PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Sam Whiskey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dean Ambrose (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sam Whiskey had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 186.4lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Sam Whiskey has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Whiskey
vs
Ambrose

183 cm
18
198 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

183 cm
19
185 lbs
5 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Sam Whiskey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Dean Ambrose!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, James Glass and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Some wild striking there from Whiskey.
Ambrose drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Whiskey defends it well.
Whiskey tries to clinch up.

Ambrose changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Whiskey looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Ambrose creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Whiskey sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Ambrose trying to control the action but Whiskey is working from the bottom.
Whiskey avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Ambrose.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ambrose scores with punches from side control.
Ambrose throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Ambrose works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Ambrose is chipping away with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ambrose working away.
Ambrose controls the position from side control.
Whiskey is not content to let Ambrose control the position.
Whiskey struggling a bit here.
Ambrose in side control lands a decent elbow.
Whiskey gets back to half guard.
Ambrose winds up and cracks Whiskey with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whiskey blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ambrose.
Ambrose is thwarting Whiskey's attempts to control the position.
Ambrose scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Ambrose is figuring out what he wants to do next.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Ambrose lands a nice short elbow.
Ambrose missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Nice strikes from Ambrose there.
Whiskey is trying to stand back up but Ambrose is controlling him
Ambrose working over Whiskey with some ground and pound. Whiskey looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ambrose looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Whiskey with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Ambrose connects with a nice short shot to Whiskey's temple.
Ambrose takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Whiskey is not content to let Ambrose control the position.
Whiskey trying to control here.
Ambrose working the head and body with strikes.
Ambrose is thwarting Whiskey's attempts to control the position.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Ambrose lands a nice short elbow.
Whiskey has hold of Ambrose's hands but Ambrose slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ambrose thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Whiskey's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whiskey is trying to get back to full guard.
Whiskey is trying to stand.
Ambrose not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ambrose throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Whiskey trying to control from the bottom.
Ambrose landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Whiskey trying to hold on to Ambrose's head to control him but Ambrose postures up.
Whiskey is breathing heavily.
Ambrose not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Ambrose connects with a nice short shot to Whiskey's temple.
Ambrose winds up and cracks Whiskey with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Whiskey tries to roll over but Ambrose keeps him under control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Whiskey throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
And Ambrose tries to counter it with a takedown but Whiskey pushes his down on his head and steps out.

Ambrose shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Ambrose looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Ambrose working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Whiskey is looking to improve his position.
Dean Ambrose has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ambrose scoring with strikes to the body and head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ambrose looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Whiskey with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Ambrose is trying to control. Whiskey wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Ambrose working the head and body with strikes.
We've been informed that Ambrose has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Ambrose looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whiskey moves into full guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Ambrose's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Whiskey is trying to keep Ambrose in close.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ambrose has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Whiskey wants to stand and escape but Ambrose is having none of it.
Whiskey wants to sweep here but Ambrose controlling him for the moment.
Ambrose lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ambrose cracks Whiskey with a solid left hand.
Ambrose working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Ambrose scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Ambrose stopping the sweep attempt from Whiskey.
Ambrose passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Ambrose in side control lands a decent elbow.
Whiskey takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Ambrose landing strikes.
Ambrose lands a decent elbow from side control.
Ambrose lands a nice forearm strike.
Ambrose trying to control the position but Whiskey is working away.
Ambrose avoids the strikes from the bottom by Whiskey.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose looks up at the clock and then as Whiskey takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Ambrose smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Whiskey struggling a bit here.
Whiskey trying to remain calm as Ambrose controls from the top position.
Ambrose scores with a couple of short elbows.
Whiskey sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Whiskey throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Ambrose throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Whiskey avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Ambrose.
Ambrose not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Whiskey is trying to control but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ambrose looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose winds up and cracks Whiskey with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Whiskey wants to control but Ambrose is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Ambrose not doing much here.
Ambrose winds up and cracks Whiskey with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Ambrose seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Whiskey does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Ambrose throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Sam Whiskey seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A combination from Whiskey does no damage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Ambrose.
Nice takedown defense from Whiskey. No joy for Ambrose on that attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dean Ambrose showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Whiskey shoots in for a takedown but Ambrose shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Ambrose with the counter takedown but Whiskey avoids it easily.
Ambrose dives in and grabs Whiskey's left leg, looking for a takedown. Whiskey pushes down on Ambrose's head and hops out.
Whiskey is looking for a counter combo.
Whiskey tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ambrose manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Whiskey misses the shot to the body.
Ambrose tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Ambrose avoids a punch combination nicely.
Whiskey swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Ambrose counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Ambrose.
Ambrose stops Whiskey from standing up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ambrose working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Ambrose distracts Whiskey with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Whiskey keeping moving, preventing Ambrose from controlling successfully.
Ambrose trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ambrose lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Whiskey tries to strike from the bottom.
Ambrose is looking to work some ground and pound but Whiskey has wrist control.
Ambrose cracks Whiskey with a solid left hand.
Ambrose working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Whiskey's head.
Ambrose postures up and lands a big shot to Whiskey's brow.
Ambrose working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Whiskey's head.
Ambrose looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Whiskey avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

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.
Whiskey is looking to stand up but Ambrose isn't so interested in that idea.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Whiskey swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Whiskey throws a lazy uppercut

so Ambrose counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Ambrose scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Ambrose with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ambrose landing with the ground and pound.
Whiskey throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Ambrose works over Whiskey with some ground and pound from guard.
Ambrose is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Whiskey has control of Ambrose's left arm, preventing Ambrose from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whiskey working a defensive guard here.
Ambrose trying to control but Whiskey is working from the bottom.
Ambrose is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Whiskey working a defensive guard here.
Whiskey utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Whiskey lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ambrose circles away quickly and effectively.
Ambrose tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.

That's four 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.
Whiskey misses with a few strikes there.
Whiskey looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Sam Whiskey is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Ambrose.
Whiskey takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Ambrose lands some shots froms side control.
Ambrose scoring with punches from side control.
Ambrose working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
A lull in the action here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Whiskey taking a bit of punishment here - Ambrose scoring with strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dean Ambrose comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Ambrose winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Ackerman scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dean Ambrose!
A determined Dean Ambrose didn't want to dwell on this fight in his post fight interview. Instead he was more keen to state he wants a title shot. Let's see if he gets it!