honcho misses with an uppercut. Withers saw that one coming.
Withers throws a leg kick that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Withers throws a half hearted mid kick.
Honcho moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Withers tries to clinch up but Honcho circles away and keeps his distance.
A nice leg kick lands there from Honcho.
Withers fails with an attempt to clinch.
Honcho lands a two punch combo.
Honcho scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Honcho misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Withers.
Withers uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Honcho.
Withers thows a leg kick but Honcho checks it
letting Honcho counter with a right hand.
Withers tries to work over Honcho's front leg with a kick but Honcho checks it.
Honcho lands with an overhand left.
Mike Honcho is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Honcho wants to clinch.

Withers shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Honcho keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Withers missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Honcho is trying to stand.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Withers throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Honcho showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Luke Withers's cut.
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!

A combination from Honcho does no damage.
Honcho checks a low kick from Withers.
Honcho lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Honcho tries to clinch there but Withers circles away.
Withers drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Honcho throws a jab when Withers was well out of range.
Withers avoids a punch combination nicely.

Withers moves into the clinch successfully.
Withers managing to block the knees to the body from Honcho.

Honcho escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Honcho moves in looking to clinch but Withers pushes him off.
Honcho connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Withers's hands.
Withers looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Withers throws a leg kick
and Honcho counters with a left to the body.
A low kick from Withers is predictable there
enabling Honcho to counter with a crisp jab.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Withers doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
A big left from Honcho misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Withers showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Honcho.
Honcho misses with a combination

and Withers counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Honcho utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Withers forces his way into half guard.
Honcho keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Withers is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Withers thows a huge punch but Honcho dodges it nicely.
Honcho keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Honcho wants to get back to his feet.
Withers not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Withers looks to land a strike but Honcho avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Withers slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Honcho dodges the ground and pound from Withers.
Honcho struggling a bit here.
Withers is putting a hurting on Honcho here, landing some big shots from side control.
Honcho wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Mike Honcho is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four 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.

Withers goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Honcho rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Withers's guard! Nice work there by Honcho!
Withers trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Withers wants to improve his position but instead Honcho has moved into half guard.
Luke Withers has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Honcho tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

And that's the end of the fight!
Luke Withers showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Honcho has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Honcho!