PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Pierre Whitley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Danny Knuckles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pierre Whitley had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Whitley
vs
Knuckles

196 cm
18
214 lbs
0 - 6 - 1

183 cm
25
200 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 0 - 6 - 1, fighting out of London, Pierre Whitley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Danny Knuckles!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Richard Clark and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knuckles uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Knuckles goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Knuckles has taken the fight to the clinch.
Knuckles gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Whitley.
Knuckles looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Knuckles stalls.
Whitley tries for a takedown but Knuckles manages to get underhooks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Knuckles ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Knuckles no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Knuckles bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Whitley's guard.

Knuckles throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Whitley works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Knuckles stands up from Whitley's guard - Knuckles perhaps looking for a knockout.

Knuckles gets a takedown into half guard.
Whitley knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Knuckles on the ground.
Knuckles controlling the pace.

Knuckles postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Whitley to stand up.

Knuckles drives through with a takedown into Whitley's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Whitley can't keep his opponent in guard - Knuckles advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Whitley keeps control of the position for the meantime.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knuckles scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Knuckles is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Knuckles trying to pass the guard but Whitley defending well.
Knuckles moves nicely into side control.
Knuckles controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitley manages to get back to half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Knuckles uses his free foot to push down on Whitley's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Whitley.
Whitley tries to lock up and control but Knuckles gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Knuckles controlling from mount.
Knuckles unloads with some shots from mount but Whitley bucks and avoids them well.
Knuckles tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Knuckles misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

Knuckles looking for a guillotine from mount but Whitley is having none of it.
Whitley is trying desperately to improve position.
Whitley is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Knuckles has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Knuckles lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Whitley hang on?
Knuckles throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Knuckles sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Knuckles is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Whitley can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Knuckles dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Pierre Whitley's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Nice takedown defense from Knuckles. No joy for Whitley on that attempt.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Whitley enables Knuckles to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Whitley manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Whitley trying to keep a closed guard but Knuckles is proving a slippery customer.
Knuckles is stalling in the full guard.
Knuckles is pushing down on Whitley's leg trying to pass to half guard. Whitley is fighting to maintain full guard but Knuckles has managed to sneak the leg through.
Knuckles takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Knuckles is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Whitley defends it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whitley trying to control but Knuckles postures up.
Still in half guard, Knuckles seems content to control.
Let's hope that Knuckles 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.

Knuckles 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.
Knuckles with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
A punch combination from Knuckles misses.
Whitley was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.

Knuckles moves into the clinch.

Knuckles jumps guard.
Knuckles bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Whitley's guard.

Whitley wants to sweep but no luck.
Whitley being controlled here, momentarily.
Knuckles forces his way into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knuckles controlling the action here.
Whitley is looking to improve his position.
Knuckles stalling.
Knuckles not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Knuckles looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Knuckles is continuing to stall.

Knuckles stands up and beckons Whitley to join him on the feet.

Knuckles closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Whitley quickly recovers to half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Knuckles thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Whitley's head.
Whitley avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Knuckles.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Knuckles in particular looking to stall.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Knuckles showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Pierre Whitley's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Knuckles throws a sloppy head kick and Whitley moves out of range easily.

Knuckles drives through and clinches with Whitley against the cage.

Knuckles is trying to trip Whitley. He has hold of a leg but Whitley is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Knuckles persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Knuckles looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Whitley wants to sweep but no luck.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Whitley avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Knuckles stands up from Whitley's guard - Knuckles perhaps looking for a knockout.

Knuckles moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knuckles is struggling to control the position.
Knuckles pushes off an throws an elbow but Whitley leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Knuckles avoiding damage.

Knuckles ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Knuckles no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Knuckles thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Knuckles has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

Knuckles working for a triangle but Whitley defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitley is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Knuckles is pulling down on Whitley's head. It's preventing any offense from Whitley, at least for the moment.
Whitley scoring with punches to the head and body.

Knuckles has his foot on Whitley's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Whitley works his way back into a safe position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitley throwing strikes but missing.
Knuckles is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Whitley has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Knuckles is proving hard to escape from.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Knuckles closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Whitley to the mat! Whitley manages to get full guard.
Knuckles is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Whitley is working an open guard so Knuckles takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Knuckles throws a low kick but it's checked well by Whitley.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitley swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Knuckles looks to land a combination but Whitley avoids it well.
It looked like Whitley was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Knuckles.

Knuckles gets a clinch.
Knuckles trying to land knees to the body.
Knuckles has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Whitley escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Knuckles shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Whitley is trying to defend but Knuckles finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Knuckles lands with a punch from half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Danny Knuckles comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Knuckles has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 James Atkins scores the fight 25:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 25:30
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Danny Knuckles!