PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Brenden Abbott (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Greg Ward (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brenden Abbott has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Abbott
vs
Ward

179 cm
37
186 lbs
38 - 18 - 0

178 cm
29
183 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

KnockOut
Conviction

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 38 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Brenden Abbott!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Greg Ward!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Sergei Dronov and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Abbott misses with a jab, cross combination.
Abbott displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Ward.
Ward scores with a nice right hand.
Ward tries for a takedown but Abbott circles away easily
and Abbott counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Abbott throws a hook to the side of Ward's head but Ward sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Ward misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Abbott.
Abbott tries to counter with a takedown but Ward is quick to defend against it.
Abbott fails to land with a series of punches.
Abbott goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Ward scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Ward shoots in looking for a takedown but Abbott manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Ward's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Brenden Abbott has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Greg Ward.
Ward keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Abbott misses with a looping left.
Ward uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Abbott.
Abbott tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Abbott throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Ward shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Ward showed some decent athleticism there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abbott is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Ward seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Abbott wants to control but Ward is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Abbott is trying to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ward is looking to take a break and control but Abbott is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ward not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ward is trying to control. Abbott wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Abbott is controlling Ward's trapped leg to prevent Ward from advancing to side control.

That's two 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.
Ward thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Abbott's head.
Ward is thwarting Abbott's attempts to control the position.
Ward trying to control the action but Abbott is working from the bottom.
Ward thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Abbott's head.
Abbott manages to get to full guard.
Ward trying to control the position from guard on top but Abbott is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Abbott holds on and takes a little breather.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward shoots in but Abbott avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Ward checks a low kick from Abbott.
A swing and a miss from Abbott.
Abbott lands with a thumping leg kick.
Ward misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Abbott misses with a low kick.
Ward shoots in and drives through. Abbott sprawls well.
A swing and a miss from Abbott.
Abbott connects with an inside leg kick.
Abbott tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ward was well out of range. Poor timing from Abbott.

Ward 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.
Ward wants to control from the top but Abbott keeps moving.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Ward throwing strikes from guard but Abbott blocks nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ward wants to control from the top but Abbott keeps moving.
Abbott pulls Ward in close to his closed guard and prevents Ward from doing any damage or advancing position.
Ward postures up.
Abbott is controlling Ward's posture.
Ward missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Abbott not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Abbott closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Abbott is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.
Abbott misses with a body shot.
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 Brenden Abbott will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Abbott thows a leg kick but Ward checks it

and Ward counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Abbott is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Ward manages to get to full guard.
Ward trying to control the position.
Ward pulls Abbott in to control the position.
Abbott looking to pass the guard.
Abbott is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ward 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.
Ward is trying to control the position but Abbott postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward keeping moving, preventing Abbott from controlling successfully.
Abbott sitting in guard here, content to control.
Greg Ward has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ward bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Abbott's guard.

Ward throws a big right hand that misses.
Abbott not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Abbott tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ward is looking to work some ground and pound but Abbott has wrist control.
Ward lands a couple of digs.
Abbott keeping moving, preventing Ward from controlling successfully.
Ward has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abbott looking to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ward misses with an uppercut. Abbott saw that one coming.
Abbott takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Some bone on bone action there as Ward checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Ward scores with a punch to the head.
Good standup being displayed there by Abbott as he connects with a hook.
Abbott on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Ward connects with a crisp jab.
Ward shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Abbott as he jumps to the side.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nice defenses there by Abbott.
Ward is trying hard to land a takedown here. Abbott sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Ward walks into a stiff left hand from Abbott.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Abbott fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Ward lands a nice shot to the body.
Ward throws a combination that misses
and Abbott counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Ward ducks under a wild hook from Abbott.
Abbott scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Ward!
Abbott uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Ward.
Abbott misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Abbott looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Ward is fending him off so far but Abbott persists. Nope, Ward circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brenden Abbott. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Abbott stuffs the takedown attempt from Ward. Ward gets slowly back to his feet.
Nice shot by Abbott.

Ward is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Crack! Abbott connects with the perfect overhand right and Ward falls face first to the canvas. Timbeeeeeeeer! Beautiful knockout for Abbott!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:09 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Brenden Abbott!
Brenden Abbott was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.