PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rolland French (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Talivaldis Vasaris (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rolland French has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

French
vs
Vasaris

191 cm
24
194 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

180 cm
22
175 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
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 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rolland French!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Talivaldis Vasaris!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Skip Squint and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

French has taken the fight to the clinch.

French jumps into guard, dragging Vasaris to the mat.
Vasaris in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Vasaris stops French from standing up.
French working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Vasaris.
Vasaris throwing strikes from guard but French blocks nicely.
Vasaris wants to control from the top but French keeps moving.
French bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Vasaris's guard.
French content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Vasaris looks winded!

French decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Vasaris, up you get!
Vasaris throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

and French counters with a takedown into side control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Vasaris tries to get back to half guard but can't.

French stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasaris throws a wild body kick that French sees coming a mile off.

Vasaris has French up against the cage in a clinch.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

French has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Vasaris clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Vasaris is trapped and French is scoring with shots to the head and body.
French is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
French connects with a big shot to the side of Vasaris's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
French lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Vasaris hold on?!
Vasaris covers up after that shot from French.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards French.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Can Vasaris hold on?! French is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
French is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
French has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
French lands with a hammerfist to the side of Vasaris's head.
French lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Vasaris hold on?!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Vasaris is trying to stand back up.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
French is landing with strikes. Vasaris can't take much more of this.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
French controlling from the back.
French scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
Vasaris is trying to remain composed but French is hammering down strikes to the side of his head.
Vasaris covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
French lands with a nice looking elbow that stuns Vasaris.
Vasaris covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vasaris is really stuck here.
French gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Can Vasaris hold on?! French is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
French is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards French.
French landing with strikes.
French keeps control of the position easily here as Vasaris tries to buck him off.
French softening up his opponent with strikes here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Vasaris covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rolland French dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

French clinches up with Vasaris and pushes him back against the cage.

Vasaris jumps guard and drags French to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
French lands a couple of decent looking shots.
French postures up and lands a big shot to Vasaris's brow.
French slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells French's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Vasaris is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and French dives into side control.
French working the head and body with strikes.
Vasaris is breathing heavily.
French lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Vasaris down.
Vasaris takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
French working the body and head with strikes.
French lands a nice forearm strike.
French cracks Vasaris with an elbow. That is naaassty.
French will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
French just content to control the position.
Vasaris is trying to work for a sweep but French has mounted him!
French moves to back control.
French is punishing Vasaris with strikes - can he finish him?!
French lands a shot to the body.
French slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
French has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
French is hanging on to Vasaris's back as he tries to escape.
French lands shots from the back.
French looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Vasaris is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
French lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
French lands with a hammerfist to the side of Vasaris's head.
French trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Vasaris doesn't escape.
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.
French seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Vasaris for as long as he can get away with.
Vasaris tries to roll but French sticks to his back.
French lands punches and elbows.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards French.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Rolland French overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Oooh a big shot gets through from French. Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
French connects with a big shot to the side of Vasaris's head.
French is punishing Vasaris with some ground and pound.
French cracks Vasaris with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Vasaris from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
French softening up his opponent with strikes here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
French is riding his opponent, not letting Vasaris buck him off.
Vasaris grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
French really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Vasaris.
Vasaris can't escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rolland French dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

French clinches up against the cage.
Vasaris misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from French.

French decides to pull guard.
Vasaris won't allow French to get back to his feet.
Vasaris in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
French is controlling Vasaris's posture.
French is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
French is figuring out what he wants to do next.
French lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Vasaris is trying to defend against the ground and pound but French scores with a couple of nice shots.
Vasaris takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
French is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Vasaris trying to get back to full guard but French takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
French controlling from the full mount.
Vasaris is working to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasaris takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
French lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Vasaris hang on?
French is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vasaris can do to turn this around?
French sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
French landing strikes from the mount and Vasaris is in trouble!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vasaris taking shots to the head.
French tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
French with good strikes from the mount here!
French lands a heavy elbow.
French controlling from mount.
Vasaris tries to reverse the position but French maintains control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
French controlling his opponent.
French's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Talivaldis Vasaris has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rolland French is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Vasaris is bucking up trying to escape but French cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rolland French showed his dominance in that final round.
Well French 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 Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rolland French!