PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between The Great (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bruce Banner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Great
vs
Banner

195 cm
18
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
19
165 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, The Great!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Bruce Banner!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Trevor Gratis and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Great looks to land a combination but Banner avoids it well.
Great moves in looking to clinch but Banner pushes him off.
Banner circles away from the clinch attempt.
Great shoots for a double leg takedown but Banner sprawls well. He's pushed Great's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Banner fails with the takedown

and Great decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Banner's guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Banner holds on and takes a little breather.
Great missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Great working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Banner has Great pulled in close to control his posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Great trying to control but Banner is working from the bottom.
Great is fighting to break Banner's control of his arms but Banner is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Great looking to sit in guard and control but Banner gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Great can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Banner controls the pace.
Banner pushes down on Great's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Great trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Great really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Banner controlling from the full mount.
Great is in all sorts of trouble here.
Great tries to hold on but Banner pushes him away.
Banner controlling the position easily from mount.
Great tries to reverse the position but Banner maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Banner looking to control and managing it successfully.

Despite being in the dominant position, Bruce Banner just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Banner fails with the takedown.

Banner shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Banner was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Banner looks gassed!
Great tries to control Banner's body but Banner pushes him off. Great squirms to his side and now Banner has his back!
Banner is hanging on to Great's back as he tries to escape.
Banner biding his time, controlling Great.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Great tries to break free.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Great tries to break free.
Great looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruce Banner dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Great rushes Banner and presses him up against the cage.
Great fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Banner goes for a takedown attempt but Great pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Great tries for a takedown but Banner circles away easily

and Banner counters with a single leg into guard. Great didn't expect that.
Banner looking to pass the guard.
Banner advances position into side control!
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Banner is breathing heavily.
Great struggling a bit here.
Great is being controlled here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Great is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
You can see the frustration on Great's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Banner controls the position from side control.

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.
Great is trying to improve his position.
Banner working away.
Great is looking for a sweep.
Banner controlling from side mount.
Banner trying to control the action but Great is working from the bottom.
Great is looking to regain half guard here but Banner keeps moving and retains side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Banner is looking to take a break and control but Great is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Great works over Banner's head and body with a nice combination.
Great ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

Great closes the distance and clinches.
Banner prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for The Great. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Great is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Banner gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

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.
Banner looking for a takedown.
Great has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Banner is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Great drops down looking for an ankle pick but Banner pulls his leg out and moves away.
A low kick from Banner misses
and Great counters with a stiff right hand.
Banner moves in looking to clinch but Great pushes him off.
Banner steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Great. That one must have hurt.

Banner 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.
Banner is pushing down on Great's leg trying to pass to half guard. Great is fighting to maintain full guard but Banner has managed to sneak the leg through.
Banner wants to stand up but Great has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Banner is looking to advance position but Great won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruce Banner showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Banner looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Great is fending him off so far but Banner persists. Nope, Great circles away and we're back to standing.
Great misses with a takedown attempt

and Banner counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Banner blocks the strikes from Great.
Banner perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Great wants to get back to full guard.
Great is working hard here to advance position.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Great misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Great trying to control here.
Banner controlling the action here.
Banner is just content to waste time from the top position. Great takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Great keeping full guard, as Banner tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Banner postures up.
Banner wants to control from the top but Great keeps moving.
Great is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Great lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Banner backs up against the cage.
Banner shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Great as he avoids it easily.
Great with a lazy takedown attempt

and Banner counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Banner is taking a breather. Great 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.
Let's hope that Banner 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Great tries to get to full guard but Banner has control of the leg.

Banner seems to be looking for submissions.

Great kicks off Banner and gets to his feet.

That's four 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.

Great fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Banner, pushing him back against the cage.
Great gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Banner.
The Great has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Bruce Banner.
Great looking for a takedown.

Great escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Banner throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Great's waist but Great gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Banner off to one side.
Great throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
No joy there for Great, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Banner crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Great - the referee stops the clock and Banner gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Great. Banner manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.

Banner gets the takedown into side control.

Banner wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Great, who protects the arm well.
The Great has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bruce Banner is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Great misses with a strike from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bruce Banner comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Banner winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bruce Banner!