PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Cj Bower (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Martin Morales (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cj Bower looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Bower
vs
Morales

168 cm
22
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

164 cm
22
155 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Cj Bower!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Martin Morales!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Donatello Bradman and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morales slaps away a takedown attempt from Bower, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Jeez, both these guys look absolutely knackered already, that's not a good sign!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Bower.
Bower moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

Bower tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Morales is trying to buck Bower off.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bower decides to stand back up. Bower steps back and let's Morales get back to his feet.
Morales pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bower tries to clinch there but Morales circles away.

Bower decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bower trying to control the pace.

Bower 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.
Bower content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bower has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Bower looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Morales with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

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.

Bower 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.

Bower escapes and gets back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cj Bower dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Morales stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Morales wants it to stay on the feet.

Morales instigates a clinch.
Morales lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Bower takes a shot to the head.

Bower has hold of one of Morales's legs. Morales is fighting the takedown attempt but Bower gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Bower wants to stand but Morales is controlling his posture from full guard.
Morales is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Bower is controlling him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bower pushing down on Morales's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bower controlling the action here.
Bower stops Morales from getting back to his feet.
Bower has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Bower lands with some strikes.

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 crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Bower cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Morales is squirming around, avoiding Bower's attempts to control the action.
Bower throws some wild stikes that Morales manages to avoid easily.
Morales takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Bower stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.
Nice takedown defense from Morales. No joy for Bower on that attempt.
Bower shoots for a takedown but Morales saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cj Bower. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bower tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Morales paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Bower shoots in looking for a takedown. Morales tries to sprawl out of it but Bower keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Morales manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Morales pulls out of a head kick attempt.

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.

Bower looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Bower works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Bower is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Bower sitting and controlling from the half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cj Bower dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Morales gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Bower to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Morales is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Bower is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morales wants to get back to his feet but Bower is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Bower trying to control the position from guard on top but Morales is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Bower controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Morales keeping moving, preventing Bower from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Bower pushes down on Morales's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Morales really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Bower. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Bower wants to work for an arm triangle but Morales is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Bower wants to control but Morales is keeping him busy.
Bower with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Cj Bower just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Morales's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Morales duly obliges.
Morales stuffs the takedown.
Bower lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Morales avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's four 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.
Morales fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cj Bower is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Bower throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Morales's waist but Morales gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Bower off to one side.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Bower is defended easily by Morales.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cj Bower. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bower shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
No luck for Bower with that takedown attempt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Bower.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cj Bower showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Bower, 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 30:27
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cj Bower!