PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Royal Strickland (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hamoudy Abou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Royal Strickland has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Strickland
vs
Abou

199 cm
24
215 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

180 cm
23
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Royal Strickland!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Hamoudy Abou!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Robert Twigg and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Strickland tries to land a leg kick but Abou saw it coming and moves away.
Abou is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.

Abou moves into the clinch.
Strickland wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Abou taking a breather.

Abou wants the takedown. Strickland is fighting it off but Abou persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Strickland's guard against the cage.
Abou throws an elbow that misses. Strickland uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Abou's guard. Nice move by Strickland!

Abou is looking for a triangle here but Strickland uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Strickland working the head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abou tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Strickland presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Abou is looking to get to half guard.
Abou regains half guard.
Abou on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Strickland scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
It looks like Strickland is going to stand back up.

Strickland is looking for a kimura but Abou is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Strickland to get the leverage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Abou makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

Abou closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Strickland did well to prevent Abou getting side control.

Strickland kicks off Abou and gets to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Abou pushes Strickland up against the cage in a clinch.

Abou pulls Strickland into guard.
Strickland works over Abou with some ground and pound from guard.
Strickland with a flurry of punches that miss.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Strickland stops Abou from standing up.
Abou is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Abou wants to hit a switch here but Strickland passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Abou there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abou is looking to get to half guard.
Abou in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Abou working to try and regain half guard.
Strickland will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Strickland lands a nice shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Strickland landing strikes, looking to finish!
Strickland with the ground and pound from mount.
Strickland lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Abou has given up his back - I don’t know if this is a deliberate ploy to try and escape or if he is just struggling down there.

Strickland working for the choke.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Strickland is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Strickland gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Strickland gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Strickland apologises and we restart here on the feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Abou shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Royal Strickland dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Strickland wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Abou has him pressed against the cage.

Abou's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Strickland crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Abou - the referee stops the clock and Strickland gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Abou. Strickland manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Abou closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Strickland has one foot on Abou's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.

Abou closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Strickland to the mat! Strickland manages to get full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Strickland has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Abou is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.

Abou breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Abou feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Strickland pulls Abou in close to prevent any damage.
Strickland has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Strickland 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.
Abou must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Strickland looking for a guillotine here but Abou defends easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strickland scores with a couple of body punches from the bottom.
Royal Strickland overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Strickland looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Abou wants to get up but he can't break Strickland's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Abou stands over his opponent and dives in with a flying punch! Strickland throws up his legs and catches Abou in a triangle! Oh this looks tight! Abou tries to escape but he's forced to tap! Wow, fantastic work there by Strickland! That came out of nowhere!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Royal Strickland!