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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Will Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Drake Mercer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hardy kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Feeling Good Today. Mercer has chosen Fabolous-My Time as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Drake Mercer told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!
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| 186 cm
30
218 lbs
16 - 16 - 0 |
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189 cm
28
212 lbs
4 - 1 - 1 |
BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Very strong |
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Good takedowns
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed |
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of
16 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Will Hardy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
4 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Drake Mercer!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Mauricio Rocha and Matheus Silva.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardy throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
It looks like Drake Mercer has been cut.
Nice takedown defense from Hardy. No joy for Mercer on that attempt.
Hardy connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Hardy lands with a kick to the ribs.
Hardy slips a jab and a cross from Mercer.
Mercer tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Good leg kick by Hardy there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hardy moves out of range of the strikes.
Mercer swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Hardy counters with a two punch combo.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Mercer paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Hardy throws the kick towards the body but Mercer avoids it.
Hardy tries to clinch up but Mercer circles away and keeps his distance.
Hardy takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Mercer misses with a two punch combination.
Mercer swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Hardy gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A hook to the body from Hardy.
Mercer looks gassed!
That's one minute gone in the round.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Hardy obliges.
Hardy gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Hardy lands a nice knee to the body.
Mercer blocks an uppercut.
Hardy working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Hardy throws an elbow that misses.
Hardy lands a shoulder strike.
Hardy lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hardy wants to take the fight to the mat but Mercer manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Hardy lands a nice elbow.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Still in the clinch, Hardy scores with a nice short uppercut.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy looking to throw knees to the head but Mercer is blocking nicely.
Mercer takes an elbow to the temple.
That has opened up Drake Mercer's cut even more.
Hardy tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
The referee is keeping an eye on Hardy - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Mercer takes a knee to the side of the body.
Mercer letting Hardy take a breather here.
Hardy wants a takedown but no success here.
Hardy tries a body shot but Mercer blocks it.
Hardy tries to throw a body punch but Mercer avoids it by throwing Hardy back against the cage.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mercer is trying to push Hardy away but Hardy has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Mercer takes an elbow to the temple.
Hardy misses with a punch to the body.
Hardy misses with a punch to the body.
Hardy with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Hardy lands a body punch in the clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Hardy.
Hardy drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Mercer gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Hardy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mercer prevents the takedown attempt.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Mercer slows down the pace here.
Hardy misses with a hook to the ribs.
Hardy taking a breather.
Hardy tries a knee to the head but Mercer blocks it.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hardy pressing his opponent against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Will Hardy dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Drake Mercer's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!
Mercer misses with a double jab
and Hardy cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Hardy forces Mercer back against the cage and clinches.
Come on Hardy - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Mercer dodges an elbow strike from Hardy.
Knees to the body from Hardy.
Mercer wants to break free but Hardy has control.
Hardy changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Mercer fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Mercer shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mercer swats away the attempt to clinch by Hardy.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy throws a quick inside leg kick.
The fight moves into the clinch position.
Hardy is stalling here.
Hardy lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Hardy tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Hardy creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Hardy tries a knee to the head but Mercer blocks it.
Will Hardy has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Mercer blocks an uppercut.
Hardy throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy just leaning against Mercer, taking a breather.
Hardy trying to land knees to the body.
Hardy tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hardy stalling the fight.
Hardy throws a knee to the head but misses.
Mercer wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Hardy misses with a punch on the inside.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Hardy.
The cut above Drake Mercer's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Mercer tries to circle away but Hardy has him pinned against the cage.
Mercer blocking some punches.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hardy tries to work over Mercer's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Hardy swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hardy tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mercer avoids it.
Nice elbow from Hardy.
Drake Mercer's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.
Hardy misses with a short punch on the inside.
Hardy wants to stall.
The referee calls for Hardy to work.
Hardy throws an elbow but it's blocked.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercer avoids the elbow strike from Hardy, against the cage.
Hardy throws a punch but it's blocked by Mercer.
Hardy creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Hardy unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Hardy tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Mercer breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Mercer shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Mercer was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Mercer prevents Hardy from getting the reversal.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hardy is working hard here to advance position.
Hardy regains half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Will Hardy dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Drake Mercer's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!
Hardy turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Hardy throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Mercer's waist but Mercer gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Hardy off to one side.
Hardy has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Mercer.
Hardy cracks Mercer with a right hand to the side of the head.
Mercer throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hardy makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Hardy takes a head kick and keeps coming.
It looks like Will Hardy has been cut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mercer fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Hardy sprawls well initially but Mercer persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Hardy wants to improve his position but Mercer is controlling well.
Hardy trying to control here.
Hardy tries to get to full guard but Mercer has control of the leg.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy keeping control of the position.
Mercer lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Hardy gets full guard.
Hardy is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Mercer preventing the sweep.
Hardy is trying to control the position but Mercer postures up.
Mercer with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mercer with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mercer has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mercer working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hardy trying to control the position.
Will Hardy is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy wants to sweep but no luck.
Hardy is pulling down on Mercer's head. It's preventing any offense from Mercer, at least for the moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mercer accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Will Hardy has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Mercer misses with a few strikes there.
Mercer blocks a head kick by Hardy.
Mercer changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hardy tries to avoid it but Mercer manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hardy to the ground. Hardy escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Mercer fails to land the takedown.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hardy forces Mercer back against the cage and clinches.
Hardy doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mercer drops down looking for an ankle pick but Hardy pulls his leg out and moves away.
Will Hardy has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Drake Mercer.
Mercer misses with a takedown attempt - Hardy sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hardy connects with a high kick.
Mercer needs to keep his hands up - Hardy had a free shot at his head there.
Hardy misses with the combination.
Mercer takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy throws a half hearted mid kick.
Hardy is looking to clinch but Mercer is avoiding it.
Mercer on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mercer swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Drake Mercer has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mercer tries a head kick but it misses.
Hardy rushes Mercer and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Hardy tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Mercer's elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mercer wants to break the clinch but can't.
And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Will Hardy.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Hardy, 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Will Hardy!
Will Hardy thanked the fans post fight for their support.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
56% |
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