PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Willie Salazar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Jackson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Salazar
vs
Jackson

185 cm
24
170 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

183 cm
27
180 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Voodoo Nutrition

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Willie Salazar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Eric Jackson!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Tiny Johnson and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jackson lands a high kick!
Salazar fails with an attempt to clinch.
Jackson throws a head kick that misses.
Salazar misses with a wild combination.
Salazar misses with a wild combination.
Jackson lands a nice looking kick to the body. Salazar takes a step back to recover.
Jackson has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.

Jackson closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Jackson stalling the fight.
Jackson lands a knee to the head.
Jackson is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Salazar is defending well for now.
Jackson is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Jackson lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Jackson landing knees to the head.
Jackson scores a nice knee to the body.
Jackson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Salazar wants to break the clinch but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jackson gets through Salazar's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Salazar looking for a takedown.
Salazar misses with the head strike.
Salazar lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Jackson lands a hook to the side of the head.
Jackson scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Salazar tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Salazar taking a breather.

Jackson manages to break the clinch.
Salazar fails with a takedown attempt.
Jackson connects with a leg kick. Salazar looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.

Jackson moves into the clinch.
Jackson lands a body shot in the clinch.
Jackson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salazar goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Jackson manages to break the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Jackson clobbers Salazar with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Salazar fails with an attempt to clinch.
It seemed like Jackson was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.

Jackson gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Jackson manages to break the clinch.
Jackson is looking to land body kicks.

Jackson closes the distance and clinches.
Jackson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Jackson throws a knee to the head but misses.
Jackson stalling against the cage.
Jackson landing knees to the head.
Jackson lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Jackson lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Salazar takes a knee right on the jaw!
Jackson pushes Salazar back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Jackson throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salazar blocks it with crossed arms.
Jackson avoiding damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Jackson.
Salazar with an attempt at a knee that misses.
I was talking to Salazar's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Jackson throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
A short uppercut from Jackson.
Jackson lands an elbow just above Salazar 's eye.
Salazar tries to pull guard but Jackson forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Willie Salazar. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Salazar ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Salazar no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Jackson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Jackson wants to control from the top but Salazar keeps moving.
Jackson wants to stand and escape but instead Salazar has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Salazar postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Jackson looking to control.
Jackson is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salazar looking to pass the guard.
Salazar loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Jackson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Salazar 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.
Jackson keeping moving, preventing Salazar from controlling successfully.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Jackson manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Jackson stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Jackson lands a right hand.
Jackson creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Salazar's defenses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Jackson 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.

Nice body kick from Jackson.
Salazar tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Jackson paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Jackson closes the distance and clinches.
Jackson lands a shoulder strike.
Salazar trying to land knees to the body.
Salazar lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Jackson backwards.
Jackson lands with a left to the head.
Salazar has Jackson pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Jackson manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Jackson lands an elbow that stopped Salazar in his tracks for a moment.
Jackson using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Jackson's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Jackson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Jackson has managed to clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Jackson using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Salazar has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Salazar is trying to pull guard but Jackson turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Come on Jackson - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Jackson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Jackson scores with a hook to the body.
Jackson throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salazar blocks it with crossed arms.
Jackson leaning against his opponent.
Jackson with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Eric Jackson seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
A nice left hand lands by Salazar.
Jackson is struggling to control the position.
Jackson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Salazar pulls guard.

Jackson gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Jackson comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Salazar pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Jackson back to the cage. Salazar follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Salazar throws a body shot but no joy.
Jackson keeps the fight on the outside.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Jackson rushes Salazar and presses him up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salazar throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Jacksons head.
Salazar lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

Jackson breaks from the clinch.
Salazar moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Jackson throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Salazar's head.
Eric Jackson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Salazar moves into the clinch.
Stalling in the clinch from Jackson.
Salazar swings wildly with an uppercut but Jackson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Salazar doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Salazar misses with some punches.
Jackson avoids a wild elbow strike from Salazar.
Salazar misses with a punch on the inside.
Jackson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Salazar can't break the clinch.
Nice elbow from Jackson.
Salazar tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jackson with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Jackson pushes Salazar back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Jackson lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Salazar backwards.
Jackson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Jackson with a knee to the head.

