PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Blake Halder (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jeff Drabek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Drabek is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Imagine. On his way into the cage it seems that Blake Halder has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Blake Halder seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Halder
vs
Drabek

192 cm
25
263 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

195 cm
31
280 lbs
22 - 14 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Powerful

Conviction
Convicted Trap House

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 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Blake Halder!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jeff Drabek!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Chris Saunders and Roger Salmon.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drabek just misses with a punch to the body.

Halder gets the takedown into side control.
Drabek is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Halder off and has taken his back!
Halder rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Drabek throwing shots but Halder is blocking nicely.
Halder slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Drabek avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Halder wants to sweep but no luck.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Drabek accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Drabek has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Halder preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Halder is trying to control the position but Drabek postures up.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Halder pulls Drabek in to control the position.
Drabek content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drabek loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Halder looking to control.
Drabek throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Halder works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Halder preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Drabek throws a strike but Halder rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Halder postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Drabek trying to keep a closed guard but Halder is proving a slippery customer.
Halder stopping the sweep attempt from Drabek.
Drabek keeping moving, preventing Halder from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Halder pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Drabek is keeping the position for now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Halder looking to sit in guard and control but Drabek gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Halder looking for a sweep. Not yet Halder, not yet.
Drabek missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Halder wants to sweep here but Drabek controlling him for the moment.
Drabek throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Halder works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Halder utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Drabek makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Drabek scoring with some ground and pound.
Halder trying to keep a closed guard but Drabek is proving a slippery customer.
Drabek throwing strikes from guard but Halder blocks nicely.
Drabek postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Drabek stands up over Halder, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Halder working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Drabek.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Halder avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Halder is trying to keep Drabek in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Halder lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Drabek!
Drabek wants to control but Halder is having none of it.
Drabek is looking to improve his position but Halder isn't that keen on the idea.
Drabek tries to hold on but Halder postures up.
Halder lands a big elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Drabek is squirming around, avoiding Halder's attempts to control the action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jeff Drabek will probably get the nod.
That's time! Halder's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Halder throws a nice outside leg kick.
Halder avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Drabek blocks the body kick.
Halder misses with a body shot.
Drabek takes a swing at Halder's ribcage but misses.
Halder's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Drabek connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Halder scrambles back to his feet.
Drabek misses with an uppercut. Halder saw that one coming.
Drabek moves out of range of the strikes.
Drabek looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Drabek takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Drabek throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Halder dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Drabek. That did some damage!
Drabek shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Halder as he jumps to the side.
A looping hook to the body misses from Halder. Drabek does a little dance to reset his feet.

Halder shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Halder trying to control the position from guard on top but Drabek is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Halder trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Drabek wants to sweep but no luck.
Drabek not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Drabek wants to improve his position but instead Halder has moved into half guard.
Halder is looking to take a break and control but Drabek is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Halder keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Halder trying to control the action but Drabek is working from the bottom.
Halder seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Halder has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Blake Halder.

Halder closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Drabek is not content to let Halder control the position.
Drabek is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drabek is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Halder tries to score with some ground and pound. Drabek controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Drabek gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Drabek tries to reverse the position but Halder maintains control.
Halder punishing his opponent with strikes.
Halder lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Drabek hang on?
A nice elbow there by Halder.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Halder looking to control but Drabek is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Drabek tries to hold on but Halder postures up.
Halder looking to control but Drabek is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Drabek tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Halder looking to control and managing it successfully.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Halder trying to control but Drabek is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Blake Halder dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Halder connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Drabek's hands.

It looks like Jeff Drabek has been cut.
Halder moves to clinch but Drabek breaks away

and Drabek counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Drabek looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Halder is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Drabek pulls his head out easily.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Halder tries to get to full guard but Drabek has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Halder looking for submissions off his back.
Drabek missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Drabek not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Blake Halder overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Nice strikes from Drabek there.
Halder blocking the ground and pound attempt from Drabek.

Drabek is working for a kimura but Halder is defending it quite comfortably.
Nice strikes from Drabek there.
Halder is looking for a sweep. Drabek is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Halder keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Drabek thows a huge punch but Halder dodges it nicely.
Drabek working Halder over with strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Drabek thows a huge punch but Halder dodges it nicely.
Halder controlling the position for now.
Drabek seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Drabek is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Halder wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Halder regains full guard. Nicely done.
Halder not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Drabek scoring with some ground and pound.
Drabek throwing strikes but missing.
Drabek throws an elbow that misses. Halder uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Drabek's guard. Nice move by Halder!
Halder postures up in Drabek's guard and throws a big left but Drabek blocks it.
Drabek bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Halder's guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Drabek accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Drabek postures up in Halder's guard and throws a big left but Halder blocks it.
Drabek is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Halder looking for a guillotine here but Drabek defends easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Drabek working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Drabek landing some decent shots from guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Drabek postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Halder looking to control.
Drabek is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Drabek accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Halder is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Drabek throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jeff Drabek comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Drabek 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 28:29
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jeff Drabek!
Our winner, Jeff Drabek, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.