PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Michael Tarver (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Charles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Charles has a pretty significant injury - he really shouldn't be fighting right now but he's a warrior and he's here none the less! Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Tarver
vs
Charles

190 cm
20
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
195 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 Sydney, Michael Tarver!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, John Charles!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Summer Carpenter and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Tarver looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Charles!
Charles looks gassed!
Tarver landing strikes, looking to finish!
Tarver looking to control and managing it successfully.
Tarver's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Tarver putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Tarver tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Tarver 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.
BOOM! Tarver connects with a massive shot to the dome!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarver fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Tarver tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Tarver wants to finish this one by submission but Charles is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Tarver.
Tarver raining down hammerfists from mount.
Tarver tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Tarver landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarver takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Charles is in a horrible position here. Tarver smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Tarver raining down shots from the mount!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tarver fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Tarver working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
The referee warns Charles that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Charles is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee warns Charles that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Tarver looking to control and managing it successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tarver lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Tarver controlling from the full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarver lands a nice shot to the head.
Tarver sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tarver unloading with bombs!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tarver content just to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Nice body kick from Tarver.

Tarver closes the distance and pushes Charles back into the cage.

Tarver successfully pulls guard.
Tarver is pulling down on Charles's head. It's preventing any offense from Charles, at least for the moment.

Tarver throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Tarver is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Tarver controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarver works his way into side control.
Charles is breathing heavily.
Tarver remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Charles is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

Tarver decides to stand up, so the ref orders Charles to his feet.
Charles takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Tarver tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Charles manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Charles walks forward, straight into a front kick from Tarver.
Tarver throws a sloppy head kick and Charles moves out of range easily.

Tarver looking to score a takedown here. Charles is defending well but Tarver drives through and ends up in Charles's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tarver lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Tarver's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Tarver pushes down on Charles's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Tarver keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Tarver moves into full mount! Charles won't be happy about that!
Tarver is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarver moves to back control.
Tarver is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
Charles is covering up but some of the strikes from Tarver are getting through and doing damage.
Tarver is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.

Charles defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarver punishes Charles with strikes from the back mount.
Tarver landing with strikes.
Charles is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Tarver dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

A head kick from Tarver lands but Charles takes it in his stride.

It looks like John Charles has been cut.
Tarver lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Tarver misses with a wild combination.
Tarver sizes up Charles with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Tarver doesn't manage to clinch there - Charles circles away.

Tarver scores a takedown into full mount!
Tarver raining down hammerfists from mount.
A nice elbow there by Tarver.
Charles takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Tarver looking to control and managing it successfully.
Charles really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Tarver. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarver with a couple of short strikes.
Tarver controlling his opponent.
Tarver scoring with strikes but Charles is staying in there.

Tarver wants to finish this one by submission but Charles is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Tarver.

Tarver get's back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Tarver throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Charles tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Tarver is in Charles's guard.
Michael Tarver overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Tarver showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Tarver keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Charles's head.
Tarver lands a couple of digs.
Tarver is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

We're going to have a standup here because Michael Tarver wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Tarver closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Tarver lands in his opponent's guard.
Tarver forces his way into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tarver stands up from half guard.

Tarver throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Charles tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Tarver is in Charles's guard.
Tarver is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Tarver showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Tarver has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:24
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:24
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:24

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Tarver!