PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jamar Hickman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yahir Kepplinger (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jamar Hickman has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Hickman
vs
Kepplinger

169 cm
18
151 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

150 cm
20
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Brawler
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jamar Hickman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Yahir Kepplinger!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Lou da Vinci and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kepplinger clinches with his opponent.

Kepplinger breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hickman throws a one two combo.

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

Hickman actively working from the bottom here.
Kepplinger trying to pass the guard but Hickman defending well.

Hickman has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Kepplinger escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Kepplinger!
Hickman manages to work his way to half guard, despite Kepplinger's best efforts.
Hickman slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kepplinger is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Kepplinger wants to control from the top but Hickman keeps moving.
Hickman throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Hickman had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Kepplinger defends it easily.
Kepplinger with a nice head shot there.
Kepplinger is in close to Hickman's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Kepplinger throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

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.
Hickman keeping moving, preventing Kepplinger from controlling successfully.

Hickman has his foot on Kepplinger's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Kepplinger works his way back into a safe position though.

Hickman is looking for a triangle but Kepplinger pushes his legs off easily.
Hickman is breathing heavily.
Kepplinger landing with the ground and pound.
Kepplinger stopping the sweep attempt from Hickman.

Hickman is working an open guard so Kepplinger takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

Kepplinger closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Hickman quickly recovers to half guard.
Kepplinger keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Kepplinger trying to control from half guard but Hickman is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kepplinger moves nicely into side control.
Hickman defending against the ground and pound.

Kepplinger decides to stand up, so the ref orders Hickman to his feet.
Kepplinger shoots in for a takedown but Hickman shows good takedown defense.
Jamar Hickman is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kepplinger bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hickman tries to clinch but Kepplinger is having none of it.
Kepplinger is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.
Hickman moves into range and connects with a jab.

Hickman closes the distance and pushes Kepplinger back into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hickman wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kepplinger has him pressed against the cage.
The referee is keeping an eye on Kepplinger - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kepplinger is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Hickman gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Hickman is fighting off a takedown attempt but Kepplinger is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Hickman to the mat. Hickman regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Hickman pushes Kepplinger off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kepplinger looks to throw a body kick
and Hickman counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kepplinger tries to clinch but Hickman moves out of range.
Hickman appears to be looking for a counter takedown.

Hickman tries to sprawl but Kepplinger drives through with a takedown into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jamar Hickman will probably get the nod.
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.

Hickman with a hook.

Kepplinger moves into the clinch successfully.

Kepplinger breaks the clinch.
Hickman chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Kepplinger can pounce on him.

Kepplinger rushes Hickman and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Kepplinger tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hickman just stands there and leans against the cage.
Kepplinger avoiding damage as Hickman throws knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kepplinger pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Kepplinger throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hickman connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Hickman sizes up Kepplinger with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kepplinger has Hickman up against the cage in a clinch.
Kepplinger fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Hickman tries to break free but Kepplinger pushes him back against the cage.
Kepplinger just leaning against Hickman, taking a breather.
Hickman is trying to break free.
Hickman stops a takedown attempt from Kepplinger.
Jamar Hickman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yahir Kepplinger.
Kepplinger is breathing heavily.
Kepplinger tries to pull guard but Hickman holds him up against the cage and eventually Kepplinger drops back down to his feet.
Kepplinger wants to break free but Hickman has control.

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.
Kepplinger has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Hickman is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Kepplinger keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Hickman's efforts to push away.

Hickman pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Kepplinger shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Hickman tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Kepplinger manages to move to mount!
Hickman is trying desperately to improve position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hickman regains half guard.

Hickman looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Hickman is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Kepplinger pulls his head out easily.

Hickman looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Yahir Kepplinger has got the better of the ground game so far.
Kepplinger trying to control the action but Hickman is working from the bottom.
Kepplinger scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Hickman is looking to escape.
Kepplinger takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Kepplinger is looking for a kimura here.
Hickman is trying to stand.
Kepplinger prevents Hickman from improving his position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hickman punching from the bottom.
Kepplinger trying to control the action but Hickman is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Yahir Kepplinger will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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!

Hickman fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Kepplinger, pushing him back against the cage.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

Kepplinger escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hickman punishes Kepplinger's body with a nice straight punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kepplinger tries to clinch up but Hickman circles away and keeps his distance.
As Kepplinger tries to get set, Hickman tries to push him back and clinch up but Kepplinger manages to avoid the attempt.
Nice sprawl there from Hickman as Kepplinger shoots in.
Hickman digs a good body shot into Kepplinger's ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kepplinger shoots in for a takedown but Hickman shows good takedown defense.
Hickman is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Kepplinger.
Kepplinger takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Kepplinger darts in and clinches Hickman up against the cage.
Kepplinger is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Hickman to keep the fight standing.
Jamar Hickman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yahir Kepplinger.
Hickman wants to break the clinch but can't.
Hickman is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Kepplinger tries a body shot but Hickman blocks it.

Hickman manages to break the clinch.
Kepplinger throws a body kick that misses
and Hickman counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Kepplinger walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Kepplinger takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hickman tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kepplinger swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Hickman works over Kepplinger's head and body with a nice combination.

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

Hickman has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Kepplinger off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hickman scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Hickman scores with a crisp jab that stopped Kepplinger in his tracks.
Hickman tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick by Kepplinger misses
and Hickman counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Hickman throws a nice looking combination but Kepplinger bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Kepplinger circles away from the clinch attempt.
A punch lands to the side of Kepplinger 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Hickman is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
A nice combination there by Hickman.
Yahir Kepplinger is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A decent looking cross lands there for Hickman.
Hickman connects with a single shot there.
Kepplinger swats away the attempt to clinch by Hickman.
Kepplinger fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hickman fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

Kepplinger is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Hickman's half guard.

Hickman makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hickman closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Jamar Hickman is winning the standup battle so far.
Hickman rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kepplinger moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Kepplinger shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Kepplinger takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Kepplinger throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Hickman lunges at Kepplinger with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Kepplinger's hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jamar Hickman showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Hickman has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Jorge Garcia scores the fight 29:29
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!