PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kendrick Christiansen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom McCandless (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Christiansen
vs
McCandless

188 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
20
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Enjoys gardening

Blitzkrieg Formula 5000
Convicted Trap House

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Kendrick Christiansen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tom McCandless!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Alyssa Summers and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Christiansen fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
McCandless fails with the takedown

and Christiansen counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in McCandless's guard now.
Christiansen sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Christiansen's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

McCandless is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

McCandless working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Christiansen doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Christiansen manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Christiansen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Christiansen slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCandless is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Christiansen slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Kendrick Christiansen just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
McCandless tries for a takedown but Christiansen circles away easily

and Christiansen counters with a shoot takedown. McCandless fights it but they end up in guard.
McCandless looks gassed!
McCandless is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Christiansen sitting in guard here, content to control.

McCandless looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Christiansen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
McCandless is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Christiansen stays in close to McCandless's body and controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Kendrick Christiansen just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Christiansen fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kendrick Christiansen dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

McCandless misses with a takedown attempt

and Christiansen counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Christiansen is taking a breather. McCandless says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

McCandless actively working from the bottom here.
Christiansen is taking a breather. McCandless says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Christiansen seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down McCandless for as long as he can get away with.
McCandless is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCandless is trying to maintain the position but Christiansen is very close to passing his half guard.
Christiansen slows the pace down in half 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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Kendrick Christiansen just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Christiansen fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
McCandless leaves Christiansen with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Christiansen fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kendrick Christiansen. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Christiansen has closed the distance and engaged McCandless in a clinch.
Christiansen tries to pull guard but McCandless won't allow it.

Christiansen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Christiansen fails with a takedown attempt.
Christiansen fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but McCandless avoids it really well and circles 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.
McCandless moves in looking to clinch but Christiansen pushes him off.
Christiansen pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Kendrick Christiansen is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
McCandless darts in trying to clinch

and Christiansen counters with a single leg into guard. McCandless didn't expect that.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kendrick Christiansen 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!

McCandless misses with a head kick.
McCandless is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
McCandless stuffs the takedown attempt from Christiansen. Christiansen gets slowly back to his feet.
McCandless tries to clinch but Christiansen is having none of it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
McCandless tries to land a front kick but Christiansen steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCandless moves in looking to clinch but Christiansen pushes him off.

Christiansen shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
McCandless is trying to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
McCandless takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Christiansen controlling the action here.
Kendrick Christiansen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Christiansen stops McCandless from getting back to his feet.
McCandless trying to hold on to Christiansen's head to control him but Christiansen postures up.

McCandless actively working from the bottom here.
Christiansen knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for McCandless on the ground.
McCandless wants to improve his position but Christiansen is controlling well.
Christiansen controlling the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kendrick Christiansen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Kendrick Christiansen just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Christiansen.

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.
McCandless leaves Christiansen 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 Kendrick Christiansen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Christiansen will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
McCandless tries to close the distance and clinch but Christiansen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kendrick Christiansen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Christiansen, 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kendrick Christiansen!