PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mikael Samoth (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hunter Hearst Hogan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Samoth comes to the cage accompanied by Judas Priest - Painkiller. Hogan has chosen The Game as his entrance music. Mikael Samoth has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Samoth
vs
Hearst Hogan

192 cm
38
278 lbs
28 - 13 - 1

172 cm
32
215 lbs
22 - 16 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 28 - 13 - 1, fighting out of London, Mikael Samoth!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 16 - 0, fighting out of London, Hunter Hearst Hogan!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Chris Edwards and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hogan lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Hogan throws an overhand right that lands on Samoth's shoulder, as Samoth tries to avoid the shot.
Hogan swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hogan scores with a jab to the head.
Samoth takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Hogan on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Samoth is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Samoth throws the left hand but Hogan avoids the punch easily.
Samoth stuffs the takedown attempt from Hogan. Hogan gets slowly back to his feet.
Hogan attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Hogan uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Samoth has time to react.
Hogan throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Hogan throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Samoth counters with a one-two to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Samoth scores with a shot to the body.
Hogan swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hogan shoots in looking for a takedown but Samoth manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Hogan's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Samoth takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Hunter Hearst Hogan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Samoth on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Hogan. Hogan obviously looking to wear him down.

Samoth closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Hogan's guard.
Hogan is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
We've been hearing good reports from Samoth's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Samoth forces his way into half guard.
Hogan wants to get back to full guard.
Hogan is concentrating on defense, preventing Samoth from advancing position.
Hogan is looking to control Samoth's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Hogan avoid being mounted?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Samoth is looking to advance position but Hogan won't allow it.
Hogan is looking for a sweep. Samoth is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hogan is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Samoth's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Samoth's back!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Samoth is trying to stand back up.
Hogan somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
Hogan misses with an elbow to the head.
Hogan misses with a punch to the head.

Hogan is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Samoth has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Hogan looking to soften up his opponent with punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hogan is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Samoth has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Hogan softening up his opponent with strikes here.
You can see the frustration on Samoth's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Samoth manages to escape to a better position under a series of strikes. Hogan is now in side control.
Samoth is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Hogan is controlling him well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hogan throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Hogan cracks Samoth with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Hogan looking to control but instead Samoth has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
My spies in London MMA Club inform me that Hogan has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Hogan thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Samoth's head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hogan sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Samoth defending well though.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hogan thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Samoth's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hunter Hearst Hogan dominated that round.
That's time! Samoth's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Hogan swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hogan throws a low kick but Samoth moves out of range easily.
Hogan tests Samoth's chin there with a solid looking shot.
A low kick from Samoth is predictable there
and Hogan counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Hogan throws a looping overhand right but Samoth ducks down to avoid it.
Samoth lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Hogan uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Samoth.
Samoth looks to land a left hand but Hogan moved out of range nicely.

Hogan shoots in and gets a takedown into Samoth's guard.
Hogan with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hogan throws an elbow that misses. Samoth uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Hogan's guard. Nice move by Samoth!
Samoth sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Hogan's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Samoth with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hogan is trying to get back to full guard.
Samoth is looking to take a break and control but Hogan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hogan is concentrating on defense, preventing Samoth from advancing position.
Hogan is looking for a sweep. Samoth is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Samoth trying to control the action but Hogan is working from the bottom.

Mikael Samoth has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Hogan misses with an uppercut. Samoth saw that one coming.
Hogan throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samoth dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Hogan.
Samoth is trying hard to land a takedown here. Hogan sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Hogan throws a sloppy head kick and Samoth moves out of range easily.
Samoth throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A big right from Hogan misses.
Hogan throws an off balance right hand
and Samoth counters with a straight right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Samoth lands a head shot.
Hogan is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A shot to the liver by Samoth. Beautiful body shot.

Hogan fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Samoth sprawls well initially but Hogan persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Samoth is trying to stand up here but Hogan is controlling him well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samoth is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Samoth is working hard here to advance position.
Hogan missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Hogan trying to pass the guard but Samoth defending well.
Hunter Hearst Hogan has got the better of the ground game so far.
Hogan is nestled in close to Samoth, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hogan wants to lay and pray for a moment but Samoth keeps working.

Hogan is working for a submission of some sort.
Samoth trying to control here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Samoth blocking the ground and pound attempt from Hogan.
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 Mikael Samoth will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Hogan looks for a takedown but Samoth sprawls well.
Hogan circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hogan tries to clinch there but Samoth circles away.
Samoth doesn't manage to clinch there - Hogan circles away.
Samoth uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hogan.
Hogan looks to land a left hand but Samoth moved out of range nicely.
Hogan lands with a thumping leg kick.
Hogan is looking to score with low kicks.
Samoth wants to clinch.

Hogan looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Samoth preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hogan not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Samoth is looking to escape.
Hogan wants to take a breather but Samoth is having none of it.
Hogan stalling away here and it's allowed Samoth to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Samoth keeping moving, preventing Hogan from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hogan throwing strikes from guard but Samoth blocks nicely.
Samoth working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Hogan.
Hogan looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Hogan trying to control but Samoth is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Hunter Hearst Hogan wasn't active enough on the ground.
Samoth uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hogan.

Samoth drives through and clinches with Hogan against the cage.
Hogan blocks an elbow strike from Samoth.
Samoth tries to throw a body punch but Hogan avoids it by throwing Samoth back against the cage.
Samoth prevents a takedown attempt there.
A hook to the body from Samoth.
Samoth lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Hogan misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Samoth.

Hogan has hold of one of Samoth's legs. Samoth is fighting the takedown attempt but Hogan gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samoth has control of Hogan's left arm, preventing Hogan from doing any damage.
Hogan looking to sit in guard and control but Samoth gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Samoth trying to control the position from guard on top but Hogan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hogan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hogan is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hogan thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Hogan seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Samoth does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hunter Hearst Hogan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Hogan 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hunter Hearst Hogan!
A relieved looking Hunter Hearst Hogan thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.