PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Gegard Mousasi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Muhammed Lawal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Mousasi
vs
Lawal

186 cm
26
210 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

183 cm
25
204 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Gegard Mousasi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Muhammed Lawal!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lawal misses with a head kick.

Mousasi darts in and clinches Lawal up against the ropes.
A short right from Mousasi.

Mousasi pulls guard successfully.
Mousasi looking to control.
Lawal loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Lawal must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Mousasi is on top in guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mousasi accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Mousasi working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Lawal is adopting a defensive guard.
Lawal is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawal throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Mousasi has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Lawal is trying to hold Mousasi in close to prevent damage but Mousasi has managed to pass into half guard.
Lawal keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Lawal blocking the ground and pound attempt from Mousasi.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Lawal tries to get to full guard but Mousasi has control of the leg.
Nice strikes from Mousasi there.
Mousasi is looking to take a break and control but Lawal is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Lawal tries to roll over but Mousasi keeps him under control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lawal trying to hold on to Mousasi's head to control him but Mousasi postures up.
Mousasi scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Mousasi stops Lawal from getting back to his feet.
Lawal tries to kick Mousasi off in order to stand up. Mousasi Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Lawal is looking to reverse the position.
You can see the frustration on Lawal's face as Mousasi controls the position.
Lawal is looking to regain half guard here but Mousasi keeps moving and retains side control.
Lawal looks gassed!
Mousasi lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Mousasi stands up and beckons Lawal to his feet.
Mousasi moves in looking to clinch but Lawal pushes him off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mousasi tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in the close the distance. Lawal manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Lawal swats away the attempt to clinch by Mousasi.
Mousasi shoots in looking for a takedown but Lawal manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Mousasi's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Mousasi shoots for a takedown but Lawal saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Gegard Mousasi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Mousasi wants to clinch.
Mousasi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Lawal doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

Mousasi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lawal is not content to let Mousasi control the position.
You can see the frustration on Lawal's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Lawal takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Lawal can do anything to dispel that myth.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Mousasi tries for a kimura but Lawal is defending well.
Mousasi scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Lawal to see if he's OK.

Lawal is rocked!
Mousasi is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Lawal's shoulder. That is not cool.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Mousasi seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Lawal for as long as he can get away with.
Mousasi trying to control the position but Lawal is working away.
Mousasi sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Lawal is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Mousasi tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Lawal is looking for a sweep.

That's six 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.

Mousasi decides to stand back up.
Lawal lands a nice looking body shot.
Mousasi misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gegard Mousasi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mousasi shoots in for a takedown but Lawal shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Mousasi pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Mousasi drops Lawal with a straight left! Oh this is bad for Lawal! Mousasi dives in and starts dropping bombs - the referee has no choice but to step in and save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 6:38 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (strikes). Gegard Mousasi!