PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Owen Clark (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joey James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Joey James has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Clark
vs
James

161 cm
19
150 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

176 cm
25
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Owen Clark!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Joey James!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Eliza Hachem and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

James closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Clark to the mat! Clark manages to get full guard.
James looking to pass the guard.
Clark is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Clark is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. James is aware though and is defending well.
James is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Clark could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
James stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Clark swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

James decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Clark rushes James and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clark misses with the head strike.
James tries to break free but Clark pushes him back against the cage.
Clark scores with a nice hook to the head.
James fails to pull guard.
James tries for a takedown. No joy.
James is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Clark is defending well.
Owen Clark has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joey James.

Clark pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Clark dives in for a single leg takedown but James sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Clark has picked James up - he's going for a ride! Clark dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

James has one foot on Clark's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Joey James seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
James cracks a nice hook into Clark's ribs.

Clark gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Clark is on top in guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clark has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of James is proving hard to escape from.

James is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Clark would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Clark has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
James is trying to keep Clark in close.
Clark loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James controls Clark momentarily but Clark frees himself.
Clark wanted to stand there but James had control of the position.
Clark trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Clark knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for James on the ground.

James is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Clark presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Clark tries to pull guard but James won't allow it.

Clark's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

James closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Clark is looking for a sweep.
Clark is breathing heavily.

James tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

James tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no James has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

James has hold of Clark's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! Clark tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - James cranks the arm and Clark screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from Clark, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:32 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Joey James!