PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Van Damme (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Barney Haze (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Barney Haze enters the cage!

Damme
vs
Haze

187 cm
20
193 lbs
0 - 1 - 1

178 cm
18
183 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

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 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Van Damme!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Barney Haze!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Steve Erwin and Bruno Hogan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Haze closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Haze looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Haze has Damme pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Damme manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Haze wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Haze looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Damme landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Damme tries to work over Haze's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Damme landing knees to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Damme unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Damme connects with a nasty looking knee right to Haze's face.

It looks like Barney Haze has been cut.
Damme tries a body shot but Haze blocks it.
Damme can't find room to land a body shot as Haze controls the action.
Damme crunches a lovely knee into Haze's ribcage.
Knees to the body from Damme.
Damme is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
I was talking to Damme's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Damme scores a nice knee to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Damme obliges.
Damme is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Damme unloads a knee to the mid-section. Haze lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damme just leaning against Haze, taking a breather.

Damme manages to break the clinch.

Damme closes the distance and clinches.
Damme lands an elbow inside.
Damme crunches a lovely knee into Haze's ribcage.
Haze takes a knee right on the jaw!
Knees in the clinch landing for Damme.
Damme lands a knee to the body.
Haze blocks an uppercut.
Damme lands a shoulder strike.
Damme displaying some good clinch control by pressing Haze up against the cage.
Damme struggles to land a body shot inside as Haze controls his hands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damme lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Damme tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Damme unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Damme slowing the pace effectively.
Damme lands a right hand.
Damme stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Damme lands an elbow inside that Haze shrugs off.
Damme tries to throw a body punch but Haze avoids it by throwing Damme back against the cage.

Damme manages to break the clinch.
Damme will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Damme.

Damme pushes Haze up against the cage in a clinch.
Damme is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Damme has managed to clinch.
Good body shot from Damme.
Damme misses with some punches.
Damme manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Damme landing knees to the head.
Haze is trying to push Damme away but Damme has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Damme misses with an elbow strike.
Haze tries to break the clinch but Damme is controlling the position.
Damme lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Haze backwards.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Haze gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Damme working aggressively here.
Damme misses with the head strike.
Damme lands a nice knee to the body.
Damme using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Damme slows down the pace here.
Damme misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Haze.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Haze tries for a takedown. No joy.
Damme stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Damme scores with a knee to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Van Damme dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Barney Haze's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Damme tries to close the distance and clinch but Haze swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Damme drives through and clinches with Haze against the cage.
Haze drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Damme lands a good knee to the midsection. Haze won't want to take too many of those.
Damme with a knee to the head.
Damme goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Damme lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Damme tries to work over Haze's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Damme scores with a shoulder strike.
Damme landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Damme doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Haze is breathing heavily.
Damme misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Haze blocking some punches.
Haze being controlled against the cage.
Haze takes an elbow to the temple.
Damme fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Haze takes a knee right on the jaw!
Van Damme has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Damme working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Damme utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Damme landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Damme landing some nice looking knees to the body.
A knee to the head by Damme.
Damme lands a nice elbow.
Damme is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Haze can do to turn this around?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A knee to the head by Damme.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Damme obliges.
Haze blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Damme using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Haze looking to slow down the pace here.
Haze goes for a takedown attempt but Damme pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Haze.
Van Damme has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Barney Haze.

Damme moves into the clinch successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Damme's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Damme tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Haze paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Damme is looking to clinch.
Damme tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nice takedown defense from Damme. No joy for Haze on that attempt.

Damme gets a clinch.
Damme misses with a short punch on the inside.
Damme with a knee to the head.
Damme with a knee to the head.
Damme lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Haze can't break the clinch.
Damme slows down the pace here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damme misses with a punch to the body.
Damme fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Damme pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Damme displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Haze.
Damme tries to clinch but Haze is having none of it.
Haze swats away the attempt to clinch by Damme.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Damme forces Haze back against the cage and clinches.
Damme misses with a hook from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Van Damme dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Barney Haze's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Damme stuffs the takedown attempt from Haze. Haze gets slowly back to his feet.
Damme tries to clinch up but Haze circles away and keeps his distance.

Damme pushes Haze up against the cage in a clinch.
Damme stalls.
Damme scores a nice knee to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Damme obliges.
Damme lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Damme misses with a body punch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Damme.
Damme lands with a right to the head.
Damme misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees in the clinch landing for Damme.
Damme lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Haze backwards.
Haze is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Damme to keep the fight standing.

Damme breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Damme is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Damme tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Damme tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Haze paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Damme moves into the clinch successfully.
A short right from Damme on the inside.
A knee to the head by Damme.
Damme stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damme lands a shoulder strike.
Damme putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Haze in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Damme tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Haze's elbow.

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

Damme closes the distance and clinches.
Damme goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Knees to the body from Damme.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Damme lands a nice knee to the body.
Damme scores with a knee to the head.
Damme tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Haze's elbow.
Damme pushes off an throws an elbow but Haze leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Damme is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Haze takes an elbow to the temple.
Damme looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Haze tries to land knees in the clinch but Damme avoids the damage to the body.
Damme scores with a knee to the head.
Haze avoiding damage as Damme throws knees to the body.
Damme landing knees to the body.
Haze trying to land knees to the body.
Damme just leaning against Haze, taking a breather.
Haze blocks an elbow strike.

Damme manages to break the clinch.

Haze pushes Damme up against the cage in a clinch.
Damme creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Damme lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haze blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Damme misses with a hook to the ribs.
Damme misses with a punch to the body.
Damme swings away with an uppercut that misses.
The referee is keeping an eye on Damme - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Haze changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Damme fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Van Damme has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Barney Haze.

Haze gets tackled into the cage by Damme. Damme maintains the clinch.
Barney Haze has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Damme lands a damaging elbow.
Van Damme is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Damme lands a right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Van Damme showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Damme 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Van Damme!