PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bryan Briston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jon Samuel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Samuel has chosen Let The Rain Fall as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Briston
vs
Samuel

205 cm
22
270 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

190 cm
20
255 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Bryan Briston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Jon Samuel!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Bishop, Colin Fotheringham and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Briston stuffs the takedown.
Samuel shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Briston sprawls well. Briston wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Samuel gets slowly back to his feet.
Jon Samuel seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Samuel shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Samuel throws some wild stikes that Briston manages to avoid easily.
Samuel throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Samuel cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Briston wants to control but Samuel is having none of it.
Briston wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Samuel.
Samuel is landing with some decent strikes but Briston is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Briston holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Samuel tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Samuel sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Samuel throws some wild stikes that Briston manages to avoid easily.
Samuel with a couple of short strikes.
Samuel landing strikes from the mount.

Samuel with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Briston blocking the ground and pound.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samuel throws a wild left hand from mount and Briston manages to wriggle his way back to half guard.
Samuel looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Samuel not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Samuel is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Samuel has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samuel sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Briston defending well though.
Briston works his way to full guard. Good work.
Samuel scoring with punches to the head and body.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Samuel accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Samuel postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Briston is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Samuel, into his guard.
Samuel bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Briston's guard.
Briston is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samuel throwing strikes from guard but Briston blocks nicely.
Samuel lands a couple of digs.
Samuel throwing strikes from guard but Briston blocks nicely.
Samuel trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jon Samuel dominated that round.
That's time! Briston's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Samuel tries for a takedown but Briston sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Samuel fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Samuel. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
The fight stays on the outside here - Briston looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Briston gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Samuel to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Briston utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Jon Samuel has got the better of the ground game so far.
Samuel trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Samuel works over Briston with some ground and pound from guard.

It looks like Bryan Briston has been cut.
Briston preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Briston pushes Samuel off and scrambles back to his feet.
Bryan Briston is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Samuel closes this distance looking for a takedown but Briston circles away.
Bryan Briston has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jon Samuel.
Samuel fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Samuel shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Briston pinned against the cage. Briston gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Samuel fails with a takedown attempt.
Samuel fails with the takedown.
Samuel has a takedown stuffed.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Samuel is defended easily by Briston.

Briston feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Briston gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Samuel shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Samuel has gone for a leg lock! Briston slips out almost immediately though and dives into Samuel's guard.
Briston chips away with some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samuel is trying to keep Briston in close.
Samuel bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Briston's guard.

Briston scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Samuel fails with the takedown

and Briston counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Samuel!
Samuel is looking to get to half guard.
Briston landing strikes from the mount and Samuel is in trouble!
Briston throwing strikes here but Samuel is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Briston pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Samuel regains half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samuel is trying to control but can't.
Samuel is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Briston will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Samuel trying to control here.

Samuel has one foot on Briston's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.

Briston gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Samuel to score an easy takedown into full guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Samuel is in close to Briston's body, working some short punches and elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Bryan Briston will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Bryan Briston'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!

Briston leaves Samuel with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Samuel shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Samuel throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Poor strikes thrown by Samuel there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Samuel throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Samuel postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Briston looks a forlorn figure.
Samuel looking to finish with strikes here!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samuel throwing strikes but Briston recovers to half guard. A much better position.

Samuel is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Briston sees it coming and defends easily.
Briston regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Samuel.
Briston on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Briston tries to get out of the position.
Samuel works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Samuel missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Samuel throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Samuel is looking for a kimura but Briston is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Samuel to get the leverage.

Samuel is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Briston has managed to free his arm - good work.
Samuel trying to pass the guard but Briston defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Briston works his way to full guard. Good work.
Samuel throws a big right hand that misses.
Samuel in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Samuel looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Briston!

Samuel goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Briston turns into him and now he's in Samuel's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samuel looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Samuel is trying to keep Briston in close.
Briston in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Briston lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Briston preventing the sweep.
Briston would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Samuel wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Briston is now in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jon Samuel comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Samuel 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 Daniel Bishop scores the fight 28:29
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jon Samuel!