PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sam Rogers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hannibal King (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Rogers
vs
King

183 cm
30
177 lbs
15 - 8 - 0

180 cm
41
182 lbs
10 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Sam Rogers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 12 - 0, fighting out of New York, Hannibal King!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Stewart Dunkirk and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rogers darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
King tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Rogers defends well and King ends up having to push Rogers into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
King waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Rogers.
King fails with a takedown attempt.
Rogers shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as King sprawls well. King wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Rogers gets slowly back to his feet.
Rogers tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. King manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Rogers looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for King!
King wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King is looking to reverse the position.
Rogers moves into full mount!
King is wriggling around trying to escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rogers controlling his opponent.
Rogers won't let King get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Rogers sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Rogers prevents King from getting the reversal.
Rogers working the ground and pound effectively.
Rogers won't let King get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Rogers looking to finish King with some ground and pound. This is bad for King!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rogers pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Rogers looking to control and managing it successfully.
Rogers with the ground and pound from mount.
Rogers tries to control but King wriggling away.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Rogers is really struggling to control King but he's trying to hold on to the position.
King working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
King is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
King is desperately trying to improve his position but Rogers has a good base and remains in mount.
King is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Rogers controlling from mount.
King is in a horrible position here. Rogers smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
King can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Rogers connects with a massive shot to the dome!
King takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
BOOM! Rogers connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Rogers takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Rogers in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Rogers won't let King get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
King keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

King dives in for a single leg takedown but Rogers sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Rogers fails with a takedown attempt.

Rogers shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
King is looking for a sweep. Rogers is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Rogers takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Rogers is trying to control. King wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

King is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Rogers pulls his head out easily.
King tries to get to full guard but Rogers has control of the leg.
Rogers wants to take a breather but King is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rogers not doing much here.
Rogers seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down King for as long as he can get away with.
Rogers is trying to control the action in half guard but King is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Rogers shoots in for a takedown but King shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
King fails to land the takedown.
Rogers cracks King with a right hand to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
King throws a body shot but no joy.
Rogers shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with King but King pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sam Rogers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
King fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Rogers throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. King was covering up waiting for the punch and Rogers finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Rogers passes King's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
King is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rogers seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

King looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

King actively working from the bottom here.

King looking for submissions off his back.
Rogers perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

King actively working from the bottom here.
Rogers is taking a breather. King says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Rogers is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that King can do to turn this around?

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.

King looking for submissions off his back.
Rogers slows the pace down in half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Rogers drops an elbow to the side of King's head.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
King has hold of Rogers's hands but Rogers slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
King pushes Rogers off looking to stand but Rogers dives back in and keeps control.
Rogers is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Rogers dominated that second round.
That's time! Rogers's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

King stuffs the takedown attempt from Rogers. Rogers gets slowly back to his feet.
Rogers shoots for a double leg takedown but King sprawls well. He's pushed Rogers's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
King stuffs the takedown attempt from Rogers. Rogers gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sam Rogers. That's going to take a lot out of him.

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

King looking for submissions off his back.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rogers looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Sam Rogers overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King is staying active underneath Rogers, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
King is trying to stand back up but Rogers is controlling him

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rogers content to control rather than advance.
Rogers wants to lay and pray for a moment but King keeps working.
Rogers keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

King looking for submissions off his back.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Rogers keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Hannibal King seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Rogers fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging King to the ground. Rogers is now in King's guard.
Rogers with a nice head shot there.
Hannibal King has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rogers is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Rogers trying to control but King is working from the bottom.

King looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Rogers passes into side control.
Rogers is putting a hurting on King here, landing some big shots from side control.
King is trying to escape the position but Rogers is controlling the position.
King is not content to let Rogers control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rogers working the body and head with strikes.
Rogers moves into full mount!
Rogers takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
King in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
King really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rogers controlling from mount.
Rogers with good strikes from the mount here!
King really wants to buck Rogers off and get back to his feet.
Rogers is landing with some decent strikes but King is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Rogers blocks King's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Rogers tries to control but King wriggling away.
King is trying to escape the mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rogers controlling his opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sam Rogers showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Rogers has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sam Rogers!
Sam Rogers was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.