PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Anderson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shane Whitaker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Whitaker has chosen "Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragon Force as his entrance music. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Anderson
vs
Whitaker

185 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Matthew Anderson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Shane Whitaker!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, Chris Edwards and James Ackerman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Anderson tries to clinch up but Whitaker circles away and keeps his distance.
Whitaker shoots in but Anderson avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Whitaker closes this distance looking for a takedown but Anderson circles away.

Whitaker decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Whitaker trying to mount his opponent but Anderson defends it.
Whitaker not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Anderson throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Anderson wants to get back to full guard.
Whitaker wants to lay and pray for a moment but Anderson keeps working.
Anderson tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Whitaker looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Anderson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Anderson is looking to escape.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Anderson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Whitaker but Whitaker pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anderson shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Whitaker counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Whitaker controlling the action here.
Whitaker prevents Anderson from improving his position.
Anderson is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Whitaker's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Whitaker's back!
Whitaker covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
Whitaker manages to reverse the position and now he's in Anderson's guard. Nice work there by Whitaker.
Anderson keeping moving, preventing Whitaker from controlling successfully.
Whitaker controlling from the top position.
Whitaker looking to pass the guard.
Whitaker looks gassed!
Anderson wants to get back to his feet but Whitaker is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Anderson trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Anderson pushes Whitaker off and gets back to his feet.
Anderson tries to clinch but fails miserably

so Whitaker counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whitaker trying to control the position from guard on top but Anderson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Anderson trying to control the position.
Whitaker landing some decent shots from guard.
Whitaker trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Anderson has Whitaker pulled in close to control his posture.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Anderson working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Whitaker doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Whitaker manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Whitaker working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker trying to control but Anderson is working from the bottom.
Anderson controls Whitaker momentarily but Whitaker frees himself.
Whitaker is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Anderson wants to sweep here but Whitaker controlling him for the moment.
Whitaker wants to control from the top but Anderson keeps moving.
Whitaker stops Anderson from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Whitaker has a takedown stuffed.
Matthew Anderson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shane Whitaker.

Whitaker gets caught flat footed, as Anderson shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Whitaker is trying to keep Anderson in close.
Whitaker tries to strike from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker controls Anderson momentarily but Anderson frees himself.
Anderson trying to control the position from guard on top but Whitaker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Anderson is looking to stand up but Whitaker won't let him.
Whitaker wants to sweep but no luck.
Anderson is looking to stand up but Whitaker won't let him.
Whitaker looking to hit a scissor sweep but Anderson is one step ahead there.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Anderson fails in his attempt to clinch.

Whitaker shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Whitaker was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Anderson throwing hammer fists to the chest of Whitaker. What's that going to do exactly?
Anderson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Whitaker on the ground.
Anderson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Whitaker fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Whitaker dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A punch combination from Anderson misses.
Whitaker is looking to clinch but Anderson is avoiding it.
Anderson darts in trying to clinch

and Whitaker decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Anderson's guard.
Whitaker in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Whitaker stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Anderson swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Whitaker would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Whitaker throws a big right hand that misses.
Whitaker won't allow Anderson to sweep him here.
Whitaker trying to control but Anderson is working from the bottom.

Whitaker drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Whitaker seems to have locked his on tight now - Anderson screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Whitaker, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:03 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Shane Whitaker!