PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Darren Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Liam Minard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Smith might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to ''Run This Town'' by Jay-Z feat. Kanye West and Rihanna. Minard has chosen Walk as his entrance music. Both these fighters are unbeaten, so somebody's 0 has got to go!There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Smith
vs
Minard

183 cm
25
220 lbs
9 - 0 - 0

183 cm
21
215 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Great low kicks
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Knock Out Artistry
Knock Out Artistry

5th Round
5th Round

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Darren Smith!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Liam Minard!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Reed Andrews and David Schapiro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Minard checks a leg kick.
Minard throws a hook but Smith avoids it easily.
Smith throws a low kick but it's checked well by Minard.
Minard slaps away a takedown attempt from Smith, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Smith ducks under a wild hook from Minard.
Smith scores with a spinning back kick!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Smith is defended easily by Minard.
Smith uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Minard.
Smith throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Smith throws a nice inside leg kick.
Minard scores with a nice right hand.
Smith tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Smith shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Smith lands a nice leg kick that just misses Minard's sensitive parts.
Minard misses with a leg kick
and Smith counters with a big head kick but Minard shrugs it off.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Minard looks to throw the jab but Smith is out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Minard has Smith up against the cage in a clinch.
Smith is trying to break the clinch but Minard is controlling him.
Minard keeps control of Smith as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Minard trying to land knees to the body.
Minard wants to break free but Smith has control.
Smith tries to break free but Minard pushes him back against the cage.
Smith stalling.
Smith can't break the clinch.
Minard content to slow the pace in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Smith taking a breather.
Minard works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Smith dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Minard has Smith pressed against the cage, preventing Smith from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Smith avoiding damage as Minard throws knees to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Minard. Smith does a little dance to reset his feet.
Smith walks into a left hand.
Smith ducks under a wild hook from Minard.
Smith tries a head kick but it misses.
Minard scores with a hook to the body. Smith takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Minard looks to land a left hand but Smith moved out of range nicely.
Minard misses with a body shot.
Smith throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Smith uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Minard.
Smith throws a leg kick but Minard moved away.
A head kick misses from Smith.
Smith displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Minard throws out the jab.
Smith throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Smith takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Minard punishes Smith's body with a nice straight punch.
A combination from Minard does no damage.
Smith throws a leg kick that misses.
Minard sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Minard throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Liam Minard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Smith bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Smith throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A bone on bone clash there as Smith blocks the leg kick.
A head kick misses from Smith.
Smith shoots in looking for a takedown. Minard tries to sprawl out of it but Smith keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Minard manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Darren Smith. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smith slips under a jab from Minard.
Minard misses the jab.
Smith throws a head kick that misses.
Minard throws a hook but Smith blocks it.
Smith avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A swing and a miss from Minard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Smith takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A solid leg kick lands there for Smith.
Minard misses with an uppercut.
Minard attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Darren Smith will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Smith steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Minard.
Smith connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Smith misses with a leg kick
and Minard counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Smith takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Smith fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Smith drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Minard gets back to half guard.
Minard is staying active underneath Smith, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Minard gets full guard.
Minard trying to keep a closed guard but Smith is proving a slippery customer.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Minard holds on and takes a little breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Minard is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Smith postures up.
Smith trying to control the position from guard on top but Minard is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Smith throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Minard throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's two 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.
Smith lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Minard blocks a head kick by Smith.
Smith takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Smith looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Darren Smith is winning the standup battle so far.
Smith slips under a jab.
Minard throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Smith counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Smith misses with a takedown
and Minard counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Smith thinking.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Smith ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Minard checks a low kick from Smith.
Minard cracks Smith with a right hand to the side of the head.
A big right from Minard misses.
A low kick from Minard is predictable there
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Smith lands with a thumping leg kick.
Minard throws a jab when Smith was well out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Minard throws a leg kick
and Smith counters with a nice leg kick.
Smith cracks the inside of Minard's front leg.
Smith ducks under a wild hook from Minard.
Smith plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

Smith shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Smith was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Smith trying to control but Minard is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Smith fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith prevents Minard from getting the reversal.
Minard tries to hold on but Smith postures up.

Smith goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Minard is on top in guard.
Smith bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Minard's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Darren Smith dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Minard stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Smith.
Smith scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Minard's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Smith throws a leg kick that is checked
and Minard counters with a slapping leg kick.
Minard throws a leg kick
and Smith counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Smith misses with a body kick.
Smith ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Smith throws a leg kick
letting Minard counter with a right hand.
Nice sprawl there from Minard as Smith shoots in.
Minard fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Smith manages to avoid it.
Minard throws a big shot that misses.
Minard scores with a jab to the jaw.
Smith moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Minard tries to clinch but Smith moves out of range.
Smith takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nice jab there from Minard.
Minard takes a swing at Smith's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith keeps the fight on the outside.
Minard ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Smith moves away.
A nice inside leg kick there by Smith. That's going to slow Minard down.
Minard swings and misses with a shot to the body

and Smith counters with a nice double leg into side control. Minard won't be happy with that.
Minard struggling a bit here.
Minard takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Smith is working Minard over with some ground and pound from side control.
Smith has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Smith throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Smith throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Minard works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
Smith trying to control the action but Minard is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Smith looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Smith is trying to work for a kimura but Minard is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Minard wants to improve his position but Smith is controlling well.
Smith not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Minard manages to get to full guard.
Smith trying to control but Minard is working from the bottom.
Smith cracks Minard with a solid left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Smith wants to control from the top but Minard keeps moving.
Minard working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Smith.
Smith sitting in guard here, content to control.
Smith postures up.
Minard avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Minard is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Smith wants to control from the top but Minard keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Darren Smith clearly takes that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Minard throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Minard lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Smith steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Minard.
Minard attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Smith throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Minard's head.
Minard tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Smith throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Minard moves out of range as Smith throws a body kick.
Smith tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

Minard shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Smith controls Minard momentarily but Minard frees himself.
Smith keeping moving, preventing Minard from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Minard trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Minard stands over his opponent and dives in with a flying punch! Smith throws up his legs and catches Minard in a triangle! Oh this looks tight! Minard tries to escape but he's forced to tap! Wow, fantastic work there by Smith! That came out of nowhere!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 4, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Darren Smith!
Darren Smith retains his light heavyweight title!