PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Toby Young (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and BJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Young
vs
Penn

200 cm
26
180 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

175 cm
25
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Toby Young!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, BJ Penn!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Jeff Smith and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Penn chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Young can pounce on him.
Young circles away from the clinch attempt

and Young holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Penn is trying to break the clinch but Young has him pressed against the cage.
Young scores a nice knee to the body.
Young slows down the pace here.
Young has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Penn after a bit of a struggle.
Young lands an elbow just above Penn 's eye.

Young decides to pull guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Young keeping moving, preventing Penn from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn tries to stand but Young is controlling from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Penn accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Young wants to stand and escape but Penn is having none of it.
Penn 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.
Penn throws an elbow that misses. Young uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Penn's guard. Nice move by Young!

Young gets to his feet - Penn follows without any prompting.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Penn wants to clinch up but Young keeps it at a distance.

Penn tries to keep at a distance but Young has taken the fight into the clinch.
Penn is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Young successfully pulls guard.

Young pushes Penn off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Penn fails with a takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Penn.
Toby Young has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of BJ Penn.
Penn wants to clinch but Young slips to the side
letting Young counter with a right hand.
Penn changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Young tries to avoid it but Penn manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Young to the ground. Young escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Penn moves to clinch but Young breaks away
and Young counters with an inside leg kick.
Penn looks winded!
A head kick misses from Penn.
Penn throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Young gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Young pulls guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Young manages to escape and get back to his feet.
A nice leg kick lands there from Young.

Young rushes Penn and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Penn tries for a takedown. No joy.
Young has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Penn after a bit of a struggle.
Young working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Young breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Penn fails with a takedown attempt.

Young takes the fight into the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Toby Young dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Young circles away from the clinch attempt

and Young counters by clinching up.

Young escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Young looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Penn will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Young moves into range and clinches up with Penn.

Young pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Penn shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Young pinned against the cage. Young gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Young moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Young avoids it.
Young scores with a shoulder strike.
Young landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Penn gets underhooks to prevent Young's takedown attempt.
Penn tries for a takedown. No joy.
Toby Young has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of BJ Penn.
Penn is breathing heavily.

Young successfully pulls guard.
Penn prevents Young from getting back to his feet.
Penn has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Young kicks Penn off and gets to his feet.

Young rushes Penn and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Young breaks from the clinch.
Penn tries for a takedown but Young sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Horrible takedown by Penn or perhaps it was just good defense by Young which made him look bad.
Penn throws a series of punches but Young moves out of range.

Young pushes Penn up against the cage in a clinch.

Young ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Young no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
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!

Young is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Young successfully pulls 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.
Penn throwing strikes but missing.
Young is looking to stand back up but Penn counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Young.
Penn missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Penn is looking to advance position but Young won't allow it.
Penn stops Young from getting back to his feet.
Young knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Penn on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Penn stalling away here and it's allowed Young to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

Young pushes Penn off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Young rushes Penn and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Penn misses with a takedown attempt - Young sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Penn shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Young defends it nicely.
Young really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Young circles away from the clinch attempt
and Young counters with a body kick that stops Penn in his tracks momentarily.
A head kick misses from Young.
Penn fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Toby Young has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of BJ Penn.

Young gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Penn takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Young stops a takedown attempt from Penn.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee is keeping an eye on Young - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Young lands a knee to the body.
Young keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Penn's efforts to push away.
Stalling in the clinch from Young.

Young breaks the clinch.

Young closes the distance and pushes Penn back into the cage.
Penn tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Young breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
BJ Penn seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Young has Penn up against the cage in a clinch.

Young jumps guard and drags Penn to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Young wriggles free and stands up.
Young shoots in looking for a takedown but Penn manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Young's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Young has managed to clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Young scores with a hook to the body.
Penn has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Young is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Young pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Young closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Young throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Young is pushing Penn up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Young pulls guard.
Penn not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Penn prevents Young from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Young is keeping the position for now.
Penn trying to control the position from guard on top but Young 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.

OK we're going to have a standup here. BJ Penn hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Young thumps Penn with a low kick.

Young closes the distance and pushes Penn back into the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Knees in the clinch landing for Young.
Young lands a knee to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Toby Young showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Young has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Roger Salmon scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Toby Young!