PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between joe soco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ovince Lawler (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.

soco
vs
Lawler

190 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight 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, joe soco!
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, Ovince Lawler!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Stewart Dunkirk and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

soco shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Lawler looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lawler gets full guard.
soco trying to control but Lawler is working from the bottom.

Lawler working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. soco doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. soco manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
soco throws and elbow that misses. Lawler uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in soco's guard. Nice move by Lawler!
Lawler stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. soco swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawler is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
soco not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
soco looking for a sweep. Not yet soco, not yet.
soco knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Lawler on the ground.
Lawler keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of soco's head.
soco wants to sweep but no luck.
soco trying to keep a closed guard but Lawler is proving a slippery customer.

Lawler drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Lawler jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Lawler passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Lawler postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Lawler advances to mount.
Lawler looking to control but soco is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Lawler might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control soco kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

Lawler is going oldschool here, as he tries to force soco to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so soco shrugs it off.
Lawler tries to control but soco wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lawler has control of soco's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and soco regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Lawler can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as soco is looking to escape.
soco keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Lawler trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Lawler takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ovince Lawler hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
No luck with that takedown attempt from soco.

soco shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Lawler napping and manages to drive through into side control!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ovince Lawler dominated that round.
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.

soco fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Lawler with a poor takedown

and soco holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Lawler tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. soco smiles and moves away.

soco bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Lawler wants to control but soco postures up.
Lawler is looking for a sweep.
Lawler is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on soco's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawler is pressing down on soco's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Lawler is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Lawler is looking for a kimura here.
soco tries to get to full guard but Lawler has control of the leg.
Lawler wants to pass to mount but soco is defending the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Lawler scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Lawler perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
soco gets full guard.
Lawler controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

soco looking for a guillotine here but Lawler defends easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lawler slips nicely into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lawler wants to work for an arm triangle but soco is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Lawler is thwarting soco's attempts to control the position.

Lawler has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can soco defend it? Lawler steps over the head and cranks it - soco is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Lawler!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:37 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Ovince Lawler!