PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between William Hatfield (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aribert Heim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hatfield kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Country Boy Can Survive. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Hatfield
vs
Heim

169 cm
27
143 lbs
10 - 6 - 0

175 cm
24
132 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, William Hatfield!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aribert Heim!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Franklyn Lucas and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hatfield will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hatfield moves out of range of the strikes.
Heim takes a swing at Hatfield's ribcage but misses.
Hatfield scores with a head kick.

Heim clinches.
Heim prevents Hatfield from breaking the clinch.
Hatfield jumps guard but Heim stands there with Hatfield around his waist. Hatfield gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Hatfield tries to pull guard but Heim won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for William Hatfield. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Heim lands a nice uppercut.
A bit of stalling here from Heim.
Heim misses with a short punch on the inside.

Hatfield breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Hatfield tries to clinch but Heim moves out of range.
Hatfield avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Hatfield tries to close the distance and clinch but Heim swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A looping hook to the body misses from Heim. Hatfield does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hatfield explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.

Heim pushes Hatfield up against the cage in a clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Heim taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hatfield tries to throw a body punch but Heim avoids it by throwing Hatfield back against the cage.
Hatfield misses with a body punch.
Heim digs a right hand underneath Hatfield's ribcage. Hatfield let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Heim breaks from the clinch.
Heim lunges at Hatfield with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Hatfield's hand.
Hatfield tries to bum rush Heim with a series of wild strikes but Heim uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Heim with a hook.
Heim keeps the fight on the outside.
Hatfield tries to clinch up
enabling Heim to counter with a crisp jab.
Heim rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Hatfield counters with a nice body kick.
Hatfield tries to clinch but Heim moves out of range.
Hatfield tries to clinch but Heim moves out of range.
Heim misses with a body shot.
Hatfield fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Heim takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hatfield tries to clinch but fails miserably
letting Heim counter with a right hand.
Hatfield fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Heim forces Hatfield back against the cage and clinches.
Heim lands with a light punch inside.
Hatfield prevents a body shot from Heim.
Hatfield tries to work over Heim's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Heim has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. So far he's outscoring his opponent in the clinch so it seems to have been worthwhile.
Hatfield stops a takedown attempt from Heim.
Hatfield taking a breather.
Heim lands a hook to the side of the head.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Heim creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Hatfield has a couple of punches blocked by Heim.
Hatfield blocks an uppercut.
Heim is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Hatfield digs a right hand underneath Heim's ribcage. Heim let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Heim lands an uppercut.
A right handed body shot lands from Heim.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Hatfield trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Heim on the inside.
Hatfield blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Hatfield jumps into guard, dragging Heim to the mat.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Heim lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Heim tries to free his leg and advance position but Hatfield is retaining full guard.
Hatfield trying to control the position.
Heim throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Heim preventing the sweep.

Hatfield working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Heim doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Heim manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Heim trying to control but Hatfield is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Heim is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hatfield pulls Heim in close to his closed guard and prevents Heim from doing any damage or advancing position.
Heim passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hatfield manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Heim trying to hold on to Hatfield's head to control him but Hatfield postures up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Heim is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Heim is not content to let Hatfield control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Aribert Heim will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Hatfield moves into the clinch successfully.
Hatfield unloads a knee to the mid-section. Heim lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Heim struggles to land a body shot inside as Hatfield controls his hands.
Hatfield is trying to pull guard but Heim has him pressed against the cage.
Hatfield blocks a body shot from Heim.
Hatfield working aggressively here.
Heim lands an uppercut.
Heim lands a body punch in the clinch.
Heim can't find room to land a body shot as Hatfield controls the action.
Heim works on Hatfield's body with a couple of short punches.
Aribert Heim seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Heim managing to block the knees to the body from Hatfield.
Hatfield can't find room to land a body shot as Heim controls the action.
Hatfield is trying to pull guard but Heim turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Heim blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hatfield is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Hatfield swings wildly with an uppercut but Heim uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hatfield throws a punch but it's blocked by Heim.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Heim breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Heim scores with a body shot.
Heim connects with a right hand. Hatfield shakes it off.
Heim circles away from the clinch attempt.
Heim dodges the punch combination from Hatfield.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Hatfield.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for William Hatfield. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Heim darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
No luck for Hatfield with that takedown attempt.
Hatfield tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Heim manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Hatfield wants to clinch.
Hatfield fails to land the takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Good exchange - Heim coming out on top.
Aribert Heim is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Heim clinches up against the cage.
Hatfield lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Heim lands a body punch in the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Heim lands a body punch.

Heim breaks the clinch.

Hatfield closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Heim looking for a takedown.
Hatfield goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Heim gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Heim trying to control but Hatfield is working from the bottom.
Heim postures up and lands a big shot to Hatfield's brow.
Heim pushes down on Hatfield's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Heim working the head and body with strikes.
Hatfield moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Heim content to stall in guard here.
Heim throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hatfield works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hatfield managing to control the position.
Heim throws a big right hand that misses.
Hatfield seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Heim connects with a couple of short punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Heim sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Hatfield's guard.

Heim seems to be looking for submissions.
Heim controlling the action here.
The fighters are battling for position here. Hatfield manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Heim postures up.
Hatfield being controlled here, momentarily.
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!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hatfield throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aribert Heim showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

A looping hook to the body misses from Heim. Hatfield does a little dance to reset his feet.
Heim pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Hatfield looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Heim looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Hatfield passes into half guard.
Hatfield prevents Heim from improving his position.
Hatfield is pressing down on Heim's thigh, looking to free his foot. Heim is holding on for now.
Heim makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Heim.
Hatfield works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hatfield seems to be looking for submissions.
Heim is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hatfield's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hatfield's back!
Heim is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Hatfield up.
Hatfield breaks Heim's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Hatfield trying to control but Heim is working from the bottom.
Heim looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hatfield is one step ahead there.

Heim working for a triangle but Hatfield defends it easily.
Hatfield passes Heim's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hatfield trying to mount his opponent but Heim defends it.
Heim is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Hatfield is keen to just control but Heim is a slippery customer.
Heim trying to control here.
Hatfield works his way into side control.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
You can see the frustration on Heim's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
William Hatfield has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Aribert Heim is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Heim is looking to regain half guard here but Hatfield keeps moving and retains side control.
Heim can't do much from the bottom here.
Heim tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Hatfield wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Heim is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Hatfield off and has taken his back!
Hatfield wants to control his opponent's hands but Heim gets his hands free.
Heim controlling from the back.
Heim is hanging on to Hatfield's back as he tries to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
I would not like to be Hatfield right now.
Hatfield wants to control his opponent's hands but Heim gets his hands free.
Heim biding his time, looking for the opening.
Hatfield rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Heim missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Heim wants to take a breather but Hatfield is having none of it.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Hatfield is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to William Hatfield.
Well Heim has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 John Kavanagh scores the fight 27:30
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aribert Heim!
During a confident post fight interview, Aribert Heim thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.