PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jerome Le Banner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aaron Yates (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Yates is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Here comes Tecca Nina - Tech N9ne. Aaron Yates has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Le Banner
vs
Yates

190 cm
34
217 lbs
17 - 12 - 1

195 cm
27
220 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 12 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jerome Le Banner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Aaron Yates!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Emerson Jorge and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yates on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Banner circles away from the clinch attempt.
Banner swats away the attempt to clinch by Yates.
Yates tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A telegraphed right hand from Banner misses the target.
Yates fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Yates moves to clinch but Banner breaks away

and Banner counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yates is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Banner prevents Yates from standing back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banner missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Banner takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Yates wants to get back to his feet.
Banner is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Yates tries to get to full guard but Banner has control of the leg.
Yates is refusing to be controlled, as Banner sits in half guard.
Banner missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Banner sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Yates defending well though.
Banner is looking to pass Yates's guard but actually Yates recovers to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Banner throws a big elbow that misses.
Yates is looking to sweep but instead, Banner has passed into half guard.
Banner scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Banner not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Banner missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Banner wants to pass the guard but Yates is defending well.
Banner looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Yates with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yates moves into full guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Yates avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Banner won't allow Yates to get back to his feet.
Banner lands a couple of elbows.

Yates working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Banner has passed into half guard!
Banner perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Yates has hold of Banner's hands but Banner slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Banner not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Yates blocking the ground and pound attempt from Banner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yates has hold of Banner's hands but Banner slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Yates is trying to control but can't.
Banner working the head and body with strikes.
Banner is nestled in close to Yates, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Banner scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Yates looking for submissions off his back.
Yates tries to get to full guard but Banner has control of the leg.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Yates is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Banner is nestled in close to Yates, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jerome Le Banner dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Banner, as that shot connected.
Banner smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Yates fails in his attempt to clinch.

Banner drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
We've been informed that Yates has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Yates is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Banner wants to control from the top but Yates keeps moving.

Yates working for submissions but it's allowed Banner to get to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yates tries to get to full guard but Banner has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yates is trying to control but can't.
Yates taking some punishment here, with Banner in his half guard.
Banner lands with a punch from half guard.
Banner lands with a punch from half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Banner wants to pass to mount but Yates is defending the position.
Banner takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Yates is controlling Banner's trapped leg to prevent Banner from advancing to side control.
Banner wants to free his trapped foot but Yates is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Yates is trying to maintain the position but Banner is very close to passing his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yates taking some punishment here, with Banner in his half guard.
Nice strikes from Banner there.
Banner definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Yates trying to control from the bottom.
Banner lands with a punch from half guard.
Banner not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Banner lands a nice short elbow.
Yates is looking for a sweep. Banner is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Banner seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Yates does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Yates regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Banner.

Yates looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Banner passes into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yates is looking to regain half guard here but Banner keeps moving and retains side control.
Banner working the ground and pound.
Yates tries to bench press Banner off him but Banner keeps the position.
Yates gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Banner lands a big shot there that rocks Yates but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yates gets back to half guard.
Banner stops Yates from getting back to his feet.
Banner takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Yates is refusing to be controlled, as Banner sits in half guard.
Banner misses with a head shot. Yates uses the momentum to regain guard.
Banner has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Banner throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Banner controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Banner throws a strike but Yates rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jerome Le Banner dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A looping hook to the body misses from Yates. Banner does a little dance to reset his feet.
Yates misses with a takedown attempt
letting Banner counter with a right hand.
Yates tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Banner counters with a takedown into side control.
Banner scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Yates to see if he's OK.

It looks like Aaron Yates has been cut.
Banner working the head with strikes.
Banner is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Yates can do to turn this around?
Yates taking a bit of punishment here - Banner scoring with strikes.

Yates is rocked!
Banner cracks Yates with a big elbow. Oh, he's hurt! Banner immediately mounts and start dropping bombs! Yates is done! The referee jumps in and saves him from any more punishment - a quick and decisive finish by Banner!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:51 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Jerome Le Banner!
Jerome Le Banner thanked the fans post fight for their support.
In defeat, Aaron Yates stepped up to the mic, saying 'Idk how i lost to this punk'.