PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Tony Bova (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gary Dobbin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bova's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, I came to bring the pain!. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Bova
vs
Dobbin

175 cm
24
155 lbs
10 - 14 - 0

170 cm
19
150 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 14 - 0, fighting out of London, Tony Bova!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Gary Dobbin!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Paul Tew and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dobbin with a poor takedown
and Bova counters with a stiff right hand.
Bova doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Dobbin counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
A shot in the inside from Dobbin.
Dobbin is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Bova letting Dobbin take a breather here.
Bova is looking for a takedown up against the ropes. Dobbin gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Dobbin prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Bova. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Dobbin pulls guard.

Dobbin looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Bova lands a couple of digs.
Dobbin controls Bova momentarily but Bova frees himself.
Bova with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dobbin looking for a sweep. Not yet Dobbin, not yet.
Dobbin is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Dobbin is looking to take a break and control but Bova is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Bova actively working from the bottom here.
Dobbin is trying to control the action in half guard but Bova is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Bova tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.

That's two 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.

Dobbin decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Dobbin shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Bova decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Dobbin's guard.
Bova chips away with some ground and pound.
Bova missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Dobbin trying to control the position.
Bova scoring with punches to the head and body.
Dobbin trying to control the position.
Dobbin wants to stand up but Bova is controlling him.
Bova loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bova postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bova in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Bova postures up in Dobbin's guard and throws a big left but Dobbin blocks it.
Bova preventing the sweep.
Bova postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Dobbin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Bova's guard.
Dobbin trying to control the position from guard on top but Bova is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dobbin wants to stand but Bova is controlling his posture from full guard.
Dobbin trying to control the position from guard on top but Bova is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Gary Dobbin hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Bova shoots and misses

and Dobbin counters with a shoot takedown. Bova fights it but they end up in guard.
Dobbin trying to control the position from guard on top but Bova is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Gary Dobbin will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Bova shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Dobbin moves into the clinch.
Bova is working for takedown but Dobbin is calmly controlling the position for now.
Dobbin gets underhooks to prevent Bova's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Bova. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Dobbin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Dobbin doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Bova counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Bova postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Dobbin is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Dobbin is working for a submission of some sort.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Dobbin thows a huge punch but Bova dodges it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bova is not content to let Dobbin control the position.
Bova manages to get to full guard.
Bova can't keep his opponent in guard - Dobbin advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's two 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.
Dobbin is keen to just control but Bova is a slippery customer.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Dobbin frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Dobbin cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Dobbin is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Bova can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Dobbin tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bova is bucking up trying to escape but Dobbin cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Dobbin wants to control the pace but Bova is squirming around nicely.

Dobbin with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Dobbin throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's four 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.
Dobbin scoring with strikes but Bova is staying in there.
Bova blocking the ground and pound.

Dobbin jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Bova is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Bova and Dobbin has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Bova tries to buck Dobbin off but Dobbin is having none of it.
Bova being controlled for a moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gary Dobbin showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Bova circles away from the clinch attempt

and Bova counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Dobbin's guard now.
Bova with a nice head shot there.
Dobbin is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Dobbin is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Bova throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Dobbin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Dobbin is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Bova makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Dobbin is trying to keep Bova in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gary Dobbin has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Dobbin misses with a takedown

and Bova counters with a shoot takedown. Dobbin fights it but they end up in guard.
Bova throws a big right hand that misses.

Dobbin is looking for a triangle but Bova pushes his legs off easily.
Bova in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Dobbin wants to sweep here but Bova controlling him for the moment.
Bova in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Bova throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Bova postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bova trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Bova's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Bova trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Tony Bova overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Bova postures up.
Dobbin wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Gary Dobbin has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Dobbin with a lazy takedown attempt

and Bova counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Bova is nestled in close to Dobbin, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Bova stops Dobbin from getting back to his feet.
Dobbin wants to get back to full guard.
Bova is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dobbin keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bova looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Dobbin with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Dobbin taking some punishment here, with Bova in his half guard.
Dobbin is trying to maintain the position but Bova is very close to passing his half guard.
Dobbin is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Dobbin manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Dobbin shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Bova counters with a nice double leg into side control. Dobbin won't be happy with that.
Tony Bova has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gary Dobbin.
Bova cracks Dobbin with a big elbow.
Dobbin takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bova throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Bova is chipping away with strikes.
Dobbin is working to avoid the ground and pound but Bova connects with a decent elbow.
Dobbin tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Bova wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Bova scores with a couple of short elbows.
Dobbin can't do much from the bottom here.
Check out the look on Bova's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Dobbin gets back to half guard.
Dobbin wants to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tony Bova showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Dobbin has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 28:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gary Dobbin!