PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Wayne Rutherford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Owen Sleater (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rutherford comes to the cage accompanied by All of the Lights - Kanye West. Owen Sleater will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Rutherford
vs
Sleater

164 cm
18
154 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
26
150 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Championship Clothing (SALE ON - $5 Clothing)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Wayne Rutherford!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Owen Sleater!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Anthony Taglia and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sleater tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Sleater lands a nice looking body kick.
Sleater cracks the inside of Rutherford's front leg.
Rutherford tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Sleater holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Sleater gets underhooks to prevent Rutherford's takedown attempt.
Rutherford fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Sleater breaks the clinch.

Sleater looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Sleater is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Sleater passes to full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rutherford is looking to get to half guard.
Sleater avoids the attempt from Rutherford to control.
Rutherford can't escape the position.
Sleater controlling from mount.
Rutherford prevents Sleater from taking his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rutherford is desperately trying to improve his position but Sleater has a good base and remains in mount.
Rutherford bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Sleater manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Rutherford is trying to escape the mount.
Sleater blocks Rutherford's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Rutherford really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Rutherford could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rutherford wants to hold on but Sleater pushes him away.
Rutherford keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Sleater landing strikes, looking to finish!

Sleater swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Rutherford is now in Sleater's guard. A big mistake from Sleater there, giving up the dominant position!
Sleater is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sleater controls Rutherford momentarily but Rutherford frees himself.
Rutherford wants to control from the top but Sleater keeps moving.

Sleater has his foot on Rutherford's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Rutherford works his way back into a safe position though.
Sleater is looking to stand up but Rutherford isn't so interested in that idea.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sleater 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.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sleater preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Owen Sleater dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Sleater thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Rutherford if he has to take too many more of those.
Sleater pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Sleater scores with a shot to the body.
Rutherford doesn't manage to clinch there - Sleater circles away.
Sleater circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sleater circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rutherford tries to clinch there but Sleater circles away.
Sleater tries a head kick but it misses.
Sleater lands with a slapping head kick.
Sleater connects with a high kick.

It looks like Wayne Rutherford has been cut.
Sleater throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sleater misses with a two punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sleater thows a body shot but no joy.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Sleater.
Owen Sleater is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rutherford takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Rutherford tries to close the distance and clinch but Sleater swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Rutherford fails in his attempt to clinch.
Owen Sleater is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sleater tries a head kick but it misses.
Rutherford dodges the punch combination from Sleater.
Rutherford tries to clinch but Sleater is having none of it.
Sleater throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Sleater looks to score with a jab to the body but Rutherford is just out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rutherford feints and as Sleater raises his hands in defense, Rutherford changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Rutherford sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Sleater's guard.
Rutherford throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Sleater to regain full guard.
Sleater can't keep his opponent in guard - Rutherford advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Sleater is staying active underneath Rutherford, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Sleater is in trouble now - Rutherford has advanced to mount!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rutherford misses with a head shot.
Rutherford misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Rutherford wants to control the pace but Sleater is squirming around nicely.
Sleater really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rutherford. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rutherford connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rutherford throwing strikes here but Sleater is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Sleater is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Rutherford 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.
Rutherford misses with some ground and pound and Sleater recovers position to half guard.
Rutherford throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Sleater tries to kick Rutherford off but Rutherford keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Sleater is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Rutherford throwing shots but Sleater is blocking nicely.
Sleater blocking the ground and pound attempt from Rutherford.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sleater avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rutherford.
Rutherford thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rutherford trying to mount his opponent but Sleater defends it.
Sleater is staying active underneath Rutherford, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Rutherford is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Sleater is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Rutherford not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rutherford throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Rutherford throwing shots but Sleater is blocking nicely.
Sleater is looking for a sweep. Rutherford is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rutherford seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
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!
Sleater trying to control but Rutherford postures up.
Sleater controlling the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Wayne Rutherford will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Wayne Rutherford's cut.
That's time! Rutherford's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Rutherford moves into the clinch.

Sleater breaks the clinch.
Sleater scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Rutherford wants to clinch up but Sleater keeps it at a distance.
Sleater connects with a high kick.

Rutherford looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Rutherford is looking to take a break and control but Sleater is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sleater wants to get back to his feet.

Rutherford looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rutherford not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Rutherford wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sleater keeps working.
Rutherford thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sleater's head.

Rutherford is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Rutherford sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Sleater defending well though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sleater is trying to stand back up but Rutherford is controlling him
Rutherford is thwarting Sleater's attempts to control the position.
Rutherford throwing shots but Sleater is blocking nicely.
Wayne Rutherford overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rutherford thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rutherford not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Rutherford is working for a submission of some sort.
Rutherford trying to control from half guard but Sleater is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sleater manages to get to full guard.
Sleater looking to control.
Sleater wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Rutherford not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Sleater has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Rutherford has passed into side control.
Rutherford tries to score with some ground and pound. Sleater controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sleater dodges the ground and pound from Rutherford.
Rutherford creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Sleater sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Rutherford wants to control but Sleater is keeping him busy.
Rutherford misses with the ground and pound.
Rutherford working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Sleater parries the strikes from Rutherford easily there. Rutherford is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Sleater to escape.

Rutherford thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sleater is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wayne Rutherford showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Rutherford has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wayne Rutherford!
Wayne Rutherford took to the microphone after his victory and thanked his sponsors, Championship Clothing (SALE ON - $5 Clothing) for their support in the buildup to the fight.