PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Julian Martell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Toolsy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Julian Martell has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Martell
vs
Toolsy

200 cm
21
250 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

195 cm
18
240 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Julian Martell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Mike Toolsy!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Nard Betker and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Toolsy fails with the takedown.

Martell scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Martell is looking to take a break and control but Toolsy is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Toolsy is trying to control Martell's posture but Martell avoids it.
Martell trying to control the action but Toolsy is working from the bottom.
Toolsy tries to buck Martell off but Martell is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Martell trying to control the position but Toolsy is working away.

Martell has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

Martell gets a double leg takedown into Toolsy's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Toolsy looking for a guillotine here but Martell defends easily.
Toolsy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Martell is one step ahead there.
Toolsy controlling the position.
Martell trying to control but Toolsy is working from the bottom.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Toolsy is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Martell frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Martell landing shots from mount.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Martell is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
Toolsy has a takedown stuffed.
Toolsy has a takedown stuffed.
Julian Martell has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mike Toolsy.
Toolsy looks winded!
Toolsy shoots in looking for a takedown. Martell tries to sprawl out of it but Toolsy keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Martell manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Martell decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Toolsy wants to control but Martell is keeping busy.
Martell wants to get back to his feet.

Martell decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Martell dives in and scores a takedown into Toolsy's guard.
Martell controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Toolsy trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Toolsy trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Martell stops Toolsy from standing up.
Martell wants to get up but he can't break Toolsy's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Martell has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Martell preventing the sweep.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Toolsy has a closed guard, preventing Martell from standing up.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Toolsy looking for a sweep. Not yet Toolsy, not yet.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Martell throws a series of punches but Toolsy moves out of range.
Toolsy fails with a takedown attempt.

Toolsy drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Toolsy is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Martell scores with a one two! Toolsy had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.

Martell looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Martell stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Toolsy to get to his feet.
Martell checks the leg kick nicely there.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Toolsy.
Martell scores with a hook.
Toolsy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Toolsy has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Martell.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Martell defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Toolsy.
Julian Martell has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mike Toolsy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Toolsy chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Martell can pounce on him.

Martell clinches up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Martell breaks the clinch.
Toolsy shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Martell counters with a two punch combo.

Martell 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.
Julian Martell overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Toolsy is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Toolsy is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Martell knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Toolsy on the ground.

Martell stands and steps away. Toolsy gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Toolsy keeps the fight on the outside.
Martell throws a right and a left that Toolsy avoids nicely.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Toolsy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Toolsy wants to control but Martell is keeping him busy.
Martell is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Martell is letting Toolsy control him for a moment.
Toolsy wants to stand but Martell is controlling his arm.
Toolsy in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Toolsy grinds an elbow into Martell's temple.
Toolsy tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
We've been hearing good reports from Martell's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Toolsy throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Martell is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Toolsy just content to control the position.
Toolsy postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Toolsy misses with the ground and pound.
Toolsy taking a breather here.
Toolsy working the ground and pound but Martell is defending the strikes.
Martell is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Toolsy asserts his dominance and retains side control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Toolsy tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Julian Martell dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Toolsy shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Martell manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Toolsy wants to pass the guard but Martell is keeping the position.
Martell is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Toolsy postures up in Martell's guard and throws a big left but Martell blocks it.
Toolsy connects with a couple of short punches.
Toolsy stands and throws Martell's legs to the side, diving into side control.
The referee asks Toolsy politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Toolsy prefers to stall for the moment though.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Toolsy has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Toolsy can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Martell is looking to escape.
Toolsy takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Toolsy cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Toolsy thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Toolsy has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Toolsy 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Toolsy putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Toolsy sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Toolsy punishing his opponent with strikes.
Toolsy looking to control and managing it successfully.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Toolsy tries to control but Martell wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Toolsy.
Toolsy cracks Martell with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Toolsy raining down shots from the mount!
Toolsy can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Martell is looking to escape.
Toolsy looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee warns Martell that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Toolsy scoring with strikes but Martell is staying in there.
Toolsy landing shots from mount.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Toolsy lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Toolsy raining down hammerfists from mount.
Martell trying desperately to get to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Toolsy can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Martell is looking to escape.
Mike Toolsy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Julian Martell is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Martell wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Toolsy comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Martell 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 28:28
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 28:28

The fight is ruled a majority draw!