PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Deangelo Garner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Lawson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Thomas Lawson enters the cage!

Garner
vs
Lawson

154 cm
18
140 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

175 cm
18
130 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Good in bed

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Deangelo Garner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Thomas Lawson!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Dmitry Maklakov and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lawson slips a straight right by Garner.

Lawson fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Garner, pushing him back against the cage.

Lawson wants the takedown. Garner is fighting it off but Lawson persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Garner's guard against the cage.

Garner working for a triangle but Lawson defends it easily.
Lawson looking to pass the guard.

Garner is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Lawson defends well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lawson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Garner is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Garner isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Lawson stacks Garner on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Lawson!
Lawson in side control lands a decent elbow.
Garner strikes from the bottom but Lawson takes advantage and advances to full mount!
Lawson scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Garner?
Lawson is looking to stand but Garner has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Lawson putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Lawson looking to control and managing it successfully.
Lawson with a couple of short strikes.
Lawson is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lawson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Garner is looking to escape.
Lawson lands a heavy elbow.
Lawson wants to take his opponent's back but Garner doesn't allow it.
Garner is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Lawson controlling the position easily from mount.
Garner is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garner throws a strike but has given up his back in the process.
Garner could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Lawson is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.

Lawson is persistently looking for the submission but Garner is defending it well.

Lawson is remaining active here, looking for the choke. The more discerning members of the crowd will appreciate his efforts.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Lawson.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Garner staying busy and making it hard for Lawson to control.
Garner is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.

Lawson is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Garner is defending well though. Lawson let's go of the attempt for now.

Garner manages to escape to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Lawson scores with a takedown into Garner's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Lawson dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Garner gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Lawson to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Garner looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Garner keeping moving, preventing Lawson from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lawson wants to pass the guard but Garner is keeping the position.

Garner is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawson is looking to stand up but Garner won't let him.

Garner had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Lawson defends it easily.
Lawson trying to control but Garner is working from the bottom.
Lawson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Garner is proving hard to escape from.
Lawson stays in close to Garner's body and controls the position.
Garner throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Lawson drives through with a takedown into Garner's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Lawson scoring with some ground and pound.

Garner looking for a guillotine here but Lawson defends easily.

Garner working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Lawson has passed into half guard!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lawson seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lawson works his way into full mount!
Lawson lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Garner might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Lawson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Garner hang on?
Garner srikes from the bottom but he's lost position and has given up his back.
Lawson softening up his opponent with strikes here.

Garner defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Lawson's arms.
Lawson has good solid back control here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garner is trying to break free.
Lawson has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Garner's body.
Lawson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Garner is trying to stand back up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Lawson punches Garner on the ear.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Lawson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Lawson drives through with a takedown into guard.

Garner has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Lawson off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Lawson looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Garner kicks Lawson off and gets back to his feet.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Garner pivots, looking for a leg kick but Lawson is out of range and Garner settles back down.
Lawson misses with a wild combination.

Lawson gets a double leg takedown into Garner's guard.
Lawson is standing up over Garner. Garner looks to escape but Lawson dives into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lawson looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Garner misses with a strike from the bottom.
Lawson wants to stand but Garner is controlling his arm.
Garner taking a bit of punishment here - Lawson scoring with strikes.
Check out the look on Lawson's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lawson is putting a hurting on Garner here, landing some big shots from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Garner prevents Lawson from improving position.
Lawson controlling from side mount.
Lawson wants to stand but Garner has his arm trapped.
Lawson working the body and head with strikes.
Garner is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garner being controlled for a moment.
Garner is looking for a sweep.
Lawson working the ground and pound from side control.
Lawson wants to stand but Garner is controlling his arm.
Garner is looking for a sweep.
Lawson works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Garner misses with an elbow from the bottom.
Lawson in side control lands a decent elbow.
Lawson moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Lawson bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Garner throws Lawson to one side and escapes!

And that's the end of the fight!
Deangelo Garner showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Lawson 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 28:28
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:28

The fight is ruled a draw!