PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Learned Astronomer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tam Zeus (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zeus has chosen Open Road as his entrance music. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Astronomer
vs
Zeus

189 cm
28
188 lbs
11 - 8 - 1

178 cm
33
199 lbs
20 - 10 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

BJJ Red Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 11 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Learned Astronomer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 10 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Tam Zeus!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Paul Aken and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zeus misses with a double jab
and Astronomer counters with a nice body shot.
Zeus takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Zeus connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Zeus cracks Astronomer with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Astronomer displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Zeus.
Astronomer definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Zeus has a takedown stuffed.
Astronomer connects with a single shot there.
Learned Astronomer is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Astronomer lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Zeus at a distance.
Nice shot lands for Astronomer.
Zeus darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Astronomer wants to slow Zeus down by chopping away at his legs.
Astronomer blocks a jab.
An inside leg kick from Astronomer misses.
Zeus closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Zeus fails with a takedown attempt.
Learned Astronomer has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tam Zeus.
Astronomer throws a poor cross that misses

and Zeus counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Astronomer is trying to get back to full guard.
Astronomer blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zeus.
Astronomer is trying to get back to full guard.
Astronomer won't allow Zeus to pass to mount.
Zeus is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Zeus tries to pass to full mount but Astronomer defends it.
Zeus wants to control but Astronomer is keeping him busy.
Zeus is thwarting Astronomer's attempts to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zeus is stalling here. Astronomer is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Zeus seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Astronomer has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Zeus struggling a bit here.
Zeus tries to bench press Astronomer off him but Astronomer keeps the position.
Zeus gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Zeus moves into full guard.
Zeus keeping full guard, as Astronomer tries to pass.
Astronomer has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Zeus has control of Astronomer's left arm, preventing Astronomer from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zeus has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Astronomer can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Zeus keeping moving, preventing Astronomer from controlling successfully.

Zeus is looking for a triangle but Astronomer pushes his legs off easily.

Zeus throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Astronomer looking to pass the guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zeus is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tam Zeus dominated that round.
That's time! Astronomer's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Astronomer throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Zeus misses with a body shot.
Zeus walks into a straight right hand from Astronomer.
Astronomer throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Astronomer shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Zeus lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Zeus on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Astronomer. Astronomer obviously looking to wear him down.
Zeus lands a lovely overhand right.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zeus on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Good standup being displayed there by Astronomer as he connects with a hook.
Zeus misses with a looping left.
Astronomer misses the jab.
Astronomer displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Zeus throws out the jab.
Zeus rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Astronomer counters with a nice low kick that buckles Zeus's knee momentarily.
Astronomer is looking to chop away at Zeus's legs.
Zeus misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Astronomer makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Zeus getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Astronomer slips under a jab from Zeus.
Nice body kick there by Astronomer.
Zeus throws an overhand right that lands on Astronomer's shoulder, as Astronomer tries to avoid the shot.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Astronomer lands with a good body shot.
Astronomer lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Astronomer swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Astronomer lands a head kick!
Zeus throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zeus on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Zeus throws a looping overhand right but Astronomer ducks down to avoid it.
Zeus walks into a jab.
Zeus misses the jab.
Good leg kick by Astronomer there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Astronomer misses with a body kick.
Astronomer tries to land a front kick but Zeus steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Zeus takes a jab right on the kisser.
Zeus might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zeus throws out a loose jab but Astronomer uses good head movement to avoid it.
Zeus fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Good shot there by Astronomer.
Zeus tries to bum rush Astronomer with a series of wild strikes but Astronomer uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Astronomer is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
The fighters circling - Zeus throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Astronomer feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Zeuss jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Astronomer looks for the body kick but Zeus saw that one coming.
Zeus misses with a hook.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Learned Astronomer dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Astronomer throws the left hand but Zeus avoids the punch easily.
Zeus feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Astronomers jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Learned Astronomer is winning the standup battle so far.
Astronomer sizes up Zeus with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Astronomer tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Astronomer. Zeus shrugs it off though.
Astronomer is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Astronomer thows a body kick. Zeus tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Astronomer uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Zeus.
Nice defenses there by Astronomer.
Zeus lands with a right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zeus cracks Astronomer with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Zeus on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Zeus throws a jab but it's blocked by Astronomer.
Astronomer scores with a nice body kick.
Astronomer lands with an uppercut that bounces Zeus off the cage and back into range.
Astronomer stuffs the takedown.
Donk. Zeus catches Astronomer right on the button with a cross.

Zeus 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Astronomer wants to sweep but no luck.
Astronomer will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Astronomer is working hard here to advance position.
Astronomer is controlling Zeus's posture.
Zeus scoring with punches to the head and body.
Astronomer looking for a sweep. Not yet Astronomer, not yet.
Zeus trying to control the position from guard on top but Astronomer is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zeus pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Astronomer is keeping the position for now.
Tam Zeus has got the better of the ground game so far.
Astronomer looking to hit a scissor sweep but Zeus is one step ahead there.
Zeus stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Astronomer swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Zeus trying to control but Astronomer is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zeus throws a big right hand that misses.
Zeus in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zeus trying to control but Astronomer is working from the bottom.
Zeus pushing down on Astronomer's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Astronomer blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zeus.

Zeus is working for a kimura but Astronomer is defending it quite comfortably.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Astronomer avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Zeus.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tam Zeus comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Zeus 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 28:29
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 28:29

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