PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Phelan Whelan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Armenian Samoan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Whelan
vs
Samoan

177 cm
26
179 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

160 cm
22
180 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Phelan Whelan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Armenian Samoan!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, John Kavanagh and Lou da Vinci.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Whelan tries to clinch but Samoan moves out of range.
Samoan on the wrong end of a nice jab.
A combination from Whelan does no damage.
Whelan rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Samoan moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Whelan fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Whelan fails with a takedown attempt.
Samoan takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Samoan has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Samoan closes the distance and clinches up with Whelan, looking for a takedown. Samoan pushes Whelan against the cage but Whelan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Whelan. No joy for Samoan on that attempt.
A punch combination from Whelan misses.
Samoan shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Whelan counters with a left and a right that stings Samoan.
Phelan Whelan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Armenian Samoan.
Whelan is breathing heavily.
Samoan throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Whelan's waist but Whelan gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Samoan off to one side.
Samoan takes one on the button.
Whelan is looking to clinch but Samoan is avoiding it.
Samoan misses with a takedown attempt - Whelan sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Whelan tries to clinch but Samoan is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whelan misses with a takedown

so Samoan counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Samoan forces his way into half guard.
Samoan is looking to take a break and control but Whelan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Whelan won't allow Samoan to pass to mount.
Samoan looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samoan is looking to advance position but Whelan won't allow it.
Samoan passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Whelan!
Samoan throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Whelan because Samoan loaded up on that one.
Samoan misses with a head shot.
Samoan landing shots from mount.
Samoan landing strikes from the mount and Whelan is in trouble!
Samoan can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Whelan is looking to escape.

Samoan working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samoan looking to finish Whelan with some ground and pound. This is bad for Whelan!

Samoan looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Samoan throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Samoan misses with a head shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Armenian Samoan dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Whelan shoots and misses

so Samoan counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Samoan stands and throws Whelan's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Samoan lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Whelan down.
Samoan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Whelan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Samoan fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Samoan tries to advance to mount but can't.
The strikes coming from Samoan are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Samoan wants to control but Whelan is keeping him busy.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Samoan working the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samoan working the ground and pound.
Sloppy strikes there by Samoan.
Whelan takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Samoan wants to control but Whelan is keeping him busy.
Whelan taking punishment in the form of punches.
Samoan sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Whelan is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Samoan scores with punches from side control.
Samoan wants to lay and pray for a moment but Whelan keeps working.
Samoan tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samoan trying to control the position but Whelan is working away.
Whelan dodges the ground and pound from Samoan.
Samoan sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Whelan is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Samoan throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Samoan is working Whelan over with some ground and pound from side control.
Samoan tries to advance to mount but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whelan gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Whelan wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Samoan.
Whelan is squirming around, avoiding Samoan's attempts to control the action.
Samoan pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Samoan punching from mount but Whelan doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Samoan landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samoan trying to control but Whelan is having none of it.
A nice elbow there by Samoan.
Samoan avoids the attempt from Whelan to control.

Samoan is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Whelan has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Samoan connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Samoan connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Armenian Samoan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Samoan has a takedown stuffed.
Samoan shoots for a takedown but Whelan saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Whelan has his takedown stuffed

and Samoan counters with a nice double leg into side control. Whelan won't be happy with that.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Whelan dodges the ground and pound from Samoan.
Whelan wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Samoan is looking to take a break and control but Whelan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samoan advances to full mount.
Samoan raining down shots from the mount!
Samoan looking to ground and pound but Whelan is blocking nicely.
Samoan has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Whelan's face.
Samoan throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Samoan dominating with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samoan fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Whelan wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Samoan.
Poor strikes thrown by Samoan there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

Samoan working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Samoan punishing his opponent with strikes.
Samoan punishing his opponent with strikes.
The referee warns Whelan that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Samoan.
Samoan punching from mount but Whelan doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Samoan working Whelan over with strikes here.
Samoan trying to control but Whelan is having none of it.
Armenian Samoan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Whelan holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Samoan tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Samoan content just to control the position here.
Samoan with a couple of short strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samoan working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Samoan throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Samoan tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Phelan Whelan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
Armenian Samoan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Samoan winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 26:30
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 26:30
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Armenian Samoan!