PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ernie Whit (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Naruepol Fairtex (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ernie Whit has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Whit
vs
Fairtex

160 cm
25
159 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

170 cm
25
145 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ernie Whit!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Naruepol Fairtex!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Dean Styles and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Whit shoots in and drives through. Fairtex sprawls well.
Whit fails with a takedown attempt.
Ernie Whit seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Whit slips a jab and a cross from Fairtex.

Whit feints and as Fairtex raises his hands in defense, Whit changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Whit accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Whit missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Fairtex is trying to keep Whit in close.
Whit trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Whit trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Whit in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Whit in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whit wants to control from the top but Fairtex keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Whit closes the distance and clinches up with Fairtex, looking for a takedown. Whit pushes Fairtex against the cage but Fairtex circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ernie Whit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Whit showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Fairtex.
A decent looking cross lands there for Whit.
Whit misses with a straight right.
Fairtex swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Fairtex slips under a jab.
Fairtex fails to land with a series of punches.
Whit connects with a single shot there.

Whit shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Fairtex is trying to defend but Whit finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Fairtex keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whit with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Whit not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Whit thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Whit is trying to control. Fairtex wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Whit throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Whit missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whit not landing any meaningful shots this time.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Whit tests Fairtex's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Whit throws a left and a right that both miss
and Fairtex counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Whit thows a body shot but no joy.
Fairtex slips under a jab.
A telegraphed right hand from Whit misses the target.
Fairtex keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
A big right from Whit misses.
Fairtex keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Whit shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Fairtex as he avoids it easily.
Whit fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Whit is breathing heavily.

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.
Fairtex tries to bum rush Whit with a series of wild strikes but Whit uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A combination from Fairtex does no damage.
Fairtex misses with a hook.
Whit just misses with a punch to the body.
Fairtex defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Whit.
Whit throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Fairtex sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Whit has a takedown stuffed.
Whit scores with a jab.
Whit dodges the punch combination from Fairtex.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The fighters circling - Whit throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Whit lands a nice looking body shot.
Whit misses the jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ernie Whit dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Whit throws a lazy right hand but Fairtex sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Fairtex misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nice defenses there by Fairtex.
Fairtex blocks a jab.
Fairtex moves out of range of the strikes.
Whit misses the jab.
Whit misses with a hook.
Whit misses with a hook.
Whit misses with an uppercut.
Whit throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Fairtex counters with a two punch combo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Whit throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Fairtex connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Whit fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Whit is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Fairtex moves away from the strike by Whit.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whit throws a big shot that misses.
Whit is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Fairtex's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Fairtex throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Whit.
Whit shoots in for a takedown but Fairtex shows good takedown defense.
Fairtex throws a combination. Whit tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Whit connects with a nice looking jab.
A decent looking cross lands there for Fairtex.
Fairtex throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Fairtex slips under a jab.
Fairtex throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Whit.
Whit scores with a one two! Fairtex had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Whit thows a left - swing and a miss!
Fairtex staying out of range there.
Whit tries to bum rush Fairtex with a series of wild strikes but Fairtex uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Whit avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex swinging wildly here.
Fairtex slips a jab from Whit.
Whit throws an overhand right that lands on Fairtex's shoulder, as Fairtex tries to avoid the shot.
Fairtex swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Whit thows a left - swing and a miss!
A swing and a miss from Whit.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Whit.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ernie Whit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Whit loads up on a big right hand but Fairtex slips the punch.
Whit avoids a punch combination nicely.
Fairtex moves out of range as Whit strikes.
Naruepol Fairtex is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Whit scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Whit trying to mount his opponent but Fairtex defends it.
Whit 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.
Fairtex tries to roll over but Whit keeps him under control.
Whit throwing shots but Fairtex is blocking nicely.
Whit moves nicely into side control.
Whit lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Fairtex down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Fairtex is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Whit is controlling him well.
Whit controlling from side mount.
Fairtex is looking for a sweep.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Whit is putting a hurting on Fairtex here, landing some big shots from side control.
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 Ernie Whit will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A combination from Fairtex does no damage.

Whit looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Fairtex!
Whit looking to finish with strikes here!
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Fairtex can do anything to dispel that myth.
Whit wants to control the pace but Fairtex is squirming around nicely.
Fairtex holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Whit tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Fairtex is looking to improve his position but Whit isn't that keen on the idea.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whit connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Fairtex wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Whit.
Whit controlling the position easily from mount.
Whit scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Whit unloads with some shots from mount but Fairtex bucks and avoids them well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whit throws some wild stikes that Fairtex manages to avoid easily.
Fairtex really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Whit. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Whit thowing shots but they're missing.
Whit thowing shots but they're missing.
Whit misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Fairtex is looking to improve his position but Whit isn't that keen on the idea.
Fairtex is bucking up trying to escape but Whit cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Whit.
Whit throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Fairtex because Whit loaded up on that one.
Fairtex is bucking up trying to escape but Whit cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Whit lands with some strikes.
Whit punching from mount but Fairtex doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Whit lands a nice shot to the head.
Whit misses with a head shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whit landing shots from mount.
Whit is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Fairtex can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
BOOM! Whit connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Whit misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
The referee warns Fairtex that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Whit landing punches.
Fairtex is trying to stand up.
Whit controlling from the full mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ernie Whit showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Whit, 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 Jonathan Paton scores the fight for Ernie Whit!
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight for Ernie Whit!
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight for Ernie Whit!

Ernie Whit wins by unanimous decision!