PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Igor Rumble (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumble comes to the cage accompanied by J'ai Osé - Keny Arkana. Howard is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Manafest - Fire In The Kitchen. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Rumble
vs
Howard

199 cm
27
218 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

185 cm
38
221 lbs
31 - 17 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Igor Rumble!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, John Howard!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard tries to bum rush Rumble with a series of wild strikes but Rumble uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Howard tries to clinch but Rumble is having none of it.
Rumble uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Howard.
Howard displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Rumble takes one to the side of the head.
Rumble throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Howard's waist but Howard gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Rumble off to one side.
Rumble tries for a takedown but Howard sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Howard clinches with his opponent.
Rumble wants to take the fight to the mat but Howard manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Igor Rumble. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Howard gets underhooks to prevent Rumble's takedown attempt.
Rumble wants a takedown.

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

The fight moves into the clinch position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rumble blocks the elbow strike.

Rumble turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Rumble manages to end up in side control.
Rumble will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Howard is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Rumble has just dragged him back down to the mat.

Rumble thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Rumble scoring with punches from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard taking a bit of punishment here - Rumble scoring with strikes.
Rumble has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

Rumble tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Howard wants to get back to his feet.

Rumble working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Howard is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Rumble is controlling him well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Howard bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Rumble keeps the fight on the outside.
John Howard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Howard tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rumble paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Rumble misses with a takedown attempt - Howard sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Howard tries to bum rush Rumble with a series of wild strikes but Rumble uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Howard throws a head kick but Rumble moves out of range.
Rumble shoots in for a takedown but Howard shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Howard misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rumble shoots for a takedown but Howard saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Rumble shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Howard pinned against the cage. Howard gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rumble shoots in for a takedown but Howard shows good takedown defense.
Horrible takedown by Rumble or perhaps it was just good defense by Howard which made him look bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Howard misses with a wild combination.
Howard fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Howard looks to land a right hand but Rumble moved out of range.
Rumble takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Howard has worked on his takedown defense in the runup to this fight and it is paying off so far.
Howard moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.

Rumble 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.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Howard has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rumble off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Howard stuffs the takedown.
Rumble is breathing heavily.
Rumble tries to score a power double leg takedown but Howard sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Rumble somewhat.
Howard misses with a two punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Howard lands a left and a right that sends Rumble crashing to the canvas! Howard dives into mount looking to finish!

Rumble is rocked!

Howard is standing up, even though he is in mount.
Oh Rumble is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Howard with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Howard throws a right and a left that both miss.

Rumble tries to keep at a distance but Howard has taken the fight into the clinch.
Howard scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Howard pushes Rumble against the cage. Howard is working some dirty boxing. Howard pushes off with a quick right hook! Rumble goes down! Rumble tries to stand but stumbles back to his kness! Howard moves in to finish and the ref steps in to prevent any more damage!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:24 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Howard!
John Howard really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Sex Panther! (160q recovery $149) logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.