PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joe Henning (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Justin Gabriel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Henning kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is In For the Count ( Perfect Twist). Gabriel is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Get Out Of My Room. Joe Henning has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Henning
vs
Gabriel

191 cm
27
224 lbs
6 - 10 - 0

185 cm
29
225 lbs
5 - 9 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Joe Henning!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Justin Gabriel!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, John Mangel and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gabriel closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Gabriel lands in his opponent's guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Gabriel throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Henning works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Henning keeping moving, preventing Gabriel from controlling successfully.
Gabriel would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Henning managing to control the position.
Gabriel postures up.

Henning pushes Gabriel off and scrambles back to his feet.
Gabriel doesn't manage to clinch there - Henning circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henning throws a leg kick that misses.
Henning is trying hard to land a takedown here. Gabriel sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Gabriel moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

It looks like Joe Henning has been cut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gabriel avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gabriel fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Henning clinches up with Gabriel and pushes him back against the cage.

Gabriel drags the fight down to the ground.

Gabriel has his foot on Henning's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Henning works his way back into a safe position though.
Gabriel striking off his back.
Henning postures up.
Henning stops Gabriel from standing up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henning has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Gabriel is proving hard to escape from.
Henning is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Gabriel working a defensive guard here.
Gabriel working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Henning.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Gabriel slips under a jab from Henning.
Gabriel closes the distance and clinches up with Henning, looking for a takedown. Gabriel pushes Henning against the cage but Henning circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Gabriel moves in looking to clinch but Henning pushes him off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel jabs Henning to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Gabriel fakes the leg kick and cracks Henning in the body.
Henning is breathing heavily.

Gabriel closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Henning knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gabriel on the ground.
Gabriel perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Henning is defending against the submission attempts here by Gabriel.
Gabriel should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Henning is trying to maintain the position but Gabriel is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel trying to control from half guard but Henning is working away.
Gabriel slows the pace down in half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Gabriel is working for a kimura but Henning is defending it quite comfortably.
Gabriel sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Henning defending well though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Henning is trying to control but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Gabriel dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Joe Henning's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Gabriel lands a high kick!
Gabriel tries to close the distance and clinch up but Henning swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Henning fails to land the takedown.

Gabriel rushes Henning and presses him up against the cage.
Henning looking for a takedown.

Gabriel escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Henning misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Gabriel drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Gabriel trying to control but Henning is working from the bottom.

Gabriel gets to his feet - Henning follows without any prompting.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henning stuffs the takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabriel swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Gabriel is looking to clinch.
Gabriel tries to clinch but Henning moves out of range.
Henning throws a right and a left that both miss.
Gabriel shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Henning but Henning pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Henning moves into range and clinches up with Gabriel.

Henning breaks the clinch.
Justin Gabriel seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Gabriel shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Henning as he jumps to the side.
Joe Henning has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Justin Gabriel.
Henning shoots in for a double leg but Gabriel sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Gabriel scores a takedown into full mount!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel content just to control the position here.

Henning defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Gabriel.
Gabriel thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Henning working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Justin Gabriel has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gabriel wants to control the pace but Henning is squirming around nicely.
Henning on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Henning tries to get out of the position.
Gabriel tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Gabriel tries to control but Henning wriggling away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Justin Gabriel was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Gabriel misses with a takedown attempt - Henning sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Gabriel darts in and clinches Henning up against the cage.
Gabriel wants to take the fight to the mat but Henning manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gabriel is trying to push Henning away but Henning has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Henning has Gabriel pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Gabriel manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.

Henning manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Gabriel showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Joe Henning's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Gabriel tries to close the distance and clinch up but Henning swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Gabriel stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Gabriel wants it to stay on the feet.
Gabriel misses with a head kick.

Henning forces Gabriel back against the cage and clinches.
Gabriel tries to pull guard but Henning holds him up against the cage and eventually Gabriel drops back down to his feet.
Henning changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Gabriel fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Gabriel with a poor takedown

and Henning counters with a takedown into side control.
Gabriel is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Henning off and has taken his back!
Henning is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Gabriel's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.

That's one minute gone in the round.
I really don't envy Henning right now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Gabriel is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Henning knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Henning for a finish.
Gabriel lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Gabriel.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Gabriel controlling the positon.
Will Gabriel go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Henning kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Henning trying to control the action but Gabriel just sinks the hooks in.
Gabriel has the hooks in. Henning is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Gabriel wants to control but Henning is keeping busy.
Gabriel scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
Gabriel trying to control momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Henning is looking for a way out.
Henning is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Gabriel.
Gabriel has the hooks in. Henning is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Henning wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
Gabriel has Henning flattened out and is raining down punches.
Joe Henning has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Justin Gabriel is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gabriel controlling from the back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Justin Gabriel comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Gabriel winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Eliza Hachem scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Justin Gabriel!