PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ilivasi Veitayaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Fare (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ilivasi Veitayaki has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Veitayaki
vs
Fare

191 cm
23
265 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
23
270 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ilivasi Veitayaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Tom Fare!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Winston Howard and Ben Hemmingworth.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Veitayaki closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Fare to the mat! Fare manages to get full guard.
Veitayaki looking to pass the guard.
Fare 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.
Veitayaki will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Fare manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Veitayaki manages to get himself to full guard.

Veitayaki working a defensive guard here.
Fare looking to pass the guard.
Fare trying to control the position from guard on top but Veitayaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fare engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Veitayaki is wriggling around but Fare manages to pass to half guard.

Fare is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Veitayaki has managed to free his arm - good work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fare tries to pass the half guard into mount. Veitayaki knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fare wants to control but Veitayaki is keeping him busy.
Fare tries to pass to full mount but Veitayaki defends it.
Fare is still trying to improve position.
Fare frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Veitayaki is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Veitayaki is in all sorts of trouble here.
Veitayaki stops Fare from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Veitayaki is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Veitayaki is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Veitayaki tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Fare can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Veitayaki is looking to escape.
Fare controlling from mount.
Fare wants to control the pace but Veitayaki is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fare working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Fare wants to control the pace but Veitayaki is squirming around nicely.
Veitayaki tries to reverse the position but Fare maintains control.
Veitayaki tries to hold on but Fare pushes him away.
Fare moves to his opponent's back but Veitayaki bucks him off and ends up in guard. A bit of a disaster there for Fare.
Fare looks winded!
Fare controlling Veitayaki's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Veitayaki looking to pass the guard.
Fare keeping moving, preventing Veitayaki from controlling successfully.
Fare looking to hit a scissor sweep but Veitayaki is one step ahead there.
Fare is trying to control the position but Veitayaki postures up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Veitayaki trying to control the position from guard on top but Fare is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fare keeping full guard, as Veitayaki tries to pass.
Fare keeping moving, preventing Veitayaki from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tom Fare dominated that round.
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.

Fare closes this distance looking for a takedown but Veitayaki circles away.
Veitayaki changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.

Fare tries to sprawl but Veitayaki drives through with a takedown into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Fare manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Veitayaki with a nice head shot there.
Veitayaki is in close to Fare's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Fare pulls Veitayaki in close to prevent any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Veitayaki with a flurry of punches that miss.
Fare looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Fare is breathing heavily.
Veitayaki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Fare is keeping the position for now.
Veitayaki is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fare is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Veitayaki cracks Fare with a solid left hand.
Fare is trying to keep Veitayaki in close.
Veitayaki stopping the sweep attempt from Fare.
Veitayaki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Fare is keeping the position for now.
Veitayaki is looking to advance position but Fare has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Veitayaki really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Veitayaki tries to hold on but Fare pushes him away.
Veitayaki sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Veitayaki works his way to full guard. Good work.
Veitayaki looking to hit a scissor sweep but Fare is one step ahead there.
Veitayaki knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Fare on the ground.
Fare passes Veitayaki's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Veitayaki is looking to escape.
Fare looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fare passes the guard and advances to mount!
Veitayaki wants to control but Fare is having none of it.
Fare trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Fare avoids the attempt from Veitayaki to control.
Veitayaki is squirming around, avoiding Fare's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Veitayaki's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Fare mounts Veitayaki! Really nice guard pass there!

Fare jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Veitayaki is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Veitayaki and Fare has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Veitayaki is looking to reverse the position.
Veitayaki can't do much from the bottom here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Veitayaki looks to move to half guard but instead Fare has passed into mount! Damn!
Fare controlling the position easily from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Tom Fare 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!

Veitayaki closes the distance and pushes Fare back into the cage.
Fare fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Veitayaki prevents the takedown attempt.
The referee is keeping an eye on Veitayaki - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Veitayaki stalling in the clinch.
Veitayaki gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Fare.
Ilivasi Veitayaki has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Fare.

Veitayaki ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Veitayaki no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fare trying to control but Veitayaki is working from the bottom.
Fare takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Veitayaki is controlling Fare's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fare wants to control from the top but Veitayaki keeps moving.
Veitayaki looking to hit a scissor sweep but Fare is one step ahead there.
Fare trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Fare trying to control but Veitayaki is working from the bottom.

Veitayaki scrambles and gets back to his feet.

Veitayaki drives through with a takedown into Fare's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fare 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.

Veitayaki is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Veitayaki preventing the sweep.
Veitayaki seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Veitayaki lands a couple of elbows.
Fare is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Fare is looking for a triangle but Veitayaki pushes his legs off easily.
Veitayaki won't allow Fare to sweep him here.
Veitayaki has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fare working a defensive guard here.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Veitayaki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Fare is keeping the position for now.

Veitayaki is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Veitayaki shoots and misses

and Fare counters with a nice double leg into side control. Veitayaki won't be happy with that.

Fare wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Veitayaki, who protects the arm well.

Fare is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Veitayaki has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fare wants to control but Veitayaki is keeping him busy.

Fare working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

Fare thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Fare looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ilivasi Veitayaki showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Fare 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 Damien Edna scores the fight for Tom Fare!
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight for Ilivasi Veitayaki!
Judge Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight for Ilivasi Veitayaki!

Ilivasi Veitayaki wins by split decision!