PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rowan Atkinson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Henry Charles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Atkinson might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to GSP style :). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Atkinson
vs
Charles

180 cm
21
163 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
20
167 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rowan Atkinson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henry Charles!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Emerson Jorge and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Charles lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Henry Charles seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Charles misses with the combination.

Atkinson gets a takedown into half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Charles wants to control but Atkinson is keeping busy.
Atkinson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Charles gets back to full guard.
Atkinsonis looking to pass into half guard but Charles pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Charles is in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Atkinson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Charles is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Atkinson looking for subs off his back but Charles has passed one foot through into half guard.
Charles looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Atkinson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Charles is working away from the top position though.
Charles wants to control but Atkinson is keeping him busy.
Atkinson tries to get to full guard but Charles has control of the leg.
Charles passes the guard and advances to mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charles content just to control the position here.
Charles avoids the attempt from Atkinson to control.
Atkinson is working to get back to half guard.

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.
Charles tries to control but Atkinson wriggling away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Atkinson really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Henry Charles dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Charles misses with a hook. Atkinson ducked under it nicely.
Charles fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Atkinson gets cracked there but stands up to it.

Atkinson changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Charles looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Atkinson in side control, throwing shots but Charles defends.
Charles is working to avoid the ground and pound but Atkinson connects with a decent elbow.
Atkinson wants to lay and pray for a moment but Charles keeps working.
Atkinson takes a little break here. Charles wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Atkinson working away.
Charles is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Atkinson looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Charles with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Charles is trying to maintain the position but Atkinson is very close to passing his half guard.
Charles is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Atkinson's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Atkinson's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Atkinson breaks Charles's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Charles keeping moving, preventing Atkinson from controlling successfully.
Atkinson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Charles pulls Atkinson in close to prevent any damage.
Atkinson trying to control the position from guard on top but Charles is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Atkinson throws and elbow that misses. Charles uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Atkinson's guard. Nice move by Charles!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Atkinson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Atkinson manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Charles manages to get himself to full guard.
Charles utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Atkinson trying to control but Charles is working from the bottom.
Atkinson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Atkinson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Atkinson controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Atkinson wants to pass the guard but Charles is keeping the position.
Atkinson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Atkinson wants to control from the top but Charles keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rowan Atkinson dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Atkinson tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Charles swivels and escapes.
A big right from Charles misses.
A telegraphed right hand from Charles misses the target.
Charles lands a head shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Atkinson on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Charles lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.

Atkinson drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Charles trying to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Atkinson wants to control from the top but Charles keeps moving.
Atkinson throwing strikes but missing.
Atkinson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Charles swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Atkinson sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Charles's guard.

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.
Charles has his hands clasped together around Atkinson's back. He's all about the action.
Atkinson trying to control from half guard but Charles is working away.
Atkinson prevents Charles from improving his position.
Atkinson misses with a head shot. Charles uses the momentum to regain guard.
Atkinson throwing strikes but missing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charles working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Atkinson.
Atkinson is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Charles wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Atkinson is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Rowan Atkinson has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Sloppy strikes from Charles. Those never looked like landing.
Atkinson closes the distance and clinches up with Charles, looking for a takedown. Atkinson pushes Charles against the cage but Charles circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Charles looks to land a left hand but Atkinson moved out of range nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Charles takes a swing at Atkinson's ribcage but misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rowan Atkinson showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Atkinson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 29:28
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rowan Atkinson!