PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between BJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hakeem Nicks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nicks is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Money by i fight dragons. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Penn
vs
Nicks

195 cm
26
175 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

182 cm
29
175 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Likes comics

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Knockout power

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, BJ Penn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hakeem Nicks!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Jack Bonds and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Penn throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Nicks's waist but Nicks gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Penn off to one side.
Penn doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Nicks counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Nicks closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Penn's guard.
Nicks works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Nicks missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
It looks like Nicks is going to stand back up.
Penn is looking to improve his position.
Nicks content to control rather than advance.
Penn is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicks landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Nicks 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.
Nicks not doing much here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
It looks like Nicks might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Penn really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn gets back to full guard.
Nicks is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Hakeem Nicks hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Penn fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Nicks manages to avoid it.
Penn will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for BJ Penn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Penn has a takedown stuffed.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Penn.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Penn drives through with a takedown into guard.
Penn is breathing heavily.
Nicks looking to hit a scissor sweep but Penn is one step ahead there.
Nicks wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Penn wants to control from the top but Nicks keeps moving.
Nicks wants to sweep but no luck.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

BJ Penn has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Nicks misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nicks circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nicks dives in and grabs Penn's left leg, looking for a takedown. Penn pushes down on Nicks's head and hops out.
Nicks shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Penn as he jumps to the side.
Penn misses with a double jab.
Nicks shoots in for a takedown but Penn shows good takedown defense.
Nicks shoots and misses
and Penn counters with a nice low kick that buckles Nicks's knee momentarily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Penn shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Nicks napping and manages to drive through into side control!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nicks looks to move to half guard but instead Penn has passed into mount! Damn!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Penn tries to clinch but Nicks moves away

and Nicks moves into the clinch.

Nicks successfully pulls guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Nicks can do anything to dispel that myth.

Nicks working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Penn doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Penn manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Penn drops back looking for a leg! Nicks is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Nicks manages to kick Penn off! Penn jumps back into Nicks's guard.

Penn stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Nicks darts in and clinches Penn up against the cage.
Nicks taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicks misses with some punches.
Penn tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Penn gets underhooks to prevent Nicks's takedown attempt.
Penn wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Nicks has him pressed against the cage.

Penn breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Nicks misses with a double jab.

Penn moves into the clinch successfully.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Penn.
Nicks is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Penn is defending well.
Nicks is breathing heavily.
Penn is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Nicks drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
BJ Penn has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hakeem Nicks.

Penn escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nicks will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Penn clinches up with Nicks and pushes him back against the cage.
Nicks is pressed up against the cage. Penn has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Nicks down to the mat. Nicks avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Sloppy strikes from Penn. Those never looked like landing.
Nicks throws a head kick but Penn moves out of range.
Penn shoots in but no luck this time.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
No joy there for Penn, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Nicks doesn't manage to clinch there - Penn circles away.

Penn darts in and clinches Nicks up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Penn gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.

Nicks throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Penn got a little sloppy there for a moment and Nicks has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Penn has managed to get both his arms back between Nicks's legs - danger averted.
Penn trying to control the position from guard on top but Nicks is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Penn not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Penn with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Nicks has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Penn can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Hakeem Nicks has got the better of the ground game so far.
Penn is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Nicks looking to hit a scissor sweep but Penn is one step ahead there.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Nicks pushes Penn off and gets back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

BJ Penn dominated that second round.
That's time! Penn's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Penn tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nicks stuffs the takedown attempt from Penn. Penn gets slowly back to his feet.

Nicks feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Nicks stops Penn from standing up.
Penn is striking off his back. Nicks thinks nothing of it though and passes easily into half guard.
Nicks is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Penn is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Penn is defending against the submission attempts here by Nicks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn is trying to control but can't.
Penn wants to get back to full guard.
Nicks not doing much here.
Penn has hold of Nicks's hands but Nicks slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nicks stops Penn from getting back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nicks working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Penn is looking for a sweep. Nicks is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Penn is looking to control Nicks's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Penn avoid being mounted?
Nicks content to control rather than advance.

Nicks decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicks throws a leg kick
and Penn counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Nicks is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Nicks tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Penn paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Horrible takedown by Penn or perhaps it was just good defense by Nicks which made him look bad.

Nicks scores with a takedown into Penn's guard.
Penn wants to sweep but no luck.
Nicks working some strikes from top position.

Penn looking for a guillotine here but Nicks defends easily.
Nicks is stalling in the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nicks content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Nicks not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nicks is looking to pass into half guard but Penn pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Penn is in guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hakeem Nicks comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Nicks 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hakeem Nicks!
Hakeem Nicks got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'