PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Walter Rothko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Daniel Bryan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Daniel Bryan has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Rothko
vs
Bryan

178 cm
32
147 lbs
10 - 19 - 0

179 cm
27
135 lbs
14 - 2 - 1

BJJ Brown Belt
Great elbows
Experienced

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite 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 10 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Walter Rothko !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Daniel Bryan!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Wesley Smith and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rothko is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Bryan takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Bryan 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.
Bryan pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rothko is keeping the position for now.
Rothko tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rothko is looking to stand up but Bryan isn't so interested in that idea.
Bryan sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Rothko 's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bryan seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Rothko missing with punches from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothko trying to hold on to Bryan's head to control him but Bryan postures up.
Rothko is trying to get back to full guard.
Bryan is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Rothko tries to get to full guard but Bryan has control of the leg.
Rothko avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Bryan.
Bryan with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Bryan wants to pass the guard but Rothko is defending well.
Rothko regains full guard. Nicely done.
Bryan tries to stand but Rothko is controlling from the bottom.
Bryan is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Bryan wants to pass the guard but Rothko is keeping the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Rothko closes the distance and clinches up with Bryan, looking for a takedown. Rothko pushes Bryan against the cage but Bryan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Rothko lands with a kick to the temple. Bryan shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

Rothko gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Bryan to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Rothko is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Bryan defends well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Bryan forces his way into half guard.
Bryan looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Bryan content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Bryan lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Bryan scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Rothko is refusing to be controlled, as Bryan sits in half guard.
Rothko is trying to stand up here but Bryan is controlling him well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rothko is looking to control Bryan's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Rothko avoid being mounted?
The fighters are battling for position here. Rothko manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daniel Bryan dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Rothko shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Bryan defends it nicely.

Bryan changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Rothko looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Rothko manages to work his way to half guard, despite Bryan's best efforts.
Bryan working the head and body with strikes.
Bryan stalling.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Bryan is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bryan lands strikes from half guard.
Rothko tries to roll over but Bryan keeps him under control.
Bryan working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Bryan stalling.
Bryan tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Rothko .

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Bryan wants to take a breather but Rothko is having none of it.
Bryan tries to pass the half guard into mount. Rothko knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Rothko is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Bryan lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Bryan trying to control from half guard but Rothko is working away.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bryan tries to clinch there but Rothko circles away.
Bryan looks for a takedown but Rothko sprawls well.
Bryan fails in his attempt to clinch.
Rothko fails with a takedown attempt.
Rothko fakes the leg kick and cracks Bryan in the body.
Walter Rothko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Bryan closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Rothko quickly recovers to half guard.

Bryan 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.
It looks like Bryan is going to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bryan is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Rothko is refusing to be controlled, as Bryan sits in half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Still in half guard, Bryan seems content to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daniel Bryan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Bryan misses with a low kick.
Bryan looks to land a combination but Rothko avoids it well.

Rothko forces Bryan back against the cage and clinches.
Rothko tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Bryan tries to pull guard but Rothko won't allow it.
Bryan is working for takedown but Rothko is calmly controlling the position for now.
Rothko prevents the takedown attempt.
Walter Rothko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Bryan.
Bryan prevents the takedown attempt.
Rothko connects with a knee to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bryan is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Rothko to keep the fight standing.

Rothko decides to pull guard.
Bryan is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Bryan stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothko moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Bryan looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Rothko is fending him off so far but Bryan persists. Nope, Rothko circles away and we're back to standing.
Rothko keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Rothko is looking to clinch but Bryan is avoiding it.
Rothko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Rothko dives in and grabs Bryan's left leg, looking for a takedown. Bryan pushes down on Rothko 's head and hops out.
Bryan tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rothko paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Bryan gets a takedown into half guard.
Bryan working Rothko over with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rothko keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Bryan working Rothko over with strikes.
Rothko is trying to stand.
Bryan controlling the action here.
Bryan's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bryan fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Bryan circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bryan tries to clinch up.
Walter Rothko is winning the standup battle so far.
Rothko throws a nice outside leg kick.

Bryan scores with a takedown into Rothko 's guard.
Bryan slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Bryan postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rothko is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Bryan defends well.
Bryan slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Bryan trying to control the position from guard on top but Rothko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Bryan trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bryan wants to control from the top but Rothko keeps moving.

And that's the end of the fight!
Daniel Bryan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Bryan winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge George Francis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Daniel Bryan!
An intense looking Daniel Bryan took to the microphone post fight and gave a little speech: 'YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! '.