PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kendall Whalen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jo Rickson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Whalen
vs
Rickson

180 cm
18
195 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
195 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Kendall Whalen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jo Rickson!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Hugh Johnson and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rickson scores with a takedown into Whalen's guard.
Rickson engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Whalen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rickson throwing strikes but missing.
Rickson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rickson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Jo Rickson has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Whalen tries to clinch but Rickson is having none of it.
Rickson will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Rickson takes the fight into the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Whalen obliges.
Whalen tries to land knees in the clinch but Rickson avoids the damage to the body.
Whalen throws a knee to the head but misses.
Whalen using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rickson has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rickson tries to pull guard but Whalen won't allow it.
Rickson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Whalen is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Kendall Whalen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jo Rickson.
Whalen scores a nice knee to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whalen landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rickson is looking to break free of the clinch but Whalen has double underhooks.
Whalen landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rickson looks winded!
A knee to the head by Whalen.
Whalen scores a nice knee to the body.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
Whalen tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Whalen scores with a knee to the head.
Whalen looking to slow down the pace here.
Knees to the body from Whalen.
Whalen definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Rickson jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Whalen walks away with a smile on his face. Rickson gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Whalen tries to clinch but Rickson moves out of range.
Whalen tries to clinch but Rickson is having none of it.
Whalen tries to clinch up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whalen lands a front kick.
Whalen is looking to clinch.
Whalen scoring well with a low kick there.
Whalen tries to close the distance and clinch but Rickson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Whalen moves into range and clinches up with Rickson.
Rickson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Whalen.
Whalen using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Whalen utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Whalen landing knees to the body.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
A knee to the head by Whalen.

It looks like Jo Rickson has been cut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rickson takes a knee right on the jaw!
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Whalen is looking to control Rickson's arms but Rickson gets an underhook and turns him. Now Whalen has his back to the cage.
Whalen missing with knees to the body.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Whalen with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Whalen putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Rickson in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen lands a knee to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kendall Whalen dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jo Rickson's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Whalen explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Rickson steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Whalen. That one must have hurt.
Whalen is looking to clinch.
Rickson has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Whalen.
Rickson 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.
A head kick by Rickson misses

and Whalen counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Whalen.
Whalen connects with a knee to the head.
Rickson has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Whalen after a bit of a struggle.
Whalen lands a knee to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whalen lands a knee to the head.
Whalen taking a breather.
Whalen crunches a lovely knee into Rickson's ribcage.
Rickson is breathing heavily.
A knee to the head by Whalen.
Whalen lands a good knee to the midsection. Rickson won't want to take too many of those.
Knees to the body from Whalen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rickson takes a knee to the side of the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Whalen obliges.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Whalen lands a knee to the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Whalen obliges.
Whalen crunches a lovely knee into Rickson's ribcage.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rickson takes a knee right on the jaw!
Whalen putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Rickson in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
Whalen landing knees to the head.
Kendall Whalen has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Whalen landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Whalen working Rickson over with knees to the body.
Whalen landing knees to the body.
Whalen lands a knee to the body.
Whalen connects with a knee to the head.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rickson takes a knee to the side of the body.
Whalen working Rickson over with knees to the body.
Whalen landing some nice looking knees to the body.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Whalen putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Rickson in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Whalen taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whalen lands a knee to the head.
Whalen lands a knee to the head.
Whalen using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Whalen connects with a knee to the head.
Whalen landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Whalen scores a nice knee to the body.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen lands a knee to the body.
Whalen scores with a knee to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rickson is looking for a takedown.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Rickson takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rickson can do to turn this around?
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen scores a nice knee to the body.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rickson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
Whalen scores with a knee to the head.
Whalen is looking to control Rickson's arms but Rickson gets an underhook and turns him. Now Whalen has his back to the cage.
Whalen content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Rickson takes a knee to the side of the body.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Whalen has Rickson pressed against the cage, preventing Rickson from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Rickson wants to get back to striking at distance but Whalen won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kendall Whalen dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jo Rickson's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Whalen moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
A slapping body kick lands there for Whalen.
That kick from Whalen tenderised Rickson's leg. Rickson is trying to keep his angry face on.
Rickson takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

Whalen fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Rickson, pushing him back against the cage.
Knees in the clinch landing for Whalen.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Rickson as Whalen tries to tie him up.
Whalen lands a knee to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rickson takes a knee to the side of the body.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rickson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
Whalen with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen landing knees to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Whalen obliges.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen scores a nice knee to the body.
Whalen with a knee to the head.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Whalen landing some nice looking knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whalen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Knees in the clinch landing for Whalen.
Whalen throws a knee to the head but misses.
Whalen is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Whalen with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Whalen landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Whalen connects with a nasty looking knee right to Rickson's face.
Kendall Whalen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Rickson jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Whalen walks away with a smile on his face. Rickson gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Whalen throws a quick inside leg kick.
Kendall Whalen is winning the standup battle so far.
An inside leg kick lands from Whalen.
Rickson's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Rickson throws the kick towards the body but Whalen avoids it.

Whalen has closed the distance and engaged Rickson in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rickson tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Rickson is trying to drag Whalen to the mat but Whalen just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Kendall Whalen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jo Rickson.
Rickson jumps guard but Whalen stands there with Rickson around his waist. Rickson gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Whalen landing knees to the head.
Whalen scores with a knee to the head.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rickson tries to pull guard but Whalen holds him up against the cage and eventually Rickson drops back down to his feet.
Rickson has Whalen pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Whalen manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Whalen lands a nice knee to the body.
Rickson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Whalen.
Rickson is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Whalen to keep the fight standing.
Rickson tries to pull guard but Whalen forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Whalen utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
A knee to the head by Whalen.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kendall Whalen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Whalen, 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:26
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:26
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 30:26

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