PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Marshall Noir (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Soloman van der Vaart (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Noir might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Pride. van der Vaart is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Nah Mean. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Noir
vs
van der Vaart

182 cm
28
177 lbs
16 - 6 - 1

183 cm
31
178 lbs
26 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 16 - 6 - 1, fighting out of New York, Marshall Noir!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 13 - 0, fighting out of New York, Soloman van der Vaart!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Jonathan Paton and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
van der Vaart checks a leg kick.
van der Vaart uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Noir.
Soloman van der Vaart seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
van der Vaart connects with a body shot that sends Noir's belly button to the back.
Noir throws a nice inside leg kick.
Noir lands with an uppercut that bounces van der Vaart off the cage and back into range.

Noir manages to get an easy takedown there - catching van der Vaart on his heels. He'll look to pass van der Vaart's guard now, I'm sure.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Noir throwing strikes but missing.
van der Vaart trying to control the position.
Noir looking to pass the guard.
van der Vaart working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Noir.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Noir is looking to work some ground and pound but van der Vaart has wrist control.
Noir stops van der Vaart from standing up.
Noir throws a big right hand that misses.

van der Vaart is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Noir breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
van der Vaart fails in his attempt to clinch.
Noir keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Good work by van der Vaart as he checks the leg kick.
van der Vaart fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Noir goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
van der Vaart fails with an attempt to clinch.
van der Vaart looks to score with a jab to the body but Noir is just out of range.
van der Vaart looks to land a left hand but Noir moved out of range nicely.
Noir chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Soloman van der Vaart is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
van der Vaart tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Noir paws at him with a jab and circles away.
van der Vaart moves out of range of the body kick from Noir.
Noir misses with a hook.
van der Vaart keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
van der Vaart cracks Noir with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Noir moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Noir tries a head kick but it misses.
Noir tries to land a leg kick but van der Vaart saw it coming and moves away.
van der Vaart throws a good cross that connects.
Noir avoids the body shot from van der Vaart.
van der Vaart loads up on a big right hand but Noir slips the punch.
van der Vaart throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A combination from van der Vaart does no damage.

Noir is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in van der Vaart's half guard.
Noir looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
van der Vaart keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
van der Vaart tries to get to full guard but Noir has control of the leg.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if van der Vaart can do anything to dispel that myth.
Noir throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Noir not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Noir is trying to control. van der Vaart wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Noir sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. van der Vaart defending well though.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Noir sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. van der Vaart defending well though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marshall Noir dominated that round.
That's time! Noir's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Noir dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on van der Vaart. That did some damage!
Noir tries a head kick but it misses.
van der Vaart is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
van der Vaart takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
van der Vaart scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
van der Vaart wants to clinch up but Noir keeps it at a distance.
Nice defenses there by Noir.
Noir dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on van der Vaart. That did some damage!
van der Vaart throws a series of punches but Noir avoids them all with ease.
Noir tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and van der Vaart is able to avoid easily.
Noir connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Good exchange - van der Vaart coming out on top.
The fighters circle momentarily. van der Vaart darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
van der Vaart is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Noir.
Noir cracks the inside of van der Vaart's front leg.
Some wild striking there from van der Vaart.
van der Vaart misses with a hook. Noir ducked under it nicely.
van der Vaart slips a straight right by Noir.
Noir attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
van der Vaart lands the left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Noir fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. van der Vaart sprawls well initially but Noir persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

van der Vaart kicks off Noir and gets to his feet.
A bone on bone clash there as van der Vaart blocks the leg kick.

Noir gets the takedown into side control.
van der Vaart really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Noir. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Noir takes a little break here. van der Vaart wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Noir fails to land a wild elbow strike.
van der Vaart is trying to get back to his feet.
Marshall Noir overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The ground and pound from Noir seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
van der Vaart avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Noir.
Noir creates some space and throws a big elbow, but van der Vaart sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Noir misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Noir trying to control the action but van der Vaart is working from the bottom.
Noir has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Noir creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Noir cracks van der Vaart with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Noir looking to punish the body of his opponent here but van der Vaart is avoiding damage well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Noir sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but van der Vaart is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Noir tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
van der Vaart is not content to let Noir control the position.
Noir tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The ground and pound from Noir seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
van der Vaart takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marshall Noir dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Noir swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Noir closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Noir advances to mount.
Noir landing shots from mount.

It looks like Soloman van der Vaart has been cut.
Noir thowing shots but they're missing.
Noir is in the full mount, landing strikes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Noir lands a nice shot to the head.

That has opened up Soloman van der Vaart's cut even more.
van der Vaart is in a horrible position here. Noir smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

van der Vaart is rocked!

The cut above Soloman van der Vaart's eye is starting to cause him problems now.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Soloman van der Vaart's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Marshall Noir!
Marshall Noir thanked the fans post fight for their support.