PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marc Knight (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Simon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Simon has chosen Between Angels and Insects as his entrance music. Paul Simon acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Knight
vs
Simon

201 cm
21
286 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
18
300 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marc Knight!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Paul Simon!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, Eddie Farnsworth and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knight will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Knight misses with a looping left.
Simon misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Knight lands an overhand right.
Knight slow jab from Simon misses its intended target.
Simon tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Knight paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Simon ducks under a wild hook from Knight.

Simon fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Knight sprawls well initially but Simon persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Knight is looking to control Simon's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Knight avoid being mounted?
Knight moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Knight escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Simon gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knight has control of Simon's left arm, preventing Simon from doing any damage.

Knight has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Simon can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Knight wants to sweep but no luck.
Simon trying to stand up but can't free himself from Knight's guard.
Simon sitting in guard, not really doing much.

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.
Knight is controlling Simon's posture.
Knight 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.
Simon trying to control the position from guard on top but Knight is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Knight looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Knight controlling Simon's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Knight had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Simon is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Knight Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Simon's back instead.
Simon is trying to get back to his feet but Knight has full control of the position and if anything, Simon has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Knight really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Simon.
Knight seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Simon for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Knight looking to break Simon's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Simon remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Knight will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

Knight working for the choke.
Knight is breathing heavily.
Knight is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Simon covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Knight controlling from the back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marc Knight dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Knight scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Simon doesn't seem bothered though.
Knight tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Knight fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Simon sprawls well initially but Knight persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Knight perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Knight is working for a kimura but Simon is defending it quite comfortably.
Knight trying to mount his opponent but Simon defends it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knight works his foot free and advances to mount.
Knight takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Knight wants to control the pace but Simon is squirming around nicely.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Marc Knight just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Simon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Knight swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Simon is looking to score with low kicks.

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.
A head kick by Simon misses

and Knight counters by moving into the clinch.
Knight stalling in the clinch.
Knight tries to stall but Simon uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Knight tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Simon just stands there and leans against the cage.
Simon changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Knight fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Knight tries to bum rush Simon with a series of wild strikes but Simon uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Simon tries to clinch but fails miserably

so Knight counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Simon can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Knight controls the pace.
Knight pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Simon is keeping the position for now.
Knight passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knight sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Simon is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Knight 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.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

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.
Knight wants to control but Simon is keeping him busy.
Knight is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Knight moves into full mount!
Knight tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Knight is working for a guillotine from mount but Simon frees his head quite easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marc Knight dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Knight is looking to land body kicks.
Knight circles away from the clinch attempt

and Knight counters by moving into the clinch.

Simon breaks from the clinch.
Simon misses with a wild combination.
Simon lands a jab to the nose.

It looks like Marc Knight has been cut.

Knight feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Knight is stalling in the full guard.
Marc Knight overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Knight trying to control the position from guard on top but Simon is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knight missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Simon keeping moving, preventing Knight from controlling successfully.
Knight slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Knight controls the position.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Marc Knight just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Simon closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Simon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Knight swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Simon counters with a nice leg kick.
Knight swings for the body but Simon moves out of range.

Knight shoots in and bounces Simon off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Simon keeping moving, preventing Knight from controlling successfully.
Knight sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knight looking to sit in guard and control but Simon gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Knight looking to control.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Knight holds on and takes a little breather.
Knight'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.

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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Marc Knight just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Knight changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Simon looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Simon is looking to regain half guard here but Knight keeps moving and retains side control.
Knight taking a breather here.
Paul Simon has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Simon defending against the ground and pound.
Knight advances to full mount.
Knight controlling from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marc Knight showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Knight, 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 Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:27
Judge Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marc Knight!