PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Will Oldham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Virgil Wethermore (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Virgil Wethermore will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Oldham
vs
Wethermore

180 cm
20
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
22
175 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent knees
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Will Oldham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Virgil Wethermore!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Steven Brown and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wethermore tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Wethermore looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Wethermore misses with a few strikes there.
Wethermore throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Oldham has Wethermore up against the cage in a clinch.
Wethermore wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Wethermore tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Oldham stalls.

Oldham jumps into guard, dragging Wethermore to the mat.

Oldham has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Wethermore off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Oldham.
An inside leg kick from Wethermore misses.
Oldham tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Wethermore swivels and escapes.
Oldham shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Wethermore but Wethermore pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Oldham. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Oldham feints and as Wethermore raises his hands in defense, Oldham changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Oldham showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oldham forces his way into half guard.

Oldham gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Wethermore shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Oldham fails with a takedown attempt.
Virgil Wethermore is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Oldham moves into the clinch successfully.
Wethermore dodges an elbow strike from Oldham.
Wethermore gets underhooks to prevent Oldham's takedown attempt.
Oldham wants to get back to striking at distance but Wethermore won't allow it.

Oldham turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Oldham manages to end up in side control.
Oldham tries to score with some ground and pound. Wethermore controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Oldham misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
A lull in the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Oldham's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Wethermore really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Oldham. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four 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.

Oldham wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Wethermore, who protects the arm well.
Oldham controlling the position from side mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Oldham throws a sloppy head kick and Wethermore moves out of range easily.
Wethermore tries to clinch but Oldham moves away

and Oldham counters with a takedown into side control.

Wethermore explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!

Oldham closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Oldham missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Oldham in particular looking to stall.
Wethermore looks like he's trying to stand up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Oldham is taking a breather. Wethermore 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oldham trying to mount his opponent but Wethermore defends it.
Oldham sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Wethermore defending well though.

Oldham stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
No joy there for Oldham, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Wethermore looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Oldham misses the shot to the body.
Oldham shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Wethermore pinned against the cage. Wethermore gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

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.
Oldham closes the distance and clinches up with Wethermore, looking for a takedown. Oldham pushes Wethermore against the cage but Wethermore circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Oldham looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Oldham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wethermore tries a low kick but Oldham avoids it.
Some wild striking there from Wethermore.
Oldham throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Wethermore's waist but Wethermore gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Oldham off to one side.

Oldham fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Wethermore, pushing him back against the cage.

Wethermore breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Oldham blocks a leg kick.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Wethermore lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Oldham has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Oldham and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Oldham throws a sloppy head kick and Wethermore moves out of range easily.
Nice takedown defense from Wethermore. No joy for Oldham on that attempt.
Will Oldham is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Oldham fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Virgil Wethermore seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wethermore throws a right and a left that Oldham avoids nicely.
Wethermore throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Oldham tries for a takedown but Wethermore sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Wethermore blocks the body kick.

Wethermore gets caught flat footed, as Oldham shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Oldham sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Oldham stands up and waves to Wethermore to follow him.

That's four 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.

Oldham drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Oldham missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Oldham is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Oldham gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Oldham will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Oldham rushes Wethermore and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Wethermore breaks the clinch.
Oldham just misses with a punch to the body.
Oldham throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Wethermore.
No joy there for Wethermore, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Will Oldham dominated that second round.
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!

Oldham looks for a takedown but Wethermore sprawls well.
Oldham throws a head kick that misses.
Oldham will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Wethermore tries to work over Oldham's front leg with a kick but Oldham checks it.
Nice takedown defense from Wethermore. No joy for Oldham on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Oldham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wethermore darts in trying to clinch

and Oldham moves into the clinch.
Oldham wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Wethermore tries to break the clinch but Oldham is controlling the position.
Oldham tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Wethermore smiles and moves away.
Oldham throws a head kick but Wethermore moves out of range.
Wethermore misses with a series of wild punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Oldham closes the distance and clinches up with Wethermore, looking for a takedown. Oldham pushes Wethermore against the cage but Wethermore circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Oldham moves into range and clinches up with Wethermore.

Oldham pulls guard successfully.
Wethermore takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Oldham seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Oldham looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Oldham manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Oldham controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Will Oldham just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Wethermore tries to clinch up.
Oldham wants to clinch up but Wethermore keeps it at a distance.
Wethermore throws a nice looking combination but Oldham bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Oldham circles away from the clinch attempt

and Oldham counters with a takedown into side control.

Oldham stands up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Wethermore. No joy for Oldham on that attempt.
Wethermore closes the distance and lands a one-two.

It looks like Will Oldham has been cut.
Wethermore throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Oldham counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Wethermore is trying to stand.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Oldham stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Wethermore to get to his feet.
Wethermore misses with a two punch combination.

Oldham closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Oldham controlling from side mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
Will Oldham showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Oldham, 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 Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Will Oldham!