PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between August Derleth (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xavier Rush (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Derleth
vs
Rush

176 cm
28
135 lbs
10 - 8 - 0

183 cm
28
140 lbs
12 - 11 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Great elbows
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, August Derleth!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Xavier Rush!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Alec Ball and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rush throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Rush shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Rush stops Derleth from getting back to his feet.
Rush is looking to advance position but Derleth won't allow it.
Derleth trying to hold on to Rush's head to control him but Rush postures up.
Rush missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rush thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Derleth to regain full guard.
Derleth trying to control the position.

Rush stands and steps away. Derleth gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Derleth closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Rush throws a right and a left that Derleth avoids nicely.
A head kick misses from Derleth.
Derleth tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Rush manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Rush misses with a few strikes there.
Rush throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Derleth.
Rush throws a right and a left that both miss.
Rush will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Rush throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Derleth tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Rush rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Derleth moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Derleth lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Rush swats away the attempt to clinch by Derleth.
Rush throws a left and a right that both miss

and Derleth counters by moving into the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

Rush's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Derleth throws a head kick that Rush semi-blocks.
Rush fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rush looks gassed!
A head kick from Derleth lands but Rush takes it in his stride.
Rush fails with an attempt to clinch.
Derleth lands with a kick to the temple. Rush shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
August Derleth is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Derleth is looking to clinch but Rush is avoiding it.
Derleth tries to clinch there but Rush circles away.
Derleth avoids a punch combination nicely.

Derleth instigates a clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Derleth keeps control of Rush as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Derleth.

It looks like Xavier Rush has been cut.
Derleth with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Derleth tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Rush breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Derleth uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Rush.

Derleth closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Rush lands a hook that snaps the head of Derleth backwards.
Derleth looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rush looking to slow down the pace here.
Derleth scores with a nice hook to the head.
Derleth just leaning against Rush, taking a breather.

Rush breaks the clinch.
Derleth throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Rush's head.
Rush blocks a head kick by Derleth.
Derleth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Rush misses with a two punch combination.
Rush avoids the head kick by Derleth.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Derleth misses with a head kick.
Rush throws a series of punches but Derleth avoids them all with ease.
Sloppy strikes from Rush. Those never looked like landing.
Derleth doesn't manage to clinch there - Rush circles away.
Rush fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A combination from Rush does no damage.
Rush misses with a takedown attempt - Derleth sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
A head kick from Derleth lands but Rush takes it in his stride.
Derleth connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Rush's hands.
Derleth avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Derleth looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rush swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Derleth throws a nice head kick!
Derleth with a jab.

Derleth closes the distance and clinches.

Derleth breaks the clinch.
Derleth lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Derleth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nice jab there from Derleth.
Derleth tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Rush manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Derleth lands a head kick!
Derleth moves in looking to clinch but Rush pushes him off.

Derleth rushes Rush and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Derleth.
Rush wants to stall.

Rush breaks the clinch.
Derleth stuffs the takedown.

Derleth moves into the clinch successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

August Derleth dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Xavier Rush's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Derleth scores with a head kick.
Derleth tries to clinch up but Rush circles away and keeps his distance.
Rush throws an off balance right hand

and Derleth counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Derleth.
Derleth connects with a nasty looking knee right to Rush's face.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

Derleth's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Derleth throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Rush swats away the attempt to clinch by Derleth.
Derleth wants to clinch
and Rush counters with a lovely straight right hand!
A combination from Rush does no damage.
Derleth really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Derleth moves in looking to clinch but Rush pushes him off.

Derleth closes the distance and clinches.
Rush wants to break the clinch but can't.

Rush's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Derleth tries to clinch but Rush moves out of range.
The fight stays on the outside here - Rush looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rush throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Derleth.
Rush is breathing heavily.
Derleth stuffs the takedown attempt from Rush. Rush gets slowly back to his feet.
Derleth buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Derleth scores with a body shot.
A punch combination from Rush misses.
Derleth doesn't manage to clinch there - Rush circles away.
Derleth throws a head kick that Rush semi-blocks.
Rush shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Derleth but Derleth pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Derleth gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Rush controlling the action here for a moment.
Derleth lands an elbow inside.
Derleth working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Derleth manages to break the clinch.
Derleth tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rush swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Rush keeps the fight on the outside.
Rush avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Rush misses with a series of wild punches.

Derleth clinches up against the cage.
Derleth throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Rushs head.
Derleth lands a damaging elbow.
Derleth trying to control the position but instead, Rush has worked for underhooks and has pushed Derleth into the cage.

Rush manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rush misses with a wild combination.
Derleth tries to clinch up but Rush circles away and keeps his distance.
Derleth throws a head kick that misses.

Derleth closes the distance and clinches.
Derleth with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Derleth misses with a knee strike.

Rush breaks from the clinch.
Derleth pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Derleth tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Derleth bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Derleth closes the distance and clinches.
Rush is trying to force a seperation but Derleth has the dominant position.
Derleth throws an elbow that misses.
Nice elbow from Derleth.
Rush looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Derleth's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Rush 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.
Derleth lunges at Rush with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Rush's hand.
Rush swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Derleth counters with a big head kick but Rush shrugs it off.

