PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Henrik Sjovall (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cashel Clayton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Clayton has chosen Thunderstruck as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Cashel Clayton has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sjovall
vs
Clayton

182 cm
23
194 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

190 cm
19
185 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Elite Canadian Threads

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 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Henrik Sjovall!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Cashel Clayton!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Robert Douchet and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Clayton gets tackled into the cage by Sjovall. Sjovall maintains the clinch.
Still in the clinch, Sjovall scores with a nice short uppercut.
Clayton takes a shot to the head.
Clayton prevents a body shot from Sjovall.
Clayton is struggling to control the position.
Clayton is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sjovall is defending well for now.
Sjovall has a couple of punches blocked by Clayton.
Clayton is trying to force a seperation but Sjovall has the dominant position.
Sjovall manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

Clayton breaks the clinch.
Clayton shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Sjovall eats them both and turns towards Clayton to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Clayton throws a nice looking combination but Sjovall bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sjovall throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Clayton's waist but Clayton gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sjovall off to one side.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clayton throws a head kick that misses.
Sjovall wants to clinch but Clayton slips to the side
and Clayton counters with a nice low kick that buckles Sjovall's knee momentarily.
Clayton throws a hook but Sjovall avoids it easily.
Henrik Sjovall seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sjovall will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Clayton keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Sjovall.
Sjovall tries to clinch but Clayton is having none of it.
Clayton bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Clayton takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Clayton throws a half hearted mid kick.
Sjovall is looking to clinch.
Sjovall tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Clayton counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Sjovall looks to score with a jab to the body but Clayton is just out of range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sjovall uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Clayton.

Sjovall closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sjovall lands in his opponent's guard.

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.
Clayton working a defensive guard here.
Sjovall advances to half guard.
Clayton is in trouble now - Sjovall has advanced to mount!

Sjovall is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Clayton is surviving well by controlling Sjovall's body position as best he can.
Clayton regains half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Clayton manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Sjovall tries to free his leg and advance position but Clayton is retaining full guard.
Clayton not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Sjovall trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sjovall drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Clayton dives on top into guard.
Sjovall keeping moving, preventing Clayton from controlling successfully.

Sjovall looking for a guillotine here but Clayton defends easily.
Sjovall wants to sweep here but Clayton controlling him for the moment.

Clayton avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Clayton wants to get up but he can't break Sjovall's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Sjovall throws his legs up looking for a submission but Clayton uses it to pass to side control.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Clayton is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Sjovall is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Sjovall wants to control but Clayton postures up.
Sjovall manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Sjovall tries to roll over but Clayton keeps him under control.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Clayton is thwarting Sjovall's attempts to control the position.
Clayton prevents Sjovall from improving his position.
Clayton wants to control but Sjovall is keeping him busy.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Sjovall is looking for a sweep. Clayton is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Sjovall trying to control from the bottom.
Sjovall taking some punishment here, with Clayton in his half guard.

Sjovall is defending against the submission attempts here by Clayton.
Clayton trying to mount his opponent but Sjovall defends it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Cashel Clayton will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

