PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Steve Gruunch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jacob Mason (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steve Gruunch has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Gruunch
vs
Mason

193 cm
18
135 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

172 cm
21
145 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steve Gruunch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jacob Mason!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Tiny Johnson and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gruunch misses the shot to the body.

Gruunch clinches up with Mason and pushes him back against the cage.
Mason managing to block the knees to the body from Gruunch.
Mason avoids the elbow strike from Gruunch, against the cage.
Gruunch trying to stall but Mason improves his position.
Mason working hard to break the clinch.
Gruunch prevents Mason from breaking the clinch.
Gruunch using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Mason has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Gruunch really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Mason is trying to force a seperation but Gruunch has the dominant position.
Mason is trying to break the clinch but Gruunch is controlling him.
A frustrated look appears on Mason's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Mason wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Gruunch has him pressed against the cage.
Mason is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Mason's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Mason is looking for a takedown.
Mason wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Gruunch tries to land knees in the clinch but Mason avoids the damage to the body.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Gruunch just misses with a elbow thrown towards Mason's brow.
Mason wants to take the fight to the mat but Gruunch manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gruunch trying to land knees to the body.
Mason goes for a takedown attempt but Gruunch pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Steve Gruunch has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jacob Mason.
Gruunch scores with a nice head shot.

Gruunch has closed the distance and engaged Mason in a clinch.
Gruunch landing knees to the head.
Mason wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Gruunch has him pressed against the cage.
Gruunch lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Mason struggles to land a body shot inside as Gruunch controls his hands.
Gruunch lands a damaging elbow.
Mason working hard to break the clinch.
Gruunch trying to control the position but instead, Mason has worked for underhooks and has pushed Gruunch into the cage.
Mason tries to land a knee to the head but Gruunch blocks with his arms.
Gruunch landing knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mason wants to break the clinch but can't.
Gruunch using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Mason escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gruunch is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Mason takes the fight into the clinch.
Gruunch controlling the action here for a moment.
Gruunch working Mason over with knees to the body.
Mason is trying to force a seperation but Gruunch has the dominant position.
Gruunch creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Mason's defenses.
Gruunch tries a knee to the head but Mason blocks it.
Gruunch landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

Mason breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch scores with a head kick. Mason tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Gruunch throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Gruunch tries to clinch but Mason is having none of it.
Gruunch tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Gruunch moves in looking to clinch but Mason pushes him off.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Mason avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gruunch darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Gruunch tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mason swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Mason pushes Gruunch up against the cage in a clinch.
Mason has had enough of the clinch but Gruunch keeps him there for the moment.

Mason escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gruunch throws a body punch but Mason moves out of range.
Gruunch is looking to clinch but Mason is avoiding it.

Mason clinches up with Gruunch and pushes him back against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

Mason tightens his grip and picks Gruunch up, before dumping him to the ground. Gruunch manages to land in guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mason postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mason content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Mason passes into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Mason in particular looking to stall.

Mason is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Gruunch defends it well.

Mason seems to be working for a kimura but Gruunch defends the submission attempt.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Mason content to control rather than advance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Steve Gruunch will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Mason keeps the fight on the outside.
A punch combination from Mason misses.
Gruunch tries to clinch there but Mason circles away.

Mason shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Mason was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Mason controlling the position easily from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mason raining down shots from the mount!
Gruunch is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
Mason controlling the pace for now.

Mason has hold of Gruunch's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Gruunch manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mason looking to control and managing it successfully.
Mason working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Gruunch keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Mason sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gruunch knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Mason on the ground.
Gruunch taking shots to the head.
Mason has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Mason controlling his opponent.

Mason has control of Gruunch's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Gruunch regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Mason pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch tries to buck Mason off but Mason takes his back!
Mason trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Gruunch doesn't escape.

Mason is working on the RNC. He looks like he's got it but Gruunch won't tap... Oh, he's out! The ref rips Mason off his unconscious opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:34 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Jacob Mason!
A relieved looking Jacob Mason thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.