PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Lyle Morgan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Omar Little (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Omar Little has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Morgan
vs
Little

175 cm
19
151 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
20
150 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Lyle Morgan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Omar Little!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Matti Vanhoillinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Little shoots in and gets a takedown into Morgan's guard.
Morgan tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morgan is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Little is trying is best to control the position here.
Little is trying to maintain the position but Morgan is very close to passing his half guard.
Little taking some punishment here, with Morgan in his half guard.
Little is refusing to be controlled, as Morgan sits in half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morgan thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Little is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Morgan drops an elbow to the side of Little's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morgan throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Morgan throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Little trying to control but Morgan postures up.

Morgan escapes and gets back to his feet.

Morgan moves into the clinch.
Morgan wants to take the fight to the mat but Little manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

Morgan pulls Little into guard.
Little must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Little trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Morgan bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Little's guard.

Morgan wants to control from the top but Little keeps moving.
Little wants to control the position but Morgan says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Morgan is thwarting Little's attempts to control the position.

Little looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Little looks winded!
Little has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Morgan is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morgan working over Little with some ground and pound. Little looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Morgan wants to lay and pray for a moment but Little keeps working.

Morgan decides to stand and escape the position.

Little fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Morgan to the ground. Little is now in Morgan's guard.

Morgan has his feet on Little's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

Little clinches up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgan is looking for a takedown.
Morgan tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyle Morgan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Little prevents the takedown attempt.

Little breaks the clinch.

Little looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Morgan trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

Morgan working for a triangle but Little defends it easily.
Little trying to control the position from guard on top but Morgan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lyle Morgan 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.

Little shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Morgan manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Morgan is trying to keep Little in close.
Morgan looking for a sweep. Not yet Morgan, not yet.
Little wants to control from the top but Morgan keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Morgan working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Little doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Little manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Morgan is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Lyle Morgan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Morgan is on top in guard.

Little wants to stand up but Morgan is controlling him.
Morgan with a flurry of punches that miss.
Morgan postures up in Little's guard and throws a big left but Little blocks it.
Morgan throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Morgan trying to control but Little is working from the bottom.
Little wants to sweep but no luck.
Little really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Morgan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Little is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Morgan content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Little is looking to sweep but instead, Morgan has passed into half guard.

Morgan decides to stand up.

Little shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Morgan manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Little keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morgan has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Little is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Morgan is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Little gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Little will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Morgan up against the cage.
Little is pressed up against the cage. Morgan has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Little down to the mat. Little avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyle Morgan. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Morgan has managed to clinch.
Little prevents the takedown attempt.

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

Little feints and as Morgan raises his hands in defense, Little changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Morgan has his feet on Little's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Morgan is looking to break free of the clinch but Little has double underhooks.
Morgan fails to pull guard.

Morgan has Little pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Morgan pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Little tumbling to the mat - Morgan dives into Little's guard.

Little kicks Morgan off and gets to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lyle Morgan dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Little closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Morgan did well to prevent Little getting side control.
Morgan tries to get to full guard but Little has control of the leg.
Little is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Little slips a nice elbow through Morgan's hands, connecting with Morgan's forehead.
Morgan moves into full guard.
Morgan has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Morgan looking to hit a scissor sweep but Little is one step ahead there.
Morgan lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Little will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Morgan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Little can do to turn this around?
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Little managing to control the position.

Little looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Morgan has picked Little up and slammed him! Little can't keep hold of the triangle and Morgan manages to pass to side control!

Morgan decides to stand back up.
Little tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Morgan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Morgan throws a big counter combination but Little scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Morgan tries to clinch but Little is having none of it.

Little scores with a takedown into Morgan's guard.

Morgan manages to escape and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morgan blocks a head kick by Little.

Morgan clinches with his opponent.
Morgan landing knees to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Little manages to break the clinch.
Little scores with a three punch combo!
Lyle Morgan is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Morgan rushes Little and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Morgan wants a takedown but no success here.
Morgan looking for a takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Little escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Little shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Little was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Morgan bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Morgan circles away from the clinch attempt.

Little closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Morgan did well to prevent Little getting side control.

Morgan pushes Little off and gets back to his feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Little tries to clinch up but Morgan circles away and keeps his distance.
Morgan appears to be looking for a big counter.
Morgan avoids the head kick by Little.

Little scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Morgan kicks Little off and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Little pushes Morgan up against the cage in a clinch.
Stalling in the clinch from Little.
Morgan tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyle Morgan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morgan tries to pull guard but Little forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Little breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Little throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Morgan.
Morgan drops down looking for a counter takedown but Little sprawls and