PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Steve Sampson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jack Morrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Sampson
vs
Morrison

175 cm
24
185 lbs
6 - 2 - 1

175 cm
20
185 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Steve Sampson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jack Morrison!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Skip Squint and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sampson looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Morrison is fending him off so far but Sampson persists. Nope, Morrison circles away and we're back to standing.
Sampson throws a good cross that connects.
Sampson changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Sampson slips a jab and a cross from Morrison.
Sampson throws a lazy right hand but Morrison sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Morrison with a poor takedown

and Sampson counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sampson takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Morrison is in trouble now - Sampson has advanced to mount!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Morrison tries to reverse the position but Sampson maintains control.
Sampson controlling the pace for now.
Morrison is squirming around, avoiding Sampson's attempts to control the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampson dominating with strikes here.
Sampson content just to control the position here.
Morrison is desperately trying to improve his position but Sampson has a good base and remains in mount.
Sampson lands a big elbow.
Morrison working to try and regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Sampson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sampson is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Morrison can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Morrison keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Morrison looks gassed!
Morrison is squirming around, avoiding Sampson's attempts to control the action.
Sampson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
BOOM! Sampson connects with a massive shot to the dome!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sampson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sampson wants to control the pace but Morrison is squirming around nicely.
Sampson connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Sampson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sampson tries to control but Morrison wriggling away.

That's four 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.
Morrison is wriggling around trying to escape.
Sampson tries to control but Morrison wriggling away.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Steve Sampson just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Sampson throws a hook but Morrison avoids it easily.
Morrison lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sampson circles away quickly and effectively.
A punch combination from Morrison misses.
Sampson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Morrison tries to bum rush Sampson with a series of wild strikes but Sampson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Sampson tries to clinch up but Morrison circles away and keeps his distance.
Morrison looks to land a combination but Sampson avoids it well.
Morrison throws a predictable looking body shot
and Sampson counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Morrison tries to bum rush Sampson with a series of wild strikes but Sampson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sampson throws a nice inside leg kick.
Morrison slips a straight right by Sampson.
Morrison throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Sampson counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Sampson.
Sampson landing knees to the body.
Morrison fails to pull guard.
Sampson is pushing Morrison up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Morrison is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrison wants to get back to striking at distance but Sampson won't allow it.
Sampson goes for a takedown attempt but Morrison pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Sampson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Morrison manages to avoid it.
Sampson dodges the punch combination from Morrison.
Sampson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morrison is just out of range.
Sampson connects with a solid leg kick.

Sampson closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Sampson passes to side control.
Sampson trying to control the position but Morrison is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sampson staying calm.
Sampson trying to control the position but Morrison is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sampson controls the position.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Steve Sampson just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Morrison is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Sampson's half guard.
Morrison is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morrison cracks Sampson with a solid left hand.
Sampson looking for a sweep. Not yet Sampson, not yet.
Sampson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Morrison won't allow Sampson to sweep him here.
Morrison trying to control the position from guard on top but Sampson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Sampson 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!

Morrison looks to land a combination but Sampson avoids it well.
Morrison throws a combination that misses
and Sampson counters with a left to the body.
Morrison throws a nice looking combination but Sampson bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Morrison tries to move into range but Sampson moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Sampson swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Sampson clinches.
A frustrated look appears on Morrison's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Sampson manages to break the clinch.
A jab from Morrison misses.
Morrison takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Sampson closes the distance and clinches.

Sampson gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Morrison regains guard.
Sampson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampson trying to control the position from guard on top but Morrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morrison is trying to keep Sampson in close.
Sampson controlling from the top position.

Sampson drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Sampson jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Sampson controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Morrison bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sampson's guard.
Morrison postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Sampson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Morrison missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Morrison looking to sit in guard and control but Sampson gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Morrison looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Sampson advances position into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morrison being controlled for a moment.
Morrison is trying to get back to half guard.
Steve Sampson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sampson in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Morrison tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Steve Sampson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
The referee asks Sampson politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Sampson prefers to stall for the moment though.
Morrison tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Sampson presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Sampson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Morrison is wriggling around trying to escape.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Sampson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Sampson 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 30:26
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:26
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Sampson!