PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frank Castle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dennis Oppelaar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Castle comes to the cage accompanied by Don't worry, Be happy. 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.

Castle
vs
Oppelaar

190 cm
30
203 lbs
21 - 16 - 0

188 cm
27
192 lbs
12 - 7 - 1

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Damnfield clothing

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 21 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Frank Castle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Dennis Oppelaar!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Steve Smith and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Castle will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Nice uppercut there from Castle.
Oppelaar will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Castle digs a good hook to Oppelaar's body.
Castle misses with a few strikes there.
Oppelaar fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Castle avoids it really well and circles away.
Castle uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Oppelaar.
Oppelaar tries for a takedown but Castle sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Frank Castle has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dennis Oppelaar.
Castle throws a right and a left that Oppelaar avoids nicely.
Oppelaar throws out a loose jab but Castle uses good head movement to avoid it.
Oppelaar shoots for a double leg takedown but Castle sprawls well. He's pushed Oppelaar's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Castle moves into the clinch successfully.
Oppelaar avoiding damage as Castle throws knees to the body.
Oppelaar on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Oppelaar is looking to take this one to the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oppelaar tries to score a body lock takedown but Castle shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Oppelaar managing to block the knees to the body from Castle.
Castle tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Oppelaar avoids it.
Castle slows down the pace here.
Oppelaar goes for a takedown in the clinch but Castle prevents it.
Oppelaar tries for a takedown but Castle manages to get underhooks.
Castle content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Castle tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Oppelaar avoids it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oppelaar managing to block the knees to the body from Castle.
Oppelaar managing to block the knees to the body from Castle.
Castle is pressed up against the cage. Oppelaar has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Castle down to the mat. Castle avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Oppelaar closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Castle tries to get to full guard but Oppelaar has control of the leg.
Oppelaar trying to control from half guard but Castle is working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Oppelaar is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Oppelaar is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Castle reverses the position - he's now on top in Oppelaar's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Oppelaar is controlling Castle's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castle tries to stand but Oppelaar is controlling from the bottom.
Castle throwing strikes but missing.
Oppelaar is looking to sweep but instead, Castle has passed into half guard.
Oppelaar gets back to full guard.
Oppelaar has control of Castle's left arm, preventing Castle from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oppelaar looking to hit a scissor sweep but Castle is one step ahead there.
Oppelaar lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Castle!
Oppelaar landing punches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Oppelaar has control of Castle's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Castle regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Oppelaar has hold of Castle's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Castle manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Oppelaar jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Castle is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Castle and Oppelaar has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dennis Oppelaar dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nice sprawl there from Castle as Oppelaar shoots in.

Oppelaar darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Oppelaar trying to control the action but Castle is working from the bottom.

Oppelaar is looking for a kimura but Castle is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Oppelaar to get the leverage.

Oppelaar is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Castle sees it coming and defends easily.
Castle wants to get back to his feet.

Oppelaar seems to be working for a kimura but Castle defends the submission attempt.
Castle pushes Oppelaar off looking to stand but Oppelaar dives back in and keeps control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Oppelaar is working for a kimura but Castle is defending it quite comfortably.
Castle looks like he's trying to stand up.
Oppelaar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Oppelaar seems to be looking for submissions.
Oppelaar is trying to control the action in half guard but Castle is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Oppelaar is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Castle is looking to escape.

Oppelaar wants to work for an arm triangle but Castle is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Oppelaar is looking for a kimura but Castle is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Oppelaar to get the leverage.
Oppelaar stops Castle from getting back to his feet.

Oppelaar is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Oppelaar is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Oppelaar trying to control but Castle is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Oppelaar drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Castle dives on top into guard.
Castle wants to control from the top but Oppelaar keeps moving.
Castle wants to stand but Oppelaar is controlling his posture from full guard.
Castle wants to stand and escape but instead Oppelaar has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Castle keeping moving, preventing Oppelaar from controlling successfully.
Oppelaar throws an elbow that misses. Castle uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Oppelaar's guard. Nice move by Castle!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castle won't allow Oppelaar to sweep him here.
Castle being controlled here momentarily.
Castle has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Oppelaar is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Oppelaar is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Dennis Oppelaar was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Oppelaar lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Oppelaar.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Oppelaar has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Castle.
Oppelaar throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Oppelaar shoots in but Castle avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Oppelaar is breathing heavily.
Castle chopping away at his opponent's legs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dennis Oppelaar showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Oppelaar fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Castle sprawls well initially but Oppelaar persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

Oppelaar is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Castle pushes Oppelaar off looking to stand but Oppelaar dives back in and keeps control.

Castle is defending against the submission attempts here by Oppelaar.
Castle is staying active underneath Oppelaar, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Oppelaar lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oppelaar is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Castle is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Oppelaar stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Castle swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Oppelaar won't allow Castle to get back to his feet.
Oppelaar with a flurry of punches that miss.
Oppelaar seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Castle keeping moving, preventing Oppelaar from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Oppelaar content to stall in guard here.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Dennis Oppelaar.
Oppelaar walks into a jab.
Oppelaar throws a nice looking combination but Castle bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Oppelaar dives in and grabs Castle's left leg, looking for a takedown. Castle pushes down on Oppelaar's head and hops out.
Castle moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Oppelaar takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Oppelaar avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Castle tries to clinch but Oppelaar moves out of range.
Oppelaar throws a right hand that Castle ducks under and follows up with a left that Castle also avoids with ease.
Nice straight punches there by Castle. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Castle.
Castle dodges the punch combination from Oppelaar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castle throws a series of punches but Oppelaar moves out of range.
Oppelaar closes this distance looking for a takedown but Castle circles away.
Castle rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Oppelaar moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Oppelaar misses with a looping right.
Castle scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Castle takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Oppelaar with a lazy takedown attempt
and Castle counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Frank Castle has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dennis Oppelaar.
Castle lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Frank Castle has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Frank Castle is winning the standup battle so far.
Castle cracks a nice hook into Oppelaar's ribs.
Castle stalks Oppelaar and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Oppelaar's face. Oppelaar staggers backwards, shaken.

Castle pushes Oppelaar up against the cage in a clinch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Castle tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Oppelaar avoids it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Castle as Oppelaar tries to tie him up.
Oppelaar avoiding damage as Castle throws knees to the body.
Dennis Oppelaar is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castle effectively controlling the action here.
Castle is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Oppelaar is defending well for now.
Castle prevents a takedown attempt there.

Castle escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Oppelaar.
Oppelaar stalks Castle and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Castle's face. Castle staggers backwards, shaken.
Frank Castle is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Oppelaar throws the left hand but Castle avoids the punch easily.

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 Frank Castle.
I think Oppelaar 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dennis Oppelaar!
Dennis Oppelaar very nearly forgot to thank Damnfield clothing amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.