Salazar is rocked!
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Jackson creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Oh Salazar is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
With the fighters up against the cage, Salazar throws an elbow but misses.
Jackson lands an uppercut.
Jackson keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Salazar's efforts to push away.
Salazar fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Willie Salazar. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Jackson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Salazar seems to have got his legs back now.
Jackson lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Salazar.
Jackson is pressed up against the cage. Salazar has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Jackson down to the mat. Jackson avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Jackson lands a high kick!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Jackson scores with a nice head shot.
Jackson connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salazar takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
A head kick from Jackson lands but Salazar takes it in his stride.

Salazar takes the fight into the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Jackson.
Jackson throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Jackson lands a knee to the body.
Jackson lands a damaging elbow.
Jackson landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Salazar lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Jackson.
Salazar misses with the head strike.
Salazar wants to break the clinch but can't.
Jackson lands a nice uppercut.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Jackson lands with a short shot to the head.
Jackson creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Salazar's defenses.
Jackson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Knees in the clinch landing for Jackson.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Jackson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Jackson darts in and clinches Salazar up against the cage.
Salazar lands a left hand.
Salazar tries to pull guard but Jackson holds him up against the cage and eventually Salazar drops back down to his feet.
Jackson with a knee to the head.
Salazar swings wildly with an uppercut but Jackson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Salazar tries to pull guard but Jackson forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Jackson breaks the clinch.
Jackson throws a head kick that half lands.

Jackson clinches up with Salazar and pushes him back against the cage.
Jackson gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Jackson with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Salazar misses with an elbow strike.
Jackson connects with a nasty looking knee right to Salazar's face.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Jackson lands an uppercut.
Jackson lands a right hand.
Jackson scores with a knee to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salazar takes an elbow to the forehead.
Jackson throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salazar blocks it with crossed arms.
Jackson prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Willie Salazar. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Salazar misses with some punches.
Jackson gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Salazar.
Jackson lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Salazar backwards.
Jackson throws a knee to the head but misses.

Jackson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Jackson moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Jackson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Salazar paws at him with a jab and circles away.
It looked like Salazar was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Jackson keeps Salazar at a distance using the push kick.
Salazar goes for a double leg but Jackson avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Jackson continues to drive forward.
Jackson takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salazar is looking to clinch but Jackson is avoiding it.
Salazar bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Jackson tries a head kick but it misses.
Salazar is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Jackson throws a head kick but Salazar moves out of range.
Jackson lands with a cross.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Jackson clinches.
Jackson tries a knee to the head but Salazar blocks it.
Jackson lands a nice uppercut.
Jackson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Jackson lands with a left to the head.
Jackson lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Salazar softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Salazar scores with a hook to the body.
Salazar is trying to push Jackson away but Jackson has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Salazar.
Jackson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Jackson lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Salazar's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A bit of stalling here from Jackson.
Salazar misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Jackson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Jackson lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Salazar backwards.
Salazar is looking to break free of the clinch but Jackson has double underhooks.
Salazar wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Jackson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Salazar throws a head kick that misses.
Salazar closes the distance and clinches up with Jackson, looking for a takedown. Salazar pushes Jackson against the cage but Jackson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Jackson smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Jackson throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Salazar.
Jackson connects with a high kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Salazar closes the distance and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salazar drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Jackson gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Jackson lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Jackson prevents the takedown attempt.
Salazar drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Jackson gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Salazar jumps guard but Jackson stands there with Salazar around his waist. Salazar gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Salazar tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Eric Jackson is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Salazar is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Jackson is defending well for now.
Stalling in the clinch from Jackson.
A nice left hand lands by Jackson.
Willie Salazar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Salazar throws a head punch that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eric Jackson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Jackson 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eric Jackson!
Eric Jackson seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.