PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jay Criller (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jasun Wharton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jay Criller looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Criller
vs
Wharton

167 cm
18
135 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

165 cm
25
142 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Self confident

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Solid chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jay Criller!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jasun Wharton!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Lou da Vinci and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wharton connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Criller looks for the body kick but Wharton saw that one coming.
Criller seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Criller tries to score a power double leg takedown but Wharton sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Criller somewhat.
Criller takes one to the side of the head.
A big right from Wharton misses.
Jasun Wharton seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A jab from Wharton misses.
Wharton attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Wharton wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Wharton lands a slapping body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Criller slips under a jab from Wharton.

Wharton closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Criller to the mat! Criller manages to get full guard.
Wharton is stalling in the full guard.
Let's hope that Wharton has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Criller looking to control.
Wharton working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Criller's head.
Wharton wants to control from the top but Criller keeps moving.
Wharton lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Wharton in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Wharton throwing strikes but missing.

Wharton drops back looking for a leg! Criller is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Criller manages to kick Wharton off! Wharton jumps back into Criller's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Wharton throws a strike but Criller rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Wharton looking for a sweep. Not yet Wharton, not yet.
Criller postures up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Wharton is on top in guard.

Wharton missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Wharton wants to stand but Criller is controlling his posture from full guard.
Wharton controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wharton is pushing down on Criller's leg trying to pass to half guard. Criller is fighting to maintain full guard but Wharton has managed to sneak the leg through.
Wharton prevents Criller from improving his position.

Criller is defending against the submission attempts here by Wharton.
Wharton wants to take a breather but Criller is having none of it.
Wharton is thwarting Criller's attempts to control the position.
Wharton missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wharton is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Wharton.
Wharton wants to pass to mount but Criller is defending the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Wharton wants to work for an arm triangle but Criller is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Criller keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nice sprawl there from Criller as Wharton shoots in.
The fight stays on the outside here - Wharton looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Criller moves out of range as Wharton strikes.
Criller throws a nice looking combination but Wharton bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Criller uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Wharton.

Criller gets a takedown into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wharton tries to roll over but Criller keeps him under control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Criller is keen to just control but Wharton is a slippery customer.
Wharton makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Wharton.
Wharton looking to hit a scissor sweep but Criller is one step ahead there.
Wharton is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Wharton is trying to control the action in half guard but Criller is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wharton is looking to stall here but Criller recovers full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wharton working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Criller knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Wharton on the ground.
Criller pulls Wharton in close to his closed guard and prevents Wharton from doing any damage or advancing position.
Wharton trying to control the position from guard on top but Criller is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Wharton is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Wharton with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Jasun Wharton has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wharton postures up in Criller's guard and throws a big left but Criller blocks it.
Criller is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Wharton is controlling him.
Criller keeping moving, preventing Wharton from controlling successfully.
Wharton's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Criller utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Wharton's corner is telling him to maintain position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Wharton throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Criller stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Wharton misses the jab.
Criller is looking to clinch.
Good standup being displayed there by Wharton as he connects with a hook.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Criller moves away from the strike by Wharton.
Criller slips a straight right by Wharton.

Criller closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Wharton trying to control here.
Wharton might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Criller haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Wharton has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Criller tries to pass the half guard into mount. Wharton knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
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 Jay Criller will probably get the nod.
That's time! Criller's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Wharton throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Wharton shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Wharton throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Criller's waist but Criller gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Wharton off to one side.
Wharton fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Wharton misses with a hook.

Criller tries to sprawl but Wharton drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Wharton works his way into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Criller managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Wharton.
Wharton is chipping away with strikes.
Criller can't do much from the bottom here.
Wharton has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wharton lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Wharton happy to just control the position for now.
Criller is not content to let Wharton control the position.

Wharton is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Criller is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Wharton lands a decent elbow from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Criller is looking for a sweep.
Criller is trying to escape the position but Wharton is controlling the position.
Wharton's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Wharton landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Wharton has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Criller!
Wharton trying to control but Criller is having none of it.
Wharton looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wharton tries to control but Criller wriggling away.
Wharton takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Wharton putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Wharton is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Criller can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Wharton working for a submission here. He's tucked his head under his opponent's arm, looking for an arm triangle. He's hopped off into side control, looking to tighten the submission... is it going to work? He's given up a good position looking for it. Criller looks OK. Oh, I spoke too soon, he's out! That must have been tighter than I thought! Excellent work there by Wharton! Submission of the night perhaps?

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Jasun Wharton!