PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Paul Edkins (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Deair Conan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Paul Edkins has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Edkins
vs
Conan

190 cm
23
198 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

170 cm
27
213 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Knockout power

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 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Paul Edkins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Deair Conan!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, James Ackerman and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Conan stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Conan wants it to stay on the feet.
Edkins sets himself, and Conan steps forward looking for the clinch! Edkins avoids it this time.
Edkins lands with a straight right. Conan didn't see that one coming.
Edkins lands the left hand.

Conan changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Edkins looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Conan is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Edkins's shoulder. That is not cool.
Edkins is looking to reverse the position.
Edkins manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Edkins not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Conan has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Edkins is working away from the top position though.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Conan controlling the position well.
Edkins sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Conan defending well though.
Conan keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Edkins prevents Conan from improving his position.
Conan keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Edkins has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Edkins seems to be looking for submissions.
The fighters are battling for position here. Conan manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Conan controlling the position.
Edkins trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Edkins throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Conan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Edkins in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Edkins trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Conan avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Edkins prevents Conan from getting back to his feet.
Conan has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Edkins will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Conan looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Edkins lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Conan punching from the bottom - just letting Edkins know he's still in a fight.
Conan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Edkins 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.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Conan can do anything to dispel that myth.
Edkins throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Conan has momentary wrist control but Edkins slips an elbow through the middle.
Edkins in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Conan preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Conan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Edkins. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Edkins postures up in Conan's guard and throws a big left but Conan blocks it.
Conan 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.
Conan controlling Edkins's posture.
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.
Edkins working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Edkins in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Conan wants to sweep but no luck.
Edkins in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Conan bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Edkins's guard.

Edkins looking for a sweep. Not yet Edkins, not yet.

Conan got a little sloppy there for a moment and Edkins has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Conan has managed to get both his arms back between Edkins's legs - danger averted.
Edkins is breathing heavily.

Edkins working for a triangle but Conan defends it easily.
Edkins being controlled here, momentarily.

Edkins looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Conan passes into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Conan content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Edkins wants to improve his position but Conan is controlling well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Conan seems to be working for a kimura but Edkins defends the submission attempt.
Edkins is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Edkins misses with the combination.
Edkins sets himself, and Conan steps forward looking for the clinch! Edkins avoids it this time.
Edkins misses with a jab, cross combination.
Conan wants to counter with a clinch but Edkins pushes him away.
Edkins is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Conan can do to turn this around?
Edkins lands with a right hand.
Edkins throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Conan counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Conan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Let's hope that Conan has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Conan wants to pass the guard but Edkins is keeping the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Conan not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Conan looking to pass the guard.
Conan advances position into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Edkins is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

Edkins looking for submissions off his back.
Conan is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Edkins actively working from the bottom here.
Still in half guard, Conan seems content to control.
Conan scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Still in half guard, Conan seems content to control.
Conan is nestled in close to Edkins, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Conan controlling the action here.
Edkins has hold of Conan's hands but Conan slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Edkins looking for submissions off his back.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Edkins looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Conan with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Nice strikes from Conan there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Edkins actively working from the bottom here.
Conan is taking a breather. Edkins says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Edkins is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Conan pulls his head out easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Conan sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Conan is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Conan performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Deair Conan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Edkins's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Conan closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Edkins quickly recovers to half guard.

Edkins actively working from the bottom here.

Edkins is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Conan pulls his head out easily.
Conan looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Edkins actively working from the bottom here.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Edkins looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Conan seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

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

Edkins looking for submissions off his back.
Conan scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Conan in particular looking to stall.
Conan's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Conan scoring with strikes to the body and head.

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.
Conan sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Ground and pound from Conan.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Edkins is trying to get back to full guard.
Well, if Conan is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Conan lands with a punch from half guard.
Conan content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Conan wants to work for an arm triangle but Edkins is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Conan is working for a submission of some sort.
Conan controlling the pace.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Edkins looking for submissions off his back.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Conan perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Conan perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Conan 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.
Conan performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Edkins looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Conan is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Edkins is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Conan scores with a couple of nice shots.

And that's the end of the fight!
Deair Conan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Conan 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Deair Conan!
Deair Conan took to the mic after the fight and begged the organizational hierarchy for a shot at the title.