PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jermaine Defoe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sol Tavarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sol Tavarez is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Defoe
vs
Tavarez

190 cm
25
215 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

186 cm
31
204 lbs
16 - 14 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Black Hand Fight Gear & Laundry

Crippler's Corner

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jermaine Defoe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 14 - 0, fighting out of New York, Sol Tavarez!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Daniel Franklin and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tavarez moves out of range as Defoe strikes.
Defoe fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Defoe tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Tavarez scores with a kick to the midsection.
Defoe with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Defoe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tavarez swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tavarez swats away the attempt to clinch by Defoe.
Tavarez wants to clinch.
Defoe chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Tavarez can pounce on him.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Defoe connects with the punch.
Defoe misses with an uppercut. Tavarez saw that one coming.
Tavarez keeps the fight on the outside.
Defoe throws a low kick but Tavarez avoids it.
Defoe throws a half hearted mid kick.
Tavarez dips to his left and cracks Defoe with an uppercut!
Tavarez cracks Defoe with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Defoe wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Defoe tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Tavarez paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Defoe gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Tavarez lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Defoe.
Tavarez throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Defoes head.
Tavarez lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Defoe backwards.
Tavarez can't find room to land a body shot as Defoe controls the action.
Defoe takes an elbow to the forehead.
Tavarez tries a body shot but Defoe blocks it.
Defoe is looking to break free of the clinch but Tavarez has double underhooks.
Tavarez presses Defoe against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Defoe is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Defoe blocks the elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez is pushing Defoe up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Tavarez tries to throw a body punch but Defoe avoids it by throwing Tavarez back against the cage.
Tavarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Defoe blocks a body shot from Tavarez.
Tavarez tries a body shot but Defoe blocks it.
Tavarez is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Defoe is defending well for now.
A short body shot lands from Tavarez as the two fighters clinch.
Tavarez stalls.
Tavarez misses with a punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Defoe managing to block the knees to the body from Tavarez.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Tavarez just leaning against Defoe, taking a breather.
Defoe avoiding damage.
Tavarez tries a body shot but Defoe blocks it.
The referee is keeping an eye on Defoe - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Tavarez is trying to trip Defoe. He has hold of a leg but Defoe is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Tavarez persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Defoe is looking to stand up but Tavarez isn't so interested in that idea.
Tavarez trying to control the position from guard on top but Defoe is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Defoe scrambles and gets back to his feet.
A shot to the liver by Defoe. Beautiful body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tavarez punishes Defoe's body with a nice straight punch.
Tavarez lands a nice leg kick that just misses Defoe's sensitive parts.
Tavarez avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Tavarez avoids a punch combination nicely.
Tavarez tests Defoe's chin there with a solid looking shot.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Defoe darts in and clinches Tavarez up against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Defoe's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A nice left hand lands by Tavarez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Tavarez scores with a jab to the jaw.
Tavarez will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Defoe takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Defoe swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Defoe lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Tavarez has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Tavarez and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
A big right from Tavarez misses.
Tavarez keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Defoe.
Jermaine Defoe is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Tavarez jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Tavarez uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Defoe.
Nice body punch from Defoe.
Defoe tries to clinch but Tavarez is having none of it.
Defoe misses with a lunging right hand
letting Tavarez counter with a right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A bone on bone clash there as Defoe blocks the leg kick.
Defoe fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tavarez looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Defoe fails with an attempt to clinch.
Tavarez takes a shot to the body in his stride.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Defoe lands a really nice looking cross but Tavarez seems unphased.
Defoe doesn't manage to clinch there - Tavarez circles away.
Jermaine Defoe seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tavarez throws a half hearted mid kick.
Defoe is looking to clinch but Tavarez is avoiding it.
Tavarez throws a half hearted mid kick.
Defoe lands with a thumping leg kick.
Defoe moves out of range as Tavarez throws a body kick.

Defoe closes the distance and clinches.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Tavarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Tavarez can't find room to land a body shot as Defoe controls the action.
Defoe working hard to break the clinch.
Tavarez is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Defoe gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Tavarez missing with knees to the body.
Defoe is trying to push Tavarez away but Tavarez has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Tavarez keeps control of Defoe as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Tavarez has a couple of punches blocked by Defoe.
Defoe is stalling here.
Tavarez scores a nice knee to the body.
Tavarez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Defoe's elbow.
Tavarez effectively controlling the action here.
Tavarez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Tavarez misses with a body punch.
Tavarez misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Defoe.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez stalling the fight.
Defoe is trying to break the clinch but Tavarez is controlling him.
Tavarez displaying some good clinch control by pressing Defoe up against the cage.
Defoe takes an elbow to the forehead.
Tavarez can't find room to land a body shot as Defoe controls the action.
Defoe just leaning against Tavarez, taking a breather.
Tavarez misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Defoe.
Tavarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Tavarez looking to stall.
Tavarez can't find room to land a body shot as Defoe controls the action.
Sol Tavarez seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Defoe is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Tavarez lands an uppercut.
Tavarez goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Tavarez prevents Defoe from breaking the clinch.
Tavarez keeps control of Defoe as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Tavarez keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Defoe's efforts to push away.
Defoe blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tavarez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Defoe's elbow.
Tavarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Sol Tavarez will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Defoe has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Tavarez finds it's way round the side to connect with Defoe's head.
Defoe throws an ugly left hook that misses
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Tavarez lands a slapping body shot.

Oooh a lovely combination from Defoe sends Tavarez down but not out. Defoe dives into side control looking to finish.

Tavarez is rocked!

It looks like Sol Tavarez has been cut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tavarez struggling a bit here.
Tavarez is still in real trouble! Can Defoe finish him?
Tavarez is looking to regain half guard here but Defoe keeps moving and retains side control.
Tavarez seems to have recovered his senses.
Tavarez tries to control but Defoe manages to take his back.
Tavarez tries to break free.
Tavarez trying to control but not successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
What can Tavarez do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Tavarez looking very determined here, making life difficult for Defoe.
Defoe lands punches and elbows.
Defoe controlling from the back.
Tavarez turns into Defoe and is now in his guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez is standing up over Defoe. Defoe looks to escape but Tavarez dives into side control.
Tavarez creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Defoe sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Defoe stuck in half guard on the bottom here.
Tavarez creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Defoe sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Defoe is looking for a sweep.
Check out the look on Tavarez's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Tavarez laying and praying for a moment but Defoe takes advantage and regains half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Defoe is not content to let Tavarez control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Defoe kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Jermaine Defoe has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tavarez prevents Defoe from standing back up.
Defoe blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tavarez.
Tavarez passes to side control.
Sol Tavarez has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Defoe dodges the ground and pound from Tavarez.
Tavarez in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Tavarez sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Defoe is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Defoe defending against the ground and pound.
You can see the frustration on Defoe's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Tavarez tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tavarez looking to control but instead Defoe has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

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 Jermaine Defoe.
I think Tavarez has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sol Tavarez!
Sol Tavarez managed to slip a mention for his sponsors, Legion of Pain Nutrition, into his post fight interview.