PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between ryu zabuza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Eagle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for ryu zabuza has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

zabuza
vs
Eagle

185 cm
23
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
23
175 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, ryu zabuza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, John Eagle!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Chris Downing and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Eagle keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Eagle keeps the fight on the outside.
Nice takedown defense from Eagle. No joy for zabuza on that attempt.
zabuza has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for ryu zabuza. That's going to take a lot out of him.
zabuza dodges the punch combination from Eagle.
zabuza moves in looking to clinch but Eagle pushes him off.

Eagle closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. zabuza did well to prevent Eagle getting side control.
zabuza won't allow Eagle to pass to mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Eagle scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Eagle prevents zabuza from standing back up.
zabuza has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Eagle is working away from the top position though.
zabuza is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Eagle is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Eagle sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. zabuza defending well though.
Eagle sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eagle takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
zabuza has hold of Eagle's hands but Eagle slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Eagle moves nicely into side control.
zabuza is trying to get back to half guard.
Eagle scoring with punches from side control.
Eagle working the head and body with strikes.
zabuza is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Eagle scoring with punches from side control.
zabuza wants to control but Eagle postures up.
zabuza taking punishment in the form of punches.
zabuza knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Eagle on the ground.
The referee asks Eagle politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Eagle prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eagle working the ground and pound from side control.
zabuza is breathing heavily.
zabuza seems a little lost for a moment, as Eagle dominates the positioning.
Eagle scoring with punches from side control.
Eagle cracks zabuza with a big elbow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Eagle is putting a hurting on zabuza here, landing some big shots from side control.
zabuza tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Eagle presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Eagle has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
zabuza can't escape the position.
Eagle unloading with bombs!
Eagle is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. zabuza can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Eagle postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. zabuza looks a forlorn figure.
zabuza taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
zabuza is wriggling around trying to escape.
zabuza is bucking up trying to escape but Eagle cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
zabuza wants to hold on but Eagle pushes him away.
Eagle controlling the pace for now.
BOOM! Eagle connects with a massive shot to the dome!
zabuza is trying to escape the mount.
Eagle with good strikes from the mount here!
The referee warns zabuza that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
zabuza takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eagle landing punches.
Eagle landing strikes, looking to finish!
Eagle lands a big shot there that rocks zabuza but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
zabuza takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Eagle with the ground and pound from mount.
Eagle putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
zabuza wants to hold on but Eagle pushes him away.
Eagle lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
zabuza tries to hold on but Eagle postures up.
Eagle working zabuza over with strikes here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Eagle punishing his opponent with strikes.
Eagle is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. zabuza can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

zabuza fails with the takedown
and Eagle counters with a nice body shot.
zabuza gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Eagle counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in zabuza's guard now.
Eagle chips away with some ground and pound.
Eagle prevents zabuza from getting back to his feet.
Eagle slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Eagle is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
John Eagle has got the better of the ground game so far.
Eagle preventing the sweep.
Eagle postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
zabuza wants to stand up but Eagle is controlling him.
Eagle stands and throws zabuza's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
zabuza takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
zabuza is trying to get back to his feet.
zabuza tries to get back to half guard but can't.
zabuza is working hard here to advance position.
Eagle just content to control the position.
zabuza taking a bit of punishment here - Eagle scoring with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
zabuza is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Eagle scores with punches from side control.
Eagle takes a little break here. zabuza wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Eagle working the head and body with strikes.
zabuza is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
zabuza sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Nice strikes from Eagle there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
zabuza is trying to get back to full guard.
zabuza wants to control but Eagle passes into side.

Eagle stands up and we're back to a striking position.
zabuza shoots and misses
and Eagle counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for ryu zabuza. That's going to take a lot out of him.
zabuza clinches but Eagle breaks the clinch

and Eagle counters with a shoot takedown. zabuza fights it but they end up in guard.
zabuza trying to control the position.
Eagle is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Eagle stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eagle ducks down and throws a hook to the body but zabuza moves away.
zabuza shoots and misses

and Eagle counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
zabuza is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Eagle is controlling him.
zabuza not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Eagle pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. zabuza is keeping the position for now.
Eagle has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Eagle wants to control from the top but zabuza keeps moving.
zabuza avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Eagle loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Eagle accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Eagle showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

zabuza closes the distance looking to clinch

so Eagle counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Eagle landing with the ground and pound.
Eagle lands a couple of elbows.
Eagle connects with a couple of short punches.
Eagle is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
zabuza looking to hit a scissor sweep but Eagle is one step ahead there.
zabuza trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eagle postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

zabuza is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Eagle is working zabuza over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Eagle stopping the sweep attempt from zabuza.
zabuza trying to keep a closed guard but Eagle is proving a slippery customer.
Eagle is working zabuza over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Eagle is working zabuza over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Eagle connects with a couple of short punches.
Eagle looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Eagle scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Eagle sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed zabuza's guard.
Eagle with the ground and pound but zabuza uses the opportunity to regain guard.
zabuza looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Eagle puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Eagle tries to pass the half guard into mount. zabuza knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Eagle is looking to take a break and control but zabuza is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Eagle not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Eagle is trying to control the action in half guard but zabuza is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
zabuza tries to get to full guard but Eagle has control of the leg.
zabuza wants to get back to his feet.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
zabuza with a poor takedown
and Eagle counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
ryu zabuza is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
zabuza shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
zabuza shoots and misses

and Eagle counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Eagle winds up and cracks zabuza with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
zabuza is trying to control but can't.
Eagle working over zabuza with some ground and pound. zabuza looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eagle takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
zabuza wants to control but Eagle is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Eagle throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Eagle wants to take a breather but zabuza is having none of it.
Eagle takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
zabuza gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Eagle counters with a lovely straight right hand!
John Eagle is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for ryu zabuza. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Eagle misses the shot to the body.
zabuza shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
zabuza tries to clinch up
and zabuza takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Eagle comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Eagle has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 26:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 26:30
Judge Cecil Peabody scores the fight 24:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Eagle!