PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ryan Barnett (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Denton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thomas Denton is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Barnett
vs
Denton

195 cm
20
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
19
186 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Powerful

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ryan Barnett!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Thomas Denton!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Alan Glass and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Denton keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Nice takedown defense from Denton. No joy for Barnett on that attempt.
Denton moves in looking to clinch but Barnett pushes him off.
Barnett dives in and grabs Denton's left leg, looking for a takedown. Denton pushes down on Barnett's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryan Barnett. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barnett keeps the fight on the outside.
Barnett avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Barnett avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Denton throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Barnett.
Denton lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Barnett circles away quickly and effectively.
Denton tries to clinch up.
Denton tries to clinch but Barnett is having none of it.
Barnett circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nice sprawl there from Denton as Barnett shoots in.
Barnett keeps the fight on the outside.
Barnett really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnett ducks under a wild hook from Denton.
Denton tries to clinch but Barnett moves away

and Barnett counters with a takedown into side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Barnett decides to stand back up.
Denton tries to clinch there but Barnett circles away.
A big left from Denton misses.

Denton closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Barnett managing to block the knees to the body from Denton.
Barnett has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Denton is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Denton is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Denton breaks from the clinch.
Denton tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Barnett manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Denton misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Denton gets a clinch.

Denton breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Denton stuffs the takedown.
Denton moves in looking to clinch but Barnett pushes him off.
Denton is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Barnett shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Denton as he avoids it easily.
Barnett dodges the punch combination from Denton.
Denton lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Barnett circles away quickly and effectively.
Denton tries to clinch up but Barnett circles away and keeps his distance.

Denton gets a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Denton manages to break the clinch.
Denton tries to clinch there but Barnett circles away.
Thomas Denton is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Denton tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Barnett counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Barnett.
Barnett will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Barnett is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Denton keeping moving, preventing Barnett from controlling successfully.
Barnett throws a big right hand that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnett controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Ryan Barnett just wasn't active enough.

Denton clinches.

Denton manages to break the clinch.

Denton instigates a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Denton tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barnett avoids it.
Denton tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barnett avoids it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Denton lands an elbow inside.
Denton tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barnett avoids it.
The referee is keeping an eye on Denton - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Denton dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Barnett fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Denton tries to clinch up

and Barnett counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Denton really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Barnett. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Barnett drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Barnett jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Barnett tries to free his leg and advance position but Denton is retaining full guard.
Denton keeping moving, preventing Barnett from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Denton not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Barnett is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Barnett trying to control but Denton is working from the bottom.

We're going to have a standup here because Ryan Barnett wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Denton looks to clinch

and Barnett counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Denton's guard now.

Barnett gets to his feet - Denton follows without any prompting.
Barnett looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Ryan Barnett is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Denton tries to clinch up but Barnett circles away and keeps his distance.
Barnett shoots in for a takedown but Denton shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryan Barnett. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Denton clinches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Denton leaning against his opponent.
Barnett goes for a takedown attempt but Denton pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Denton closes the distance and pushes Barnett back into the cage.
Denton keeps control of Barnett as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Denton missing with knees to the body.
Barnett can't get the takedown.
Barnett is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Denton gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Denton pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Thomas Denton seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Denton clinches up against the cage.
Denton stalls.
Denton lands an elbow that stopped Barnett in his tracks for a moment.
Barnett managing to block the knees to the body from Denton.
Nice elbow from Denton.
Denton is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Barnett is defending well for now.
Barnett on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Barnett is trying to pull guard but Denton turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Denton pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Denton moves into the clinch.
Denton misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Barnett.
Barnett is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Denton is defending well.
Denton tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barnett avoids it.
Denton lands an elbow just above Barnett 's eye.
Denton is pushing Barnett up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Denton manages to break the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Denton darts in trying to clinch

and Barnett counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Barnett.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryan Barnett dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Denton wants to clinch up but Barnett keeps it at a distance.
Denton tries to clinch up.
Barnett slips a jab and a cross from Denton.
Denton is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Denton looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Barnett shoots in and drives through. Denton sprawls well.
Barnett keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Denton.
Denton tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Barnett paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Denton lands a front kick.
A combination from Denton does no damage.
Denton darts in trying to clinch

and Barnett counters with a takedown into side control.
Denton takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnett working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Barnett controlling the position from side mount.
Denton is not content to let Barnett control the position.
Barnett is chipping away with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnett controls the position.
Barnett trying to control the position but Denton is working away.

Barnett tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Barnett has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Denton is looking to reverse the position.

Barnett stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnett avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Denton tries to clinch but Barnett is having none of it.
Barnett shoots in for a double leg but Denton sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
The fight stays on the outside here - Denton looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Denton doesn't manage to clinch there - Barnett circles away.
Denton fails in his attempt to clinch.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Barnett is defended easily by Denton.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryan Barnett. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Denton wants to clinch up but Barnett keeps it at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Denton fails with an attempt to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Denton looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Barnett keeps the fight on the outside.
Denton doesn't manage to clinch there - Barnett circles away.
Denton tries to close the distance and clinch but Barnett swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Denton looks to clinch

and Barnett counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Barnett.
Barnett content to stall in guard here.
Ryan Barnett overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Denton is working an open guard so Barnett takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ryan Barnett showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Barnett has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ryan Barnett!