PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Luther Vega (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Morgan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Vega
vs
Morgan

182 cm
22
194 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

180 cm
25
200 lbs
13 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Luther Vega!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, James Morgan!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Wesley Smith and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morgan tries to close the distance and clinch but Vega swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Vega checks a leg kick.
Vega throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Morgan counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Vega tries to work over Morgan's front leg with a kick but Morgan checks it.
Vega keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Morgan.
Morgan lands a right hook to the body.
A big left from Vega misses.
Vega falls off balance throwing a combination
and Morgan counters with a body kick.
A shot to the liver by Morgan. Beautiful body shot.
Vega throws a low kick, looking for Morgan's leg but Morgan calmly moves out of range.
Morgan throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A slapping leg kick lands for Morgan.
Vega is looking to score with low kicks.

Vega shoots in and bounces Morgan off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Vega throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vega wants to control from the top but Morgan keeps moving.
Vega trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Vega stands and throws Morgan's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Vega lands some shots froms side control.
Vega scores with a couple of short elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vega working the strikes but Morgan uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Vega throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Morgan blocking the ground and pound attempt from Vega.
Morgan avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Vega.
Morgan keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vega thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Morgan's head.
Morgan tries to get to full guard but Vega has control of the leg.
Morgan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Vega. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Vega wants to pass the guard but Morgan is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vega is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Vega thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Vega with the ground and pound but Morgan uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Vega's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vega content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Vega throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morgan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morgan keeping moving, preventing Vega from controlling successfully.
Vega with a flurry of punches that miss.
Vega missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vega postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Morgan preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luther Vega dominated that 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.

A jab lands there for Morgan.
Morgan lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Morgan misses the body punch
and Vega counters with a nice low kick that buckles Morgan's knee momentarily.
Vega throws a body punch but Morgan moves out of range.
Morgan connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Morgan throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Vega's jab looks to have found its range, popping Morgan under the eye.
Morgan stuns Vega with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Vega uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morgan.
Vega misses with an uppercut.
Morgan lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Vega throws a solid leg kick but Morgan takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Vega.
Morgan fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Vega lands a nice hook to Morgan's body. Morgan takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Morgan tries to land a body kick

so Vega counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Vega throwing strikes but missing.
Vega working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vega wants to control from the top but Morgan keeps moving.
Vega wants to pass the guard but Morgan is keeping the position.
Vega working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Vega landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vega throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morgan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Vega postures up in Morgan's guard and throws a big left but Morgan blocks it.
Vega throws a big right hand that misses.
Vega is working Morgan over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Vega throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morgan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Vega loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Morgan wants to stand and escape but Vega is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morgan avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Vega throws a big right hand that misses.
Vega keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Morgan's head.
Vega working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Vega throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morgan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Vega throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Vega throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vega with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Vega postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Morgan wants to control but Vega passes easily into half guard.
Morgan is not content to let Vega control the position.
Vega controlling the pace.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vega passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Morgan!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luther Vega dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Vega blocks the body kick.
Morgan is looking to land body kicks.
Morgan thumps Vega with a low kick.
Morgan moves away from the strike by Vega.
Vega looks to land a body kick but Morgan moved away.
Morgan throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Vega.
James Morgan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Vega fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Morgan manages to avoid it.
Vega lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Morgan checks the leg kick.
Morgan blocks a leg kick.
A thudding body kick lands there by Morgan!

Vega looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Morgan!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morgan defending against the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Vega.
Vega misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Vega lands an elbow.
Vega in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Morgan is not content to let Vega control the position.
Vega throwing shots but missing, from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
An elbow from Vega crashes against the mat.
Vega trying to control the position but Morgan is working away.
Vega throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Vega in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Vega 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.
Vega in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Vega is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Morgan can do to turn this around?
Vega in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vega postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Vega creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Morgan sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Morgan takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Morgan on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Sloppy strikes there by Vega.
Morgan avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Vega.
Vega in side control, throwing shots but Morgan defends.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Vega seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Morgan taking punishment in the form of punches.
Vega cracks Morgan with a big elbow.
James Morgan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vega cracks Morgan with a big elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vega lands an elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vega creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Morgan sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

And that's the end of the fight!
Luther Vega showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Vega, 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Luther Vega!