PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Yong Travis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Heavy Hitter (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Travis
vs
Hitter

196 cm
24
279 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
255 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Likes musicals

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Yong Travis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Heavy Hitter!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Ben Hemmingworth and Ben Watson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hitter lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Travis circles away quickly and effectively.
Hitter is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Travis defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Hitter.

Hitter closes the distance and clinches.
Travis tries for a takedown but Hitter manages to get underhooks.
Hitter is trying to break free.

Travis pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Hitter with a poor takedown
and Travis counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Travis fails in his attempt to clinch.
Hitter looks for the body kick but Travis saw that one coming.
Travis stuffs the takedown.
Yong Travis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Heavy Hitter.
Hitter looks for a takedown but Travis sprawls well.
Hitter misses with a double jab.
Heavy Hitter seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hitter gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Travis works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Hitter leaning against his opponent.
Hitter wants to take the fight to the mat but Travis manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

Travis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Horrible takedown by Hitter or perhaps it was just good defense by Travis which made him look bad.
Travis shoots in and drives through. Hitter sprawls well.

Hitter moves into range and clinches up with Travis.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Travis changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Hitter fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Hitter with a lazy takedown attempt
and Travis connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Travis fails with the takedown.
Hitter will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hitter throws a body punch but Travis moves out of range.
Hitter with a lazy takedown attempt
and Travis counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hitter tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Travis swivels and escapes.
Hitter looks winded!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hitter looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Travis tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Hitter shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Travis but Travis pushes him off and we're back to square one.
No luck for Hitter with that takedown attempt.

Hitter closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

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

Hitter clinches with his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hitter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hitter tries to land knees in the clinch but Travis avoids the damage to the body.
Hitter is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Travis to keep the fight standing.

Travis breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hitter fails with the takedown
and Travis counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Travis dives in for a single leg takedown but Hitter sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Travis tries to pull guard but Hitter won't allow it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Travis works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Travis has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Hitter is proving hard to escape from.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Yong Travis will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

No luck for Hitter with that takedown attempt.

Hitter gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Travis drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Hitter gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Hitter jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Travis walks away with a smile on his face. Hitter gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Hitter has his takedown stuffed
and Travis counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hitter is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Yong Travis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Heavy Hitter.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hitter fails to land the takedown.
Hitter thows a leg kick but Travis checks it
and Travis counters with a head kick.
Yong Travis is winning the standup battle so far.
Hitter shoots and misses
and Travis counters with an outside leg kick.
Hitter is breathing heavily.
Hitter checks the leg kick.
Travis shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Hitter as he jumps to the side.
Hitter with a poor takedown
and Travis counters with a body kick.

Travis closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Hitter did well to prevent Travis getting side control.
Travis scoring with strikes to the body and head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Travis seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Travis 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Travis lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Travis takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Hitter has hold of Travis's hands but Travis slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Hitter missing with punches from the bottom.
Travis throwing shots but Hitter is blocking nicely.
Travis thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Hitter's head.
Travis not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Hitter is trying to get back to full guard.
Hitter blocking the ground and pound attempt from Travis.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Travis wants to stand but his hand is trapped. Hitter uses the opportunity to regain full guard.
Hitter is trying to control the position but Travis postures up.
Travis is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Hitter is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Travis got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hitter has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Travis has managed to get both his arms back between Hitter's legs - danger averted.
Travis is in close to Hitter's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hitter looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Hitter is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Travis presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Travis throws an elbow that misses.
Hitter fails to pull guard.

Travis pulls guard successfully.
Hitter must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Travis seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Travis wants to stand but Hitter is controlling the position.
Travis wants to sweep here but Hitter controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yong Travis dominated that second round.
That's time! Travis's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Travis closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Travis lands in his opponent's guard.

Hitter manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Hitter tries a head kick but it misses.

Travis clinches up with Hitter and pushes him back against the cage.
Hitter fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Travis successfully pulls guard.
Travis is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Travis controls Hitter momentarily but Hitter frees himself.
Hitter wants to get up but he can't break Travis's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Hitter takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hitter being controlled here momentarily.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Travis looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hitter is one step ahead there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Travis is looking to stand up but Hitter isn't so interested in that idea.
Yong Travis overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Yong Travis wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Hitter feints a jab promting Travis to slip. Hitter then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Travis slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

It looks like Yong Travis has been cut.
Hitter fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Travis could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Travis will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hitter closes the distance and clinches up with Travis, looking for a takedown. Hitter pushes Travis against the cage but Travis circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Yong Travis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Heavy Hitter.

Travis gets tackled into the cage by Hitter. Hitter maintains the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Travis breaks from the clinch.

Travis tries to keep at a distance but Hitter has taken the fight into the clinch.

Travis ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Travis no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Hitter throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Travis might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Travis controlling the position.
Hitter with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hitter wants to pass the guard but Travis is keeping the position.
Travis is pulling down on Hitter's head to control his posture.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Travis manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hitter manages to get himself to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Travis tries to stand but Hitter is controlling from the bottom.
Travis lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Travis decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Hitter, up you get!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Hitter fails with a takedown attempt.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hitter with a lazy takedown attempt
and Travis counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Heavy Hitter has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Yong Travis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Hitter clinches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yong Travis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Travis, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yong Travis!