PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cliff Wagner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Bosse (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cliff Wagner has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Wagner
vs
Bosse

192 cm
19
204 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

180 cm
23
203 lbs
3 - 8 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Cliff Wagner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steve Bosse!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Wesley Smith and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wagner closes the distance and clinches.
Bosse jumps guard but Wagner stands there with Bosse around his waist. Bosse gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Bosse escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Wagner drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Bosse is looking for a sweep.

Wagner is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Bosse is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Wagner wants to control but Bosse is keeping him busy.
Bosse is trying to improve his position.
Bosse dodges the ground and pound from Wagner.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bosse tries to bench press Wagner off him but Wagner keeps the position.
Wagner creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Bosse sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

Wagner thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bosse is trying to control Wagner's posture but Wagner avoids it.

Wagner stands up and beckons Bosse to his feet.
Bosse scores with a leg kick.
Bosse fails with the takedown

and Wagner counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Bosse's guard now.
Wagner is breathing heavily.
Wagner sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bosse pulls Wagner in close to prevent any damage.
Wagner trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Wagner stands up from Bosse's guard - Wagner perhaps looking for a knockout.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bosse blocks a head kick by Wagner.
Bosse scores with a one two! Wagner had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Wagner misses with a takedown

and Bosse counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Wagner!
Wagner is looking to get to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bosse looking to control but Wagner is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Wagner is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Bosse controlling from the full mount.

Wagner bucks up and throws Bosse to the side - he's got back to his feet. Great escape!
Bosse blocks a head kick by Wagner.
Wagner doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Bosse counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Wagner has his feet on Bosse's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Bosse lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Wagner lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Bosse backs up against the cage.
Bosse shoots in but no luck this time.
Cliff Wagner has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Steve Bosse.

Wagner shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Bosse napping and manages to drive through into side control!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Wagner trying to control the action but Bosse is working from the bottom.
Wagner just content to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Cliff Wagner will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Wagner looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Bosse!
Wagner lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Bosse hang on?
Bosse is squirming around, avoiding Wagner's attempts to control the action.
Wagner controlling from mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Wagner stands up from mount. Strange move.
Wagner is looking to clinch.
Wagner moves out of range of the body kick.
Bosse tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Wagner shoots and misses

and Bosse decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Wagner's guard.
Wagner bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Bosse's guard.
Bosse is trying to hold Wagner in close to prevent damage but Wagner has managed to pass into half guard.
Bosse on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Wagner frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wagner content just to control the position here.
Wagner with the ground and pound from mount.
Wagner takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Wagner stands up from mount. Strange move.

Bosse closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Wagner manages to work his way to half guard, despite Bosse's best efforts.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wagner pushes Bosse off looking to stand but Bosse dives back in and keeps control.
Wagner is looking for a sweep. Bosse is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Bosse controlling the action here.
Wagner is not content to let Bosse control the position.
Wagner is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Bosse's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Bosse's back!
Bosse tries to break free.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Wagner lands punches and elbows.
Wagner will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The referee is taking a good look at Bosse as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Wagner!
Bosse just trying to survive but Wagner is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Cliff Wagner overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Bosse is really stuck here.

Wagner tightening his grip on Bosse, looking for the choke.
Bosse really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Wagner. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Wagner is looking to control Bosse but Bosse is wriggling around and keeping busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cliff Wagner 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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Horrible takedown by Bosse or perhaps it was just good defense by Wagner which made him look bad.
Wagner misses with a takedown attempt

and Bosse counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Wagner is trying to maintain the position but Bosse is very close to passing his half guard.

Wagner makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
A kick lands to the mid section there for Wagner.
Wagner tries to bum rush Bosse with a series of wild strikes but Bosse uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Cliff Wagner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Wagner moves into the clinch.
Wagner is working for takedown but Bosse is calmly controlling the position for now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Wagner is trying to break free.
Bosse is struggling to control the position.
Bosse is pressed up against the cage. Wagner has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Bosse down to the mat. Bosse avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cliff Wagner. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bosse gets the takedown into side control.
Wagner manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Wagner flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Bosse wants to take a breather but Wagner is having none of it.
Wagner wants to improve his position but Bosse is controlling well.

Bosse 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.
Wagner is staying active underneath Bosse, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wagner slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Wagner has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Bosse can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Wagner trying to keep a closed guard but Bosse is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bosse wants to stand but Wagner is controlling his posture from full guard.
Bosse wants to control from the top but Wagner keeps moving.

Wagner is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wagner is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Wagner looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Wagner controlling Bosse's posture.
Bosse must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Bosse trying to control but Wagner is working from the bottom.
Wagner wants to sweep here but Bosse controlling him for the moment.

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 Cliff Wagner.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Wagner, 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Cliff Wagner!