PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Daren William (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Richard Burgess (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

William
vs
Burgess

219 cm
18
278 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

195 cm
25
227 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Daren William!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Richard Burgess!
The judges for this bout are Francis DeMontford, Ben Watson and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
William stuffs the takedown.
William wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.

Burgess darts in and clinches William up against the cage.
Burgess wants to break free but William has control.
William slowing the pace effectively.
William keeps control of Burgess as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Stalling in the clinch from William.
William missing with knees to the body.
William tries to land knees in the clinch but Burgess avoids the damage to the body.
Burgess drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
William tries to pull guard but Burgess holds him up against the cage and eventually William drops back down to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from William.
Burgess looks winded!

William breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burgess misses with a left hand

and William counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by William.
William is standing up over Burgess. Burgess looks to escape but William dives into side control.

William stands up and beckons Burgess to his feet.
William shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Burgess as he avoids it easily.

William tries to keep at a distance but Burgess has taken the fight into the clinch.
William misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Burgess.

William pulls guard effortlessly.
William trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
William controls Burgess momentarily but Burgess frees himself.

William working for a triangle but Burgess defends it easily.
William pulls Burgess in close to prevent any damage.
Burgess trying to control but William is working from the bottom.
William seems keen to control Burgess's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
William is trying to control the position but Burgess postures up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
William throws a nice elbow from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Burgess throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
William seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Burgess tries to sprawl but William drives through with a takedown into half guard.
William is nestled in close to Burgess, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Burgess looks like he's trying to stand up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

William postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Burgess to stand up.
Richard Burgess seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
William shoots for a double leg takedown but Burgess sprawls well. He's pushed William's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Daren William. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Burgess throws an ugly left hook that misses

and William counters by clinching up.
William fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

William breaks from the clinch.
William stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and William wants it to stay on the feet.
As Burgess looks to move away, William throws a big counter combo but Burgess just gets out of the way.

William shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Burgess's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
William working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
William postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
William works over Burgess with some ground and pound from guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daren William 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.

William shoots for a double leg takedown but Burgess sprawls well. He's pushed William's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Burgess closes the distance and clinches.
Burgess jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as William walks away with a smile on his face. Burgess gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Burgess misses with a takedown attempt

and William decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Burgess's guard.

William stands up and waves to Burgess to follow him.
Burgess leaves William with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Burgess has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as William is landing a low percentage of strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
William closes this distance looking for a takedown but Burgess circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Daren William. That's going to take a lot out of him.
William fails with a takedown attempt.
Burgess is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Burgess tries to sprawl but William drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Ground and pound from William.

William is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Burgess doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time William.
William takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
William keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

William is working for a submission of some sort.
Still in half guard, William seems content to control.
William will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
William lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
William lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
William working over Burgess with some ground and pound. Burgess looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
William scoring with strikes to the body and head.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
William lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
William scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
William looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
William lands with a punch from half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
William working over Burgess with some ground and pound. Burgess looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Burgess tries to kick William off but William keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daren William dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

William changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Burgess looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Burgess explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!

Burgess rushes William and presses him up against the cage.
Burgess tries to pull guard but William forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
William is trying to pull guard but Burgess has him pressed against the cage.

William jumps guard and drags Burgess to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
William not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
This has been an exciting period of action!
William pulls Burgess in close to his closed guard and prevents Burgess from doing any damage or advancing position.
Burgess takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

William is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Burgess defends well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

William is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Burgess is aware though and is defending well.
William trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

William looking for a guillotine here but Burgess defends easily.
William trying to keep a closed guard but Burgess is proving a slippery customer.

That's two 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.

William looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
William is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Burgess can do to turn this around?
William looking to control.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

William escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Burgess gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
William is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Burgess tries to bum rush William with a series of wild strikes but William uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
No luck for Burgess with that takedown attempt.
William feinted with a counter takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

William shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Burgess napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Burgess is letting William control him for a moment.
William is chipping away with strikes.

William decides to take the fight back to the feet.
William shoots in looking for a takedown but Burgess manages to keep the fight standing, pushing William's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by William or perhaps it was just good defense by Burgess, which made it look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Daren William. That's going to take a lot out of him.

William looking to score a takedown here. Burgess is defending well but William drives through and ends up in Burgess's guard.
Burgess has momentary wrist control but William slips an elbow through the middle.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
William lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Burgess is trying to control the position from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Daren William.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for William, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Francis DeMontford scores the fight 30:28
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Daren William!