PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Dave Gomes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tyson Clay (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gomes comes to the cage accompanied by Roadhouse Blues. Clay has chosen Sabotage as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gomes
vs
Clay

170 cm
27
138 lbs
14 - 4 - 0

170 cm
30
147 lbs
16 - 10 - 1

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

GREEN!160

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 14 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Dave Gomes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Tyson Clay!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Jack Bonds and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Clay displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Gomes throws out the jab.
Gomes with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Gomes throws a nice head kick!

Clay moves into the clinch successfully.
Clay is trying to maintain a safe position but Gomes gets an underhook and turns Clay into the cage.
Clay misses with an elbow strike.
A right handed body shot lands from Gomes.
Clay tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Gomes tries to work over Clay's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Gomes throws a punch but it's blocked by Clay.

Clay jumps guard and drags Gomes to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Clay striking from the bottom here.
Gomes wants to control from the top but Clay keeps moving.
Clay throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gomes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Clay wants to sweep but no luck.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gomes showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Clay working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Gomes doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Gomes manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Gomes sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Clay's guard.
Gomes wants to take a breather but Clay is having none of it.
Gomes is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Gomes sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Gomes tries to pass the half guard into mount. Clay knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

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.
Gomes is looking to take a break and control but Clay is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Gomes performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Clay is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Gomes scores with a couple of nice shots.
Gomes not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Clay is looking for a sweep. Gomes is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Clay is trying to control but can't.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Gomes misses with a shot to the body

and Clay counters by clinching up.
Gomes lands a left hand.
Gomes lands a body shot in the clinch.
Gomes digs a right hand into Clay's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Clay's gas tank.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gomes blocking some punches.
Gomes works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Gomes misses with a short punch on the inside.
Still in the clinch, Gomes scores with a nice short uppercut.
Gomes struggles to land a body shot inside as Clay controls his hands.
Gomes tries to throw a body punch but Clay avoids it by throwing Gomes back against the cage.
Gomes lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Gomes misses with a hook from the clinch.
Clay fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Clay swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Gomes goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Gomes throws a head punch that misses.
Gomes goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
I was talking to Gomes's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Gomes lands a body shot.
Clay lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A short left from Gomes.
Clay blocks a body shot from Gomes.
Clay is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Gomes is defending well.
Nice body punch from Clay - that landed with a thud.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Clay.
Gomes pushes Clay back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Clay lands with a right to the head.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Clay creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

Clay has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Gomes clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Gomes wants to control his opponent's hands but Clay gets his hands free.
Clay lands punches and elbows.
Clay doesn't have the hooks in and Gomes manages to turn into his guard.
Clay keeping full guard, as Gomes tries to pass.
Gomes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Gomes tries to free his leg and advance position but Clay is retaining full guard.
Gomes won't allow Clay to sweep him here.
Clay keeping moving, preventing Gomes from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Gomes dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Gomes throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Clay rushes Gomes and presses him up against the cage.
Clay displaying some good clinch control by pressing Gomes up against the cage.
Clay misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Clay is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Gomes pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Clay makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Clay drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Gomes gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Gomes drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Clay gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Gomes lands a body punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Clay.

Clay turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Clay manages to end up in side control.
Gomes sneaks back into half guard.
Gomes keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clay is nestled in close to Gomes, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Gomes is pressing down on Clay's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Gomes trying to keep a closed guard but Clay is proving a slippery customer.

Gomes is looking for a triangle but Clay pushes his legs off easily.
Gomes wants to sweep but no luck.
Gomes keeping full guard, as Clay tries to pass.
Clay throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Gomes works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's two 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.

Clay avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Gomes avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Gomes looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Clay working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Clay trying to control the position from guard on top but Gomes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Clay is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Clay postures up.
Gomes is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Clay is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Gomes pulls his head out easily.
Gomes content to control rather than advance.
Clay is looking to control Gomes's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Clay avoid being mounted?
Gomes takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Gomes'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.
Clay is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Clay is still trying to improve position.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Clay won't allow Gomes to pass to mount.
Gomes wants to take a breather but Clay is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Gomes does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Clay on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Clay uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Gomes.
Clay throws a shot from downtown. Gomes moves away and avoids it.
Clay avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Clay takes a shot right to the bread basket.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Tyson Clay will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Gomes scores with a jab to the head.
Clay tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Gomes defends well and Clay ends up having to push Gomes into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Gomes just misses with a punch to the body.
Gomes is looking to wear down Clay with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Clay avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

Clay has managed to clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Clay fails to land.
Gomes lands a right hand.
Clay is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Gomes pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Gomes tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Gomes tries for a takedown. No joy.
Gomes presses Clay against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Gomes lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clay throws a punch but it's blocked by Gomes.
A short right from Gomes on the inside.

Clay has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Gomes clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Clay has Gomes flattened out and is raining down punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gomes is really stuck here.
Gomes trying to control but not successfully.
Clay is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Gomes. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Gomes prevents Clay from getting a body triangle.
Clay keeps control of the position as Gomes tries to break free.
Clay doesn't have the hooks in and Gomes manages to turn into his guard.
Gomes passes Clay's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Gomes winds up and cracks Clay with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Clay is looking to control Gomes's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Clay avoid being mounted?
Tyson Clay has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clay moves into full guard.
Gomes in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Clay has momentary wrist control but Gomes slips an elbow through the middle.
Clay working a defensive guard here.
Gomes postures up and lands a big shot to Clay's brow.
Clay looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Gomes is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clay keeping full guard, as Gomes tries to pass.
Gomes wants to control from the top but Clay keeps moving.
Gomes preventing the sweep.
Gomes tries to free his leg and advance position but Clay is retaining full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Clay misses with a double jab.
Gomes swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Gomes uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Clay.
Clay connects with a nice looking jab.
Gomes misses with a wild combination.
Gomes drops his hands momentarily and Clay takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gomes cracks Clay with a right hand to the side of the head.
Good standup being displayed there by Clay as he connects with a hook.

Clay pushes Gomes up against the cage in a clinch.
Gomes blocks a body shot from Clay.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Clay.
A hook to the body from Gomes.
Gomes swings wildly with an uppercut but Clay uses good head movement to avoid it.
Clay tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Clay.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gomes misses with a hook to the ribs.
Clay stalling in the clinch but Gomes improves position.
Clay displaying some good clinch control by pressing Gomes up against the cage.
Clay content to slow the pace in the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Tyson Clay.
I think Clay has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:28
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:28
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Dave Gomes!
A relieved looking Dave Gomes thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.
Tyson Clay spoke after the fight, saying 'Looks like it might be time to retire.'.