PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sebastian Bantrell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Carl Burns (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.

Bantrell
vs
Burns

192 cm
32
270 lbs
23 - 9 - 0

190 cm
29
270 lbs
17 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Prestige Nutrition (160!)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Sebastian Bantrell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Carl Burns!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Yves DeLean and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bantrell has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Burns.
Bantrell throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Burns throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Bantrell misses with a body kick.
Burns misses with a low kick as Bantrell jumps back.
Burns takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Burns throws a leg kick but Bantrell moved away.
Bantrell fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Burns has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Bantrell tries to land a front kick but Burns steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Burns misses with a leg kick
and Bantrell finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Bantrell is looking to land body kicks.
Burns on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Burns misses with a head kick.
Bantrell moves out of range of the strikes.
Burns takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Bantrell tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Burns blocks the body kick.
Burns lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns feints and then cracks Bantrell's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Bantrell down.
Burns lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Bantrell lands a nice leg kick that just misses Burns's sensitive parts.
Bantrell tries a head kick but it misses.
Burns is trying hard to land a takedown here. Bantrell sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Carl Burns seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Burns misses the shot to the body.
Bantrell tries to clinch but Burns moves out of range.
Burns shoots in but Bantrell avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Bantrell goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Bantrell throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Burns throws a half hearted mid kick.
Bantrell tries a head kick but it misses.
Burns walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Good exchange - Bantrell coming out on top.
Bantrell checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Burns takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

Burns gets a double leg takedown into Bantrell's guard.
Burns passes Bantrell's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Burns throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bantrell is looking for a sweep. Burns is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Bantrell moves into full guard.
Burns slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Burns is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Bantrell is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Burns looks up at the clock and then as Bantrell takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Burns smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bantrell is looking to reverse the position.
Burns has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Bantrell controls the position for a moment.
Bantrell tries to buck Burns off but Burns is having none of it.
Burns working the ground and pound but Bantrell is defending the strikes.
Bantrell isn't going anywhere.
Bantrell takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Burns working the ground and pound.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bantrell is looking for a sweep.
Burns wants to control but Bantrell is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Burns thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Burns working the strikes but Bantrell uses the opportunity to regain half guard.

Burns is working for a submission of some sort.
Bantrell controlling the position well.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Bantrell is looking to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Carl Burns will probably get the nod.
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.

Bantrell is looking to clinch but Burns is avoiding it.
Bantrell uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Burns.
Bantrell throws a push kick but Burns slaps the foot to one side.
Burns misses with a looping left.
Bantrell bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Burns throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Bantrell's waist but Bantrell gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Burns off to one side.
Burns on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Bantrell's corner calls for a 1-2. Bantrell obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Burns avoids the body shot from Bantrell.
Bantrell tries to clinch up but Burns circles away and keeps his distance.
Bantrell throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Burns.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A bone on bone clash there as Burns blocks the leg kick.
Bantrell scores with a jab to the jaw.
Bantrell lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bantrell uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Burns.
Burns avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Bantrell misses with a low kick.
Bantrell lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Burns takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Sebastian Bantrell is winning the standup battle so far.
Bantrell throws out a leg kick but Burns moves out of range and Bantrell only half commits.
Bantrell tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Burns manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Burns has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Bantrell.
Bantrell takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Burns shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Burns thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Bantrell makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Bantrell.
Burns throws a big elbow that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Burns landing with the ground and pound.
Bantrell working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Burns.
Burns postures up in Bantrell's guard and throws a big left but Bantrell blocks it.
Burns trying to control but Bantrell is working from the bottom.
Bantrell wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Bantrell working a defensive guard here.
Bantrell looking for a sweep. Not yet Bantrell, not yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burns loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Bantrell pulls Burns in close to prevent any damage.
Carl Burns has got the better of the ground game so far.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Burns preventing the sweep.
Bantrell working a defensive guard here.

Sebastian Bantrell has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Burns circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bantrell just misses with a punch to the body.
Burns lands a glancing blow to the side of Bantrell's head.
A head kick misses from Bantrell.
Bantrell goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Bantrell throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burns uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Bantrell.
Burns fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Bantrell manages to avoid it.
Burns throws a combination. Bantrell tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Burns with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Bantrell rushes Burns and presses him up against the cage.
Burns tries for a takedown but Bantrell manages to get underhooks.
Burns has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Bantrell avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Sebastian Bantrell has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Carl Burns.
Knees in the clinch landing for Bantrell.
Burns is breathing heavily.
A short right from Bantrell.
Bantrell is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Bantrell crunches a lovely knee into Burns's ribcage.
Bantrell presses Burns against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Bantrell obliges.
Bantrell gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Carl Burns has been cut.
Bantrell lands an elbow inside that Burns shrugs off.
Bantrell lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Bantrell.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sebastian Bantrell dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Carl Burns's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Bantrell tries to land a front kick but Burns steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Burns chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Burns moves out of range of the body kick.
Burns jabs Bantrell right on the nose. Bantrell blinks but takes it well.
Burns avoids the body shot from Bantrell.
Bantrell throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.

Burns shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Bantrell napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Bantrell struggling a bit here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bantrell managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Burns.
Burns tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sloppy strikes there by Burns.
The strikes coming from Burns are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns scoring with punches and elbows.
Burns misses with the ground and pound.
Bantrell isn't going anywhere.
Burns landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Bantrell tries to improve position but can't.
Bantrell gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Bantrell is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Burns winds up and cracks Bantrell with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Burns scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burns throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Burns not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Burns not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Bantrell avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Burns.
Burns throwing shots but Bantrell is blocking nicely.
Burns looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Bantrell with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Bantrell is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Burns working Bantrell over with strikes.
Burns winds up and cracks Bantrell with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Burns missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bantrell avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Burns.
Burns missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Bantrell is positioning himself well to prevent Burns advancing to mount.
Bantrell avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Burns.
Burns sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Bantrell defending well though.
Burns throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Burns landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Bantrell makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Bantrell.
Burns with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burns tries to free his leg and advance position but Bantrell is retaining full guard.
Bantrell wants to hit a switch here but Burns passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Bantrell there!
Bantrell working to try and regain half guard.
Burns misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Burns with the ground and pound from mount.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Bantrell is in a horrible position here. Burns smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Burns misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

And that's the end of the fight!
Carl Burns comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Burns 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 William Peck scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 28:29
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Carl Burns!
Carl Burns really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that 10th Degree Fightwear logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.