PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Mac Readen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brian Rude (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Readen
vs
Rude

168 cm
26
140 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

173 cm
26
145 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Mac Readen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Brian Rude!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Trevor Gratis and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Readen uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rude.
Rude slips under a jab from Readen.
Readen throws the left hand but Rude avoids the punch easily.
Rude shoots for a double leg takedown but Readen sprawls well. He's pushed Rude's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Readen looks to score with a jab to the body but Rude is just out of range.

Rude looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Readen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rude working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Readen 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rude postures up and lands a big shot to Readen's brow.
Rude working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Readen's head.
Readen wants to sweep here but Rude controlling him for the moment.
Rude is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Rude loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Readen wants to sweep here but Rude controlling him for the moment.
Rude thows a big elbow that misses.
Readen throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Readen lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Rude!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Readen looking to ground and pound but Rude is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rude is desperately trying to improve his position but Readen has a good base and remains in mount.
Readen working Rude over with strikes here.
Rude is in a horrible position here. Readen smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Rude tries to lock up and control but Readen gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Readen misses with a head shot.
Rude blocking the ground and pound.
Readen looking to ground and pound but Rude is blocking nicely.
Readen trying to control but Rude is having none of it.
Readen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Readen throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Rude because Readen loaded up on that one.
Poor strikes thrown by Readen there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Rude blocking the ground and pound.
Rude in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Readen throws a strike there. Rude manages to avoid it well and slips a leg under to get to half guard.
Readen missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Readen not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Rude avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Readen.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Readen missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Readen wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rude keeps working.
Readen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Readen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Readen works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Readen misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Rude.
Readen throws the left hand but Rude avoids the punch easily.
Rude fails with a takedown attempt.
Readen fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rude manages to avoid it.
Readen lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Rude at a distance.
Rude looks gassed!

Rude shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Readen manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Brian Rude will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Rude closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Readen did well to prevent Rude getting side control.
Readen regains full guard. Nicely done.
Rude throwing strikes from guard but Readen blocks nicely.
Rude must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Readen lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Rude!
Readen postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Rude looks a forlorn figure.
Poor strikes thrown by Readen there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Rude is breathing heavily.
Readen looking to finish with strikes here!
Readen working Rude over with strikes here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Readen tries to control but Rude wriggling away.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Rude can do anything to dispel that myth.
Readen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Readen sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Rude is in all sorts of trouble here.
Readen misses with a head shot.
Readen tries to control but Rude wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Readen landing punches.
Readen throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Rude is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Readen unloads with some shots from mount but Rude bucks and avoids them well.
Readen can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Rude is looking to escape.
Readen with good strikes from the mount here!
Readen wants to control the pace but Rude is squirming around nicely.
Readen 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Readen is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Rude is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Readen punching from mount but Rude doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Readen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Rude has worked his way to half guard, taking advantage of Readen's lack of action.
Readen drops an elbow to the side of Rude's head.
Rude blocking the ground and pound attempt from Readen.
Readen is trying to control the action in half guard but Rude is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

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.
Readen lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Rude tries to get to full guard but Readen has control of the leg.
Readen missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Readen moves into full mount! Rude won't be happy about that!
Readen looking to control and managing it successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mac Readen 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Readen misses with a body shot.

Rude shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Readen's guard.
Readen not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Rude is in close to Readen's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rude working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rude is looking to work some ground and pound but Readen has wrist control.
Readen will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Readen working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rude.
Readen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Readen is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Readen wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rude keeps working.
Rude takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rude tries to get to full guard but Readen has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Readen is pressing down on Rude's thigh, looking to free his foot. Rude is holding on for now.
Readen throwing shots but Rude is blocking nicely.
Readen is looking to take a break and control but Rude is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Readen is stalling here. Rude is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Readen seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Rude has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

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.
Readen gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Readen is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Rude's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Rude's back!
Rude trying to control the hands but Readen won't let him.
Rude covers up after that shot from Readen.
Readen struggling to keep hold of the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Readen punches the canvas rather than the man.
The referee is taking a good look at Rude as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Readen!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rude covering up well under a series of strikes from Readen.
Readen has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Rude.
Rude avoids the strikes from Readen.
Rude trying to control the position but Readen manages to sink in the hooks.
Rude wriggles onto his back under a barage of strikes.
Rude is looking to improve his position but Readen isn't that keen on the idea.
Readen throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's four 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.
Readen throwing strikes but Rude recovers to half guard. A much better position.
Readen perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Readen working Rude over with strikes.
Readen not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Readen is trying to control the action in half guard but Rude is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Mac Readen.
Well Readen 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 29:28
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mac Readen!