PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between OJ Black (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Patrick Connolly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Black might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Ja Rule feat. Fat Joe & Jadakiss - New York. OJ Black has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Black
vs
Connolly

185 cm
21
180 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

172 cm
23
176 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, OJ Black!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Patrick Connolly!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Chris Downing and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Connolly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Black avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Black throws a hook but Connolly blocks it.
Black connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Black looks to land a combination but Connolly avoids it well.
The crowd cheers as Black lands an impressive looking overhand right. Connolly doesn't seem phased though.
Black lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

Connolly is rocked!
Connolly misses with a few strikes there.
Connolly is still on wobbly legs! Can Black finish him?
Black throws a hook but Connolly avoids it easily.
A decent looking cross lands there for Black.
Black misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Black avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Connolly seems to have recovered his senses.
Black fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Connolly moves away from the strike by Black.
Connolly with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Black to score with a decent uppercut.
Black drops Connolly with a nice combination! Black dives into Connolly's guard, looking to finish!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Connolly wants to get back to his feet but Black is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Black will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Black distracts Connolly with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Black is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Black postures up.
Black tries to free his leg and advance position but Connolly is retaining full guard.
Connolly is looking to stand back up but Black counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Connolly.
An elbow from Black crashes against the mat.
Black works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Connolly takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The strikes coming from Black are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Connolly parries the strikes from Black easily there. Black is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Connolly to escape.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Black fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Connolly manages to avoid it.
Black misses with a double jab
and Connolly counters with a low kick, right behind Black 's knee.
Black is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Black throws a left and a right that both miss

and Connolly counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Connolly.
Black pushes Connolly back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Connolly lands a body shot.

Black breaks from the clinch.

Connolly gets the takedown into side control.

Connolly looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Black is not content to let Connolly control the position.

Connolly decides to stand back up.

Black rushes Connolly and presses him up against the cage.
Connolly is pressed up against the cage. Black has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Connolly down to the mat. Connolly avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connolly uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Black.
OJ Black seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Connolly ducks under a wild hook from Black.

Connolly gets the takedown into side control.
Connolly creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Black sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Connolly trying to control the action but Black is working from the bottom.
Sloppy strikes there by Connolly.
Black is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Connolly off and has taken his back!
Connolly controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
Black is punishing Connolly with strikes - can he finish him?!
Black is working the ground and pound. Can Connolly escape?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Black lands punches and elbows.
Connolly wants to get back to his feet.
Connolly is in bad spot here.
Black gets his hands free as Connolly looks to control.
Black tries to get the hooks in deep but Connolly pushed the leg off.
Black is trying to stick to Connolly's back but Connolly is turning into Black. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Black's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Connolly.
Connolly chips away with some ground and pound.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Black scores with a jab to the head.
Connolly has a takedown stuffed.
Black throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Connolly stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

OJ Black dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Connolly tries to clinch up
and Black connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Connolly pushes Black away with a front kick.
Connolly misses with a takedown attempt

and Black counters with a combination of strikes to the head and body that crumple Connolly!
Connolly wants to improve his position but Black is controlling well.
Still in half guard, Black seems content to control.
Connolly is trying to get back to full guard.
Connolly wants to get back to his feet.
Black passes to side control.
Connolly wants to get back to his feet but Black is dominant here and he's now got Connolly's back!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black looking to finish Connolly with some ground and pound. This is bad for Connolly!
Black lands with some strikes.
Black controlling from the full mount.
Black looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Black scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Connolly?
A nice elbow there by Black.
Black putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Connolly is bucking up trying to escape but Black cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Connolly bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Black is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Connolly manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Black scores with a punch to the head.
Connolly ducks under a wild hook from Black.
Connolly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Connolly defending well as Black loads up on a big left hand.
Nice shot lands for Black.
Black is looking to clinch.
Black will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Connolly shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Black but Black pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Connolly shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Black as he jumps to the side.
OJ Black has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Patrick Connolly.
Connolly goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Black shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Connolly's guard.
Connolly trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Connolly wants to stand and escape but Black is having none of it.
Black wants to control from the top but Connolly keeps moving.
Black in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Black wants to control from the top but Connolly keeps moving.

Connolly scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Black fails in his attempt to clinch.
Connolly tries to clinch but Black moves away
and Black connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Connolly forces Black back against the cage and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Black wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
The referee calls for Connolly to work.
Black is looking to break free of the clinch but Connolly has double underhooks.
Connolly changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Black fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Connolly fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Black connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Connolly shoots in but Black avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Black scores with a takedown into Connolly's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

OJ Black dominated that second round.
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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Connolly keeps Black at a distance using the push kick.
Black circles away from the clinch attempt.

Black tries to keep at a distance but Connolly has taken the fight into the clinch.
Connolly scores with a shoulder strike.
Connolly wants to break free but Black has control.
Black wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Black is trying to break free.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Connolly escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Connolly shoots and misses
and Black counters with a series of strikes. Connolly will be more careful next time no doubt.
Connolly tries to clinch up

and Black counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Black.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black stops Connolly from standing up.
Connolly looking to hit a scissor sweep but Black is one step ahead there.
Black trying to control the position from guard on top but Connolly is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Connolly wants to stand and escape but Black is having none of it.
Black postures up.
Black slips nicely into half guard.
Connolly pushes Black off looking to stand but Black dives back in and keeps control.
Connolly trying to hold on to Black's head to control him but Black postures up.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Connolly shoots and misses
and Black counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Black will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Connolly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Connolly closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Connolly shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Black but Black pushes him off and we're back to square one.
OJ Black has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Patrick Connolly.
Black bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Connolly's head backwards.

Black gets caught flat footed, as Connolly shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Black throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Connolly gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Connolly has his takedown stuffed
and Black connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Black throws a nice looking combination but Connolly bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Black cracks Connolly with an open hand slap.
Black shoots in but no luck this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Connolly looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Black!
Connolly landing strikes from the mount.
Black is squirming around, avoiding Connolly's attempts to control the action.
Black throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Connolly landing strikes from the mount.
OJ Black overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Black avoids a series of strikes thrown by Connolly.
Connolly avoids the attempt from Black to control.
Black on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Black tries to get out of the position.
Connolly trying to control but Black is having none of it.

Connolly is working for a guillotine from mount but Black frees his head quite easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Black is working to get back to half guard.
Patrick Connolly has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Black tries to hold on but Connolly pushes him away.
Black is trying to escape the mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Connolly is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Black can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

Connolly goes for an armbar but Black turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Black.

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 OJ Black.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Black, 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... OJ Black!