The fight stays on the outside here - Sjovall looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Clayton stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Sjovall shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Clayton sprawls well. Clayton wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Sjovall gets slowly back to his feet.
Sjovall looks to land a left hand but Clayton moved out of range nicely.
Sjovall walks into a jab.
Sjovall tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Clayton paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Nice jab there from Clayton.
Clayton throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sjovall.
Sjovall tries to clinch there but Clayton circles away.
Cashel Clayton is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sjovall is looking to clinch but Clayton is avoiding it.
Clayton throws a sloppy head kick and Sjovall moves out of range easily.
Sjovall tries to close the distance and clinch up but Clayton swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's one minute gone in the round.
No luck for Sjovall with that takedown attempt.
Clayton scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Clayton misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sjovall looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sjovall tries to clinch but Clayton is having none of it.
Sjovall tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Clayton counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Sjovall darts in trying to clinch
and Clayton counters with a head kick.
Sjovall closes the distance looking to clinch
and Clayton counters with a nice kick to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clayton tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Sjovall wants to clinch
and Clayton counters with a nice kick to the body.
Sjovall shoots in looking for a takedown but Clayton manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Sjovall's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Henrik Sjovall. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Clayton keeps the fight on the outside.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Clayton throws a series of punches but Sjovall avoids them all with ease.
Sjovall wants to clinch.
Sjovall tries to clinch but Clayton moves out of range.
Clayton leaves Sjovall with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Sjovall tries to close the distance and clinch up but Clayton swats him away and circles back towards the center.
No luck for Sjovall with that takedown attempt.
Clayton slips a jab from Sjovall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clayton closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Clayton misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sjovall is looking to clinch.
Clayton misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Sjovall pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Sjovall is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Sjovall tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Clayton manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sjovall.
Sjovall works to advance to full mount. Clayton defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Clayton wants to hold on but Sjovall pushes him away.

Sjovall looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sjovall putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sjovall throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Clayton is controlling an arm, preventing Sjovall from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Sjovall has control of Clayton's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Clayton regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Clayton sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Sjovall is pressing down on Clayton's thigh, looking to free his foot. Clayton is holding on for now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Clayton looking for submissions off his back.
Sjovall throwing shots but Clayton is blocking nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Henrik Sjovall will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Sjovall fails with a takedown attempt.
A head kick misses from Clayton.
Clayton walks into a jab.
Sjovall fails with an attempt to clinch.
Sjovall tries to clinch up but Clayton circles away and keeps his distance.
Sjovall looks to throw the jab but Clayton is out of range.
Clayton misses with a few strikes there.
Clayton dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Sjovall dives in and scores a takedown into Clayton's guard.

Sjovall avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Sjovall tries to free his leg and advance position but Clayton is retaining full guard.
Clayton trying to keep a closed guard but Sjovall is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sjovall drops back, looking for a kneebar! Clayton looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Clayton looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Clayton!

Clayton wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Sjovall, who protects the arm well.
Clayton advances to full mount.
Sjovall is trying desperately to improve position.
Clayton wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
Sjovall keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sjovall sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Sjovall is looking for a sweep. Clayton is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sjovall is refusing to be controlled, as Clayton sits in half guard.
Sjovall tries to roll over but Clayton keeps him under control.
Clayton trying to control from half guard but Sjovall is working away.
Sjovall is looking for a sweep. Clayton is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Clayton stalling.
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!

OK we're going to have a standup here. Cashel Clayton hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Sjovall is looking to clinch but Clayton is avoiding it.
Clayton jabs Sjovall to the body, keeping him at a distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clayton throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Sjovall tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Clayton counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Sjovall lands with an overhand left.
Clayton cracks the inside of Sjovall's front leg.
Sjovall swings widly with a right hand
and Clayton counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Sjovall closes the distance looking to clinch
and Clayton counters with a body kick.
Clayton connects with a high kick.
Clayton cracks a nice hook into Sjovall's ribs.
Sjovall tries to clinch but Clayton is having none of it.
Sjovall wants to clinch
and Clayton counters with a slapping leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clayton throws a sloppy head kick and Sjovall moves out of range 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!
Clayton throws a sloppy head kick and Sjovall moves out of range easily.
The fighters circling - Clayton throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Clayton throws a series of strikes that have Sjovall backpedaling.
Cashel Clayton seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A punch combination from Clayton misses.
Clayton lands a nice looking body shot.
Sjovall shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Clayton defends it nicely.
Sjovall wants to clinch up but Clayton keeps it at a distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sjovall closes this distance looking for a takedown but Clayton circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Henrik Sjovall. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sjovall tries to clinch up
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cashel Clayton comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Clayton 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 28:30
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cashel Clayton!
Cashel Clayton decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.