PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jean Luc Picard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mark Woleman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Picard's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, The Picard Song. Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Luc Picard
vs
Woleman

177 cm
27
168 lbs
14 - 11 - 0

205 cm
34
161 lbs
23 - 8 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jean Luc Picard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mark Woleman!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Luis Engracia and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Woleman fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Picard looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Woleman throws an off balance right hand

and Picard counters with a single leg into guard. Woleman didn't expect that.
Picard might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Woleman pulls Picard in close to prevent any damage.
Woleman keeping full guard, as Picard tries to pass.
Woleman has Picard pulled in close to control his posture.
Picard wants to control from the top but Woleman keeps moving.
Picard won't allow Woleman to sweep him here.
Picard pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Woleman is keeping the position for now.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Mark Woleman was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Picard shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Woleman defends it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lazy left from Woleman finds it's target.
Woleman throws a leg kick but Picard checks it.

Picard closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Picard wants to advance to full mount but Woleman doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Woleman is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Woleman controlling the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Picard actively working from the bottom here.
Woleman is keen to just control but Picard is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Picard is looking to improve his position.
Woleman is trying to control the action in half guard but Picard is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Woleman controlling the action here.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Picard wants to get back to full guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Woleman seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Picard does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Mark Woleman wasn't active enough on the ground.
Jab by Woleman.
Woleman throws a predictable looking body shot

and Picard counters with a nice double leg into side control. Woleman won't be happy with that.

Picard tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Woleman is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Picard thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Picard is looking to take a break and control but Woleman is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Woleman wants to control but Picard postures up.
Woleman is looking for a sweep.

Picard thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Woleman striking from the bottom but nothing landed.
Woleman tries to improve position but can't.
Woleman is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Picard is looking to take a break and control but Woleman is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Woleman bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Woleman throws a chopping leg kick but Picard manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Woleman cracks Picard with an open hand slap.
Picard moves away from the strike by Woleman.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Woleman ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Woleman paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Woleman swings and misses with a hook to the body.
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 Jean Luc Picard will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Woleman throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Woleman misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Picard.
Woleman with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Woleman scores with a punch to the head.
Picard gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Mark Woleman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Woleman fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Picard shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Woleman defends it nicely.
Woleman shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Picard pinned against the cage. Picard gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Picard fails with the takedown
and Woleman counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Woleman throws a hook to the side of Picard's head but Picard sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Woleman throws an ugly left hook that misses

so Picard counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Woleman is trying to control the position but Picard postures up.
Woleman keeping moving, preventing Picard from controlling successfully.
Woleman wants to sweep here but Picard controlling him for the moment.
Picard postures up.
Picard passes into half guard.
Picard uses his free foot to push down on Woleman's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Woleman.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Picard manages to capitalize on a mistake by Woleman to take his back!
Woleman looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.

Picard is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Woleman knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Woleman for a finish.
Woleman trying to survive by controlling the hands.
Woleman tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Picard content just to control the position here.
Woleman is trying to escape the mount.
Jean Luc Picard overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Woleman regains half guard.
Woleman wants to control but Picard is keeping busy.
Picard works his way into side control.
The referee asks Picard politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Picard prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Woleman struggling a bit here.
Woleman is looking to reverse the position.
Picard in the domination position with Woleman hanging on.

Picard is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Woleman has escaped the position, nice work there.
Picard trying to control the action but Woleman is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Jean Luc Picard will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Woleman scores with a nice strike.
Woleman throws a looping overhand right but Picard ducks down to avoid it.
Picard tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A left lands for Woleman.
Woleman thows a body shot but no joy.
Woleman connects with a right hand. Picard shakes it off.
Woleman connects with a jab.
Woleman is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Picard keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Picard.
Nice takedown defense from Woleman. No joy for Picard on that attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Woleman fails to land with a series of punches.
Woleman lands with a nice body punch.
Woleman swings widly with a right hand

and Picard counters with a shoot takedown. Woleman fights it but they end up in guard.
Woleman looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Picard puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Woleman is looking to improve his position.

Woleman is defending against the submission attempts here by Picard.

Picard is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Mark Woleman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Woleman is looking to control Picard's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Woleman avoid being mounted?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Woleman is refusing to be controlled, as Picard sits in half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Woleman makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Woleman.
Woleman looking to hit a scissor sweep but Picard is one step ahead there.
Woleman looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Picard puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Picard is keen to just control but Woleman is a slippery customer.
Woleman wants to control but Picard is keeping busy.
Picard wants to take a breather but Woleman is having none of it.
Picard is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Woleman is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Picard is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Woleman tries to roll over but Picard keeps him under control.
Picard trying to pass the guard but Woleman defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Woleman trying to control here.
Woleman is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Picard is staying active.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Mark Woleman.
Woleman misses with a looping right.
Jean Luc Picard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Woleman thows a left - swing and a miss!
Woleman throws an off balance right hand

and Picard counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Woleman's guard now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Woleman bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Picard's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Woleman postures up.
Picard is really struggling to control Woleman but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Woleman in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

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 Jean Luc Picard.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Picard, 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:29
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Jean Luc Picard!