PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Royler Burns (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hilu Mutabi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Burns
vs
Mutabi

184 cm
20
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight 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, Royler Burns!
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, Hilu Mutabi!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Tiny Johnson and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mutabi dodges the punch combination from Burns.
Mutabi lands a body shot.
Mutabi throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Mutabi misses with a double jab

and Burns counters with a nice double leg into side control. Mutabi won't be happy with that.
Burns prevents Mutabi from escaping the position.
Burns controlling from side mount.
Mutabi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Burns. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Burns tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns in side control, just content to control the action for now.

Burns tries for a kimura but Mutabi is defending well.
Mutabi pushes Burns away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Burns gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Burns is staying tight to Mutabi's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Mutabi is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Burns is controlling him well.
Mutabi seems a little lost for a moment, as Burns dominates the positioning.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Burns in side control lands a decent elbow.
Burns working the ground and pound.
Burns landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Burns connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Mutabi some visible discomfort.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
A lull in the action here.
Mutabi is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Burns asserts his dominance and retains side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mutabi is looking to get back to his feet here but Burns is keeping cool and he's managed to take Mutabi's back.
Burns has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Mutabi's body.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mutabi is trapped and Burns is scoring with shots to the head and body.
Burns keeps control of the position easily here as Mutabi tries to buck him off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burns has Mutabi flattened out and is raining down punches.
Burns has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Mutabi's body.
Mutabi is trying to remain composed but Burns is hammering down strikes to the side of his head.
Burns 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.
Burns lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Burns lands strikes to the head.
Mutabi wants to get back to his feet.
Mutabi looks gassed!

Mutabi is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Royler Burns dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Burns shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Mutabi's guard.
Burns advances position into side control!
Burns working the ground and pound.
Burns working the head with strikes.
Burns working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Mutabi seems a little lost for a moment, as Burns dominates the positioning.
Mutabi taking punishment in the form of punches.
Burns working the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns takes a little break here. Mutabi wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Burns lands a decent elbow from side control.
Burns working the ground and pound.
Mutabi trying to remain calm as Burns controls from the top position.
Mutabi is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Mutabi is breathing heavily.
Mutabi takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Burns is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Mutabi will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Mutabi gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Burns content just to control the position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burns raining down shots from the mount!
Burns with shots to the head and body - Mutabi looks very uncomfortable down there.
Burns controlling from the full mount.
Burns seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Mutabi for as long as he can get away with.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burns working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Burns landing punches.
Burns unloading with bombs!
Mutabi's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Burns working the ground and pound effectively.
Mutabi is bucking up trying to escape but Burns cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Burns unloading with bombs!
Burns controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burns raining down hammerfists from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Burns in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Burns lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Burns breaks from Mutabi's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Burns lands a nice shot to the head.
Burns takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Mutabi can do anything to dispel that myth.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Burns lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Burns controlling his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Royler Burns dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Burns closes the distance and clinches.
Mutabi is pressed up against the cage. Burns has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Mutabi down to the mat. Mutabi avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Mutabi throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Mutabi looks to land a body kick but Burns moved away.
A head kick misses from Mutabi.
Burns slips a jab and a cross from Mutabi.
A jab from Mutabi misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Burns looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Mutabi, right into the meat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Burns gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Mutabi is trying to push Burns away but Burns has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
A frustrated look appears on Mutabi's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Burns breaks from the clinch.

Burns shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Mutabi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Burns lands a nice short elbow.
Burns takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Nice strikes from Burns there.
Burns looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Mutabi with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Burns moves into full mount! Mutabi won't be happy about that!
Burns is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Mutabi can do to turn this around?
Burns is landing with some decent strikes but Mutabi is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Burns scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Burns controlling his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Burns looking for a guillotine from mount but Mutabi is having none of it.
Burns is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Mutabi can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burns controlling from mount.
Burns won't let Mutabi get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Burns putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Burns.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Burns cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Mutabi really wants to buck Burns off and get back to his feet.
Burns looking to control and managing it successfully.
Burns with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Burns takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Burns looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Royler Burns showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Burns, 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:26
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:26
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Royler Burns!