PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mario Matiss (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sammy Spishak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Matiss comes to the cage accompanied by Ennio Morricone - The Ecstasy of Gold. Spishak is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Sleeping with Sirens. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Matiss
vs
Spishak

186 cm
30
210 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

185 cm
24
216 lbs
5 - 7 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Mario Matiss!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Sammy Spishak!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Micheangelo Fripello and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Matiss lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Matiss enables Spishak to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Matiss manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Matiss controlling Spishak's posture.
Spishak wants to control from the top but Matiss keeps moving.
Spishak postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Spishak pushing down on Matiss's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

Spishak is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Matiss wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Spishak keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Matiss is trying to stand up here but Spishak is controlling him well.
Spishak controlling the pace.

Spishak is looking for a kimura here.
Spishak is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matiss working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Spishak.
Spishak loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Spishak stops Matiss from standing up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Matiss is pulling down on Spishak's head to control his posture.

Spishak postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Matiss is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Spishak, into his guard.
Spishak working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spishak looking to hit a scissor sweep but Matiss is one step ahead there.
Spishak is striking but Matiss is not phased and passes to half guard.
Matiss is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Spishak looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Matiss is thwarting Spishak's attempts to control the position.
Matiss wants to stand but Spishak has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Spishak gets full guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Matiss wanted to stand there but Spishak had control of the position.

Matiss stands and steps away. Spishak gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Sammy Spishak will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Matiss misses with a low kick.
Sammy Spishak is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Spishak throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Matiss lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Matiss throws a leg kick
and Matiss takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Matiss lands a head kick. Spishak smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

It looks like Sammy Spishak has been cut.
A telegraphed right hand from Spishak misses the target.
Matiss throws a half hearted mid kick.
Spishak throws out a leg kick but Matiss moves out of range and Spishak only half commits.
Spishak connects with a body shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Spishak closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Matiss's guard.
Spishak postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Spishak with a flurry of punches that miss.
Matiss trying to keep a closed guard but Spishak is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Spishak trying to control the position from guard on top but Matiss is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Spishak in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Spishak passes into half guard.
Spishak throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Matiss is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Matiss regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Spishak.
Sammy Spishak has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matiss is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Spishak pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Matiss is keeping the position for now.
Spishak throwing strikes but missing.
Spishak throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Spishak has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spishak is fighting to break Matiss's control of his arms but Matiss is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Spishak stopping the sweep attempt from Matiss.
Matiss wants to stand up but Spishak is controlling him.
Spishak is looking to advance position but Matiss has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Spishak is desperately trying to improve his position but Matiss has a good base and remains in mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Spishak wants to hold on but Matiss pushes him away.
Spishak is squirming around, avoiding Matiss's attempts to control the action.
Spishak regains half guard.
Matiss wants to stand but Spishak has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Spishak gets full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Spishak is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Matiss stopping the sweep attempt from Spishak.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Sammy Spishak will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Sammy Spishak's cut.
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!

Spishak takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Matiss throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Spishak scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Mario Matiss seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Matiss connects with an inside leg kick.
An inside leg kick from Matiss misses.
Matiss throws a leg kick that is checked

and Spishak counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Spishak throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Matiss works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Spishak tries to free his leg and advance position but Matiss is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Spishak is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Spishak trying to control the position from guard on top but Matiss is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Spishak postures up in Matiss's guard and throws a big left but Matiss blocks it.
Spishak wants to control from the top but Matiss keeps moving.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Spishak throws a strike but Matiss rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Spishak trying to control the position.
Mario Matiss has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sammy Spishak is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Spishak throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Spishak is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Sammy Spishak wasn't active enough on the ground.
Spishak misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Matiss tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Spishak manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Spishak shoots in and bounces Matiss off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Spishak trying to control but Matiss is working from the bottom.
Spishak looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spishak trying to control but Matiss is working from the bottom.
Spishak slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Sammy Spishak.
Spishak takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matiss wants to clinch.
Matiss dodges the punch combination from Spishak.

Matiss has taken the fight to the clinch.
Spishak managing to block the knees to the body from Matiss.
Matiss tries to land a knee to the head but Spishak blocks with his arms.
Matiss misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Spishak.
Matiss throws a knee to the head but misses.
Spishak blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Matiss is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Spishak is defending well for now.
Matiss working Spishak over with knees to the body.

Spishak has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Matiss is trying to keep an underhook but Spishak manages to get the takedown into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sammy Spishak comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Spishak winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 27:30
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sammy Spishak!