PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Victor Washington (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hakeem Nicks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nicks has chosen You Suck as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Washington
vs
Nicks

180 cm
22
182 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
22
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Victor Washington!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hakeem Nicks!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Nicks drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Nicks tries to free his leg and advance position but Washington is retaining full guard.
Washington is trying to control the position but Nicks postures up.
Nicks looking to pass the guard.
Nicks trying to control but Washington is working from the bottom.

Nicks stands and steps away. Washington gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Washington shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Nicks but Nicks pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Washington shoots in for a takedown but Nicks shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Washington misses with a wild body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Washington. Nicks does a little dance to reset his feet.

Nicks scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Washington looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Nicks wants to take a breather but Washington is having none of it.
Nicks is controlling the pace.
Nicks working Washington over with strikes.

Nicks is working for a kimura but Washington is defending it quite comfortably.
Nicks drops an elbow to the side of Washington's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Washington is trying to get back to full guard.

Washington actively working from the bottom here.
Nicks passes to full mount!
Nicks tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Washington keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicks with good strikes from the mount here!
Washington tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Nicks lands with some strikes.
Washington is breathing heavily.
Nicks controlling from mount.

Nicks has control of Washington's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Washington regains control of the situation pretty easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nicks looking to control but Washington is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Washington wants to control but Nicks is having none of it.
Nicks is in the full mount, landing strikes.
The referee warns Washington that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

Nicks is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Washington is surviving well by controlling Nicks's body position as best he can.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nicks in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hakeem Nicks dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Nicks comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

Washington gets caught napping as Nicks dives in and scores a takedown. Washington manages to retain guard.
Nicks trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Nicks trying to control the position from guard on top but Washington is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nicks wants to stand but Washington is controlling his posture from full guard.
Nicks is stalling in the full guard.

Washington looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Nicks passes into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicks trying to control the position but Washington is working away.
Nicks happy to just control the position for now.
Washington wants to get back to his feet but Nicks drags him back down.
Washington struggling a bit here.
Washington is not content to let Nicks control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nicks working the ground and pound.
Nicks works to advance to full mount. Washington defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Nicks takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Nicks looking for a guillotine from mount but Washington is having none of it.

Nicks stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.
Nicks is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washington will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Washington rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Nicks moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Washington shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Nicks makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Washington really felt that one!

Nicks scores a takedown into full mount!
Nicks unloading with bombs!
Nicks is landing with some decent strikes but Washington is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Nicks controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nicks lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Nicks sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nicks lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Washington hang on?
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nicks pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Nicks controlling his opponent.
Washington tries to lock up and control but Nicks gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hakeem Nicks showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Washington tries to sprawl but Nicks drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Nicks wants to control but Washington is keeping him busy.
Well, if Nicks is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Washington missing with punches from the bottom.
Nicks is keen to just control but Washington is a slippery customer.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Washington is looking to control Nicks's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Washington avoid being mounted?
Nicks has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Washington is refusing to be controlled, as Nicks sits in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Hakeem Nicks wasn't active enough on the ground.
Washington throws a front kick that sends Nicks stumbling back into the cage.
Nicks has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Washington.
Nicks takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Nicks looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Nicks is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Nicks thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Washington's head.
Washington is trying to maintain the position but Nicks is very close to passing his half guard.
Nicks is trying to control the action in half guard but Washington is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Washington wants to get back to his feet.
Nicks is looking to take a break and control but Washington is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Washington is looking to control Nicks's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Washington avoid being mounted?

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Nicks drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Washington is looking for a triangle but Nicks pushes his legs off easily.
Nicks looking to pass the guard.
Washington is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nicks is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicks passes into half guard under a barage of strikes.
Washington trying to hold on to Nicks's head to control him but Nicks postures up.
Nicks keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Washington wants to control but Nicks is keeping busy.
Nicks seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Washington does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Nicks has taken the fight to the clinch.
Nicks lands a body shot in the clinch.

Nicks's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Washington throws a leg kick but Nicks sees it coming and moves out of range.
Nicks defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Washington.

Nicks darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Washington trying to control here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hakeem Nicks comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Nicks has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hakeem Nicks!
A relieved looking Hakeem Nicks thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.