PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rory Markman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Storm (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Markman
vs
Storm

178 cm
22
186 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

180 cm
26
185 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Granite chin

NEW YORK STYLE FITNESS APPAREL

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 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rory Markman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Brandon Storm!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, David Schapiro and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Markman scores with a push kick.

Markman scores with a takedown into Storm's guard.

Storm looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Markman trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Markman missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Markman throws a big right hand that misses.
Storm looking for a sweep. Not yet Storm, not yet.
Storm is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Markman throws a big right hand that misses.

Storm throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Storm has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Markman has passed into side control.
Markman 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.
Markman cracks Storm with a big right hand but Storm just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Storm on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Storm takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

Markman tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Markman has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
A lull in the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Storm taking punishment in the form of punches.
Markman working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Storm bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!

Markman scores with a takedown into Storm's guard.
Markman is working Storm over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Storm throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Markman looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Storm looking to hit a scissor sweep but Markman is one step ahead there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Markman postures up.
Markman is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Markman is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Storm wants to stand up but Markman is controlling him.
Markman trying to control but Storm is working from the bottom.
Markman postures up.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Markman wants to control from the top but Storm keeps moving.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Storm misses with a body punch
and Storm takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Storm throws a lazy uppercut

and Markman counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Storm looking to hit a scissor sweep but Markman is one step ahead there.
Markman pushing down on Storm's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Storm trying to control from the bottom.
Markman content to control rather than advance.

Storm actively working from the bottom here.
Markman landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Markman works his way into full mount!
Markman tries to control but Storm wriggling away.
Markman in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Storm wants to control but Markman is having none of it.
Storm is working to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Storm manages to control the position for a moment.
Storm wants to hold on but Markman pushes him away.

Markman is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Storm to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Storm shrugs it off.
Markman working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Markman landing strikes, looking to finish!
Markman lands with some strikes.
Storm is looking to improve his position but Markman isn't that keen on the idea.
Markman landing punches.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Storm is in a horrible position here. Markman smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Markman breaks from Storm's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Markman working Storm over with strikes here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Storm tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rory Markman dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Markman is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Storm's half guard.
Markman passes into side control, despite Storm's attempt to control the position.
Storm prevents Markman from improving position.
You can see the frustration on Storm's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Storm might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Markman kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Markman staying calm.
Storm is trying to control Markman's posture but Markman avoids it.
Storm is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

Markman is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Storm has escaped the position, nice work there.
You can see the frustration on Storm's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Markman scores with punches from side control.
Markman lands some shots froms side control.
Check out the look on Markman's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Markman connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Storm some visible discomfort.
Storm avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Markman.
Markman blocks the strikes from Storm.
Markman cracks Storm with a big elbow.
Storm is trying to get back to half guard.
Markman working the ground and pound.
Markman in side control lands a decent elbow.
Storm is working to avoid the ground and pound but Markman connects with a decent elbow.
Storm trying to remain calm as Markman controls from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Markman working the body and head with strikes.
Markman is chipping away with strikes.
Markman cracks Storm with a big right hand but Storm just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Markman trying to control the action but Storm is working from the bottom.
Storm is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Markman working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Storm is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
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!
You can see the frustration on Storm's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Storm takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Markman wants to control but Storm is keeping him busy.
Storm is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Markman is thwarting Storm's attempts to control the position.
Markman trying to mount his opponent but Storm defends it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Markman looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Storm trying to control but Markman postures up.
Markman looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Storm with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Storm is looking to improve his position.
Storm trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Markman manages to pass to mount!
Markman can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Storm is looking to escape.
Storm wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Markman is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Storm can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Markman prevents Storm from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Storm is squirming around, avoiding Markman's attempts to control the action.
Storm is bucking up trying to escape but Markman cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Storm bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Markman is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Storm throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Markman works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Markman is controlling Storm's posture.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Storm throwing strikes but missing.
Storm loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rory Markman dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Storm smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

It looks like Rory Markman has been cut.

Markman shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Storm manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Markman won't allow Storm to sweep him here.
Markman being controlled here momentarily.
Markman trying to control the position from guard on top but Storm is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Markman's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Markman wants to control from the top but Storm keeps moving.
Rory Markman overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Markman is fighting to break Storm's control of his arms but Storm is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Storm is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Brandon Storm hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Markman decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Storm is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Markman there.

Markman seems to be working for a kimura but Storm defends the submission attempt.
Storm manages to get to full guard.
Markman stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Storm swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Storm looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Markman passes into half guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Storm wants to get back to full guard.
Storm is refusing to be controlled, as Markman sits in half guard.
Markman throwing shots but Storm is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Storm is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Markman's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Markman's back!
Storm wants to control but Markman manages to buck him off and is now in Storm's guard! Nice work there by Markman!
Markman wants to pass the guard but Storm is keeping the position.
Markman working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Storm keeping moving, preventing Markman from controlling successfully.
Markman scoring with some ground and pound.
Markman postures up.

Storm looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Storm takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Storm is trying to control the position but Markman postures up.
Markman works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Markman throwing shots but Storm is blocking nicely.
Markman keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Storm wants to get back to full guard.
Markman thows a huge punch but Storm dodges it nicely.
Markman seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Storm does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Storm has a hand on Markman's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Markman takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Storm is looking to get to half guard.
Markman dominating with strikes here.
Markman looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Markman trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Markman is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Storm can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Storm is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Markman looking to finish Storm with some ground and pound. This is bad for Storm!
Storm tries to buck Markman off but he can't manage it.
Markman putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Storm is bucking up trying to escape but Markman cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
BOOM! Markman connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Storm is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Markman lands a nice shot to the head.
Storm tries to lock up and control but Markman gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Markman connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Storm in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
BOOM! Markman connects with a massive shot to the dome!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Markman putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Storm working to try and regain half guard.
Markman trying to control but he's not successful this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rory Markman showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Markman, 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rory Markman!