Derleth has closed the distance and engaged Rush in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Derleth lands an elbow that stopped Rush in his tracks for a moment.
Derleth creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Rush as Derleth tries to tie him up.
Derleth is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rush is defending well for now.
Derleth has Rush pressed against the cage, preventing Rush from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Rush is trying to force a seperation but Derleth has the dominant position.
Rush wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Derleth tries to land knees in the clinch but Rush avoids the damage to the body.
Derleth can't break the clinch.

Rush breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Derleth throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.

Rush darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Derleth knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rush on the ground.
Rush is looking to pass Derleth's guard but actually Derleth recovers to full guard.
Rush throws a big right hand that misses.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rush passes into half guard.
Rush is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Rush throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

August Derleth dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Xavier Rush's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Rush avoids the head kick by Derleth.
Rush misses with a two punch combination.
Derleth slips a jab from Rush.
Derleth tries to clinch up.
Rush throws a lazy right hand but Derleth sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Derleth stuffs the takedown attempt from Rush. Rush gets slowly back to his feet.

Rush gets tackled into the cage by Derleth. Derleth maintains the clinch.
Rush blocks an elbow strike.

Derleth pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Derleth tries a head kick but it misses.
Derleth tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Rush will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Derleth throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
August Derleth is winning the standup battle so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rush circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rush swats away the attempt to clinch by Derleth.
Rush fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Derleth clinches up against the cage.
Rush wants to break the clinch but can't.
Still in the clinch, Derleth scores with a nice short uppercut.
Rush takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rush trying to stall but Derleth improves his position.
Rush takes an elbow to the forehead.
A frustrated look appears on Rush's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Derleth lands a damaging elbow.
Derleth throws a knee to the head but misses.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Rush wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Derleth tries a knee to the head but Rush blocks it.

Rush manages to break the clinch.
Rush looks to land a combination but Derleth avoids it well.
Rush throws a series of punches but Derleth avoids them all with ease.
Rush rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
letting Derleth counter with a right hand.

Derleth moves into range and clinches up with Rush.

Rush manages to break the clinch.
Derleth tries to clinch but Rush moves out of range.
Derleth tries to close the distance and clinch but Rush swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Derleth tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rush scores with a jab to the jaw.
A combination from Rush does no damage.
Rush takes a kick to the side of the head.
Rush keeps the fight on the outside.

Derleth has closed the distance and engaged Rush in a clinch.
Xavier Rush has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rush misses with some punches.
Derleth pushes off an throws an elbow but Rush leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Derleth lands an elbow just above Rush 's eye.
Rush lands with a left to the head.
Rush is trying to break the clinch but Derleth has him pressed against the cage.
Derleth is leaning against Rush and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Derleth keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Rush's efforts to push away.
Derleth lands a nice uppercut.
Rush wants to get back to striking at distance but Derleth won't allow it.

Derleth breaks the clinch.
Derleth lands a head kick!
Derleth lands a high kick!
Derleth tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rush throws a series of punches but Derleth avoids them all with ease.

Derleth closes the distance and clinches.
Derleth lands a nice knee to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Rush as Derleth tries to tie him up.
Derleth misses with a knee strike.
Rush tries to circle away but Derleth has him pinned against the cage.
Rush can't break the clinch.
Rush is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Rush wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Derleth has him pressed against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Derleth lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Nice elbow from Derleth.
Derleth throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rush blocks it with crossed arms.
Derleth tries a knee to the head but Rush blocks it.
Derleth keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Rush's efforts to push away.
A left hand lands to the body for Derleth.

Rush's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
August Derleth is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Derleth fails in his attempt to clinch.
Derleth avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Derleth tries to clinch there but Rush circles away.
Rush throws a right hand that Derleth ducks under and follows up with a left that Derleth also avoids with ease.
Derleth lands with a kick to the temple. Rush shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Rush throws a right and a left that Derleth avoids nicely.
Derleth tries to clinch but Rush moves out of range.
Rush swats away the attempt to clinch by Derleth.
Derleth tries to clinch there but Rush circles away.
Rush throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Derleth clinches up with Rush and pushes him back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Derleth manages to break the clinch.
Derleth wants to clinch up but Rush keeps it at a distance.
Rush swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Derleth counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Rush thinking.

Derleth fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Rush, pushing him back against the cage.
Rush swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Rush pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Derleth throws a head kick that Rush semi-blocks.

Derleth takes the fight into the clinch.
A knee to the head by Derleth.
A knee to the head by Derleth.

Rush escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rush misses with a hook to the body

and Derleth moves into the clinch.
Rush misses with a short punch on the inside.
Rush working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rush takes a knee right on the jaw!
A nice left hand lands by Rush.
A short left from Rush.
Rush throws a head punch that misses.

Derleth's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Rush throws a series of punches but Derleth avoids them all with ease.
Derleth tries to clinch there but Rush circles away.
August Derleth is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Rush misses with a wild combination.

And that's the end of the fight!
August Derleth showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Derleth, 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 30:27
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... August Derleth!