PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shane Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eddie Better (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Smith kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genuis that is Du Hast- Rammstein. Better is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Hero of War. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Smith
vs
Better

177 cm
18
185 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

179 cm
19
185 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Shane Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Eddie Better!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Damien Edna and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Better looks for a takedown but Smith sprawls well.
Nice body kick there by Better.
Eddie Better seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Better just misses with a punch to the body.
Smith keeps the fight on the outside.

Better shoots in and bounces Smith off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Smith looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Better trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Smith doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Better wants to stand but Smith is controlling his posture from full guard.

Smith has his feet on Better's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Better looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Better wants to control but Smith is keeping him busy.
Better blocks the strikes from Smith.
Smith is looking to escape.
Better is just content to waste time from the top position. Smith takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Better wants to control from the top but Smith keeps moving.

Better stands up from Smith's guard - Better perhaps looking for a knockout.
Smith is breathing heavily.

Smith closes the distance and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Smith looking for a takedown.
Better lands a left hand that snaps the head of Smith backwards.

Better breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Better wants to clinch
and Smith counters with a head kick.
Smith takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Better cracks the inside of Smith's front leg.
Better shoots in but Smith avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Smith fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Better, pushing him back against the cage.
Better goes for a takedown in the clinch but Smith prevents it.
Shane Smith has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eddie Better.

Smith wants the takedown. Better is fighting it off but Smith persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Better's guard against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Smith gets to his feet - Better follows without any prompting.
Smith misses with a head kick.

Smith closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith taking a breather here.
Better tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Better gets back to half guard.
Better pushes Smith off but Smith dives into side control.

Smith decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Better with a lazy takedown attempt
and Smith counters with a thumping low kick.
Smith tries to clinch there but Better circles away.
Better moves out of range of the leg kick from Smith.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Better throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Better tries to clinch up

and Smith moves into the clinch.

Smith breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Smith tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Better tries to clinch but Smith moves away

and Smith counters by moving into the clinch.
Smith tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Better smiles and moves away.

Better bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Smith keeping his opponent close.
Smith is trying to control Better's posture but Better avoids it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Better thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Eddie Better will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Smith works over Better's head and body with a nice combination.
Better doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Smith counters with an inside leg kick.
Smith will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Smith misses with a takedown attempt - Better sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Smith moves into the clinch successfully.
Smith just leaning against Better, taking a breather.
Better can't break the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Smith takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

Smith breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Smith moves into the clinch.

Better breaks the clinch.
Better is breathing heavily.
Better avoids the head kick by Smith.
Smith lands a high kick!
Better throws a lazy uppercut

and Smith counters by clinching up.

Smith pulls Better into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith wants to sweep but no luck.

Smith uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Better throws a lazy body kick

and Smith counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Better is looking to escape.
Smith scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Smith blocks the strikes from Better.
Better is trying to maintain the position but Smith is very close to passing his half guard.
Smith prevents Better from improving his position.
Better is trying to stand back up but Smith is controlling him
Shane Smith overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Better has one foot on Smith's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Smith tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Better tries to clinch

and Smith counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Smith.
Better is looking to break free of the clinch but Smith has double underhooks.
Better lands a nice elbow.
Better has had enough of the clinch but Smith keeps him there for the moment.
Better can't find room to land a body shot as Smith controls the action.
Smith manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Smith fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shane Smith. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Better breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Smith tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Better counters with a single leg into guard. Smith didn't expect that.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Smith scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Better shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Smith as he jumps to the side.
Smith blocks a head kick by Better.
Smith circles away from the clinch attempt

and Smith holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Smith has Better pushed against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Better wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Smith has him pressed against the cage.
Smith has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Better avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Better is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Smith gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Better struggles to land a body shot inside as Smith controls his hands.
The is referee keeping an eye on Smith - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Smith breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Smith lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Better closes the distance looking to clinch

and Smith counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Smith stands up from half guard.
Smith pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Better lands with a thumping leg kick.
Smith is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Better misses with a takedown attempt

and Smith counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Better is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith is looking to advance position but Better won't allow it.
Better is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Smith's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Smith's back!
Smith is really stuck here.
Smith covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Better is trying to control but Smith is trying to escape here - he's now mounted.
Smith is working to get back to half guard.
Smith slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Better looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Better trying to mount his opponent but Smith defends it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Smith dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Smith drives through and clinches with Better against the cage.
Smith missing with knees to the body.
Better is trying to break free.
Better misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Smith.
Better misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Smith.
Better is pressed up against the cage. Smith has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Better down to the mat. Better avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Smith blocks a head kick by Better.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Better crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Smith - the referee stops the clock and Better gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Smith. Better manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Smith lands with a slapping head kick.
Smith lands with a nice combination. Better backs away looking to recover.
Smith is looking to clinch.
Smith shoots in for a takedown but Better shows good takedown defense.
Smith misses with a two punch combination.
Better cracks the inside of Smith's front leg.
Better lands a head kick. Smith smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Better.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Smith lands with a kick to the temple. Better shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Smith circles away from the clinch attempt
and Smith counters with a nice kick to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Better moves into the clinch successfully.
Better softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
A short right from Better on the inside.
Smith drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shane Smith. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nice elbow from Better.

Smith is rocked!
Better tries to pull guard but Smith won't allow it.
Better lands an elbow that stopped Smith in his tracks for a moment.
Oh Smith is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Better lands an elbow just above Smith 's eye.
Better lands an elbow inside that Smith shrugs off.
Better lands a big right hand! Smith is out cold! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:47 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eddie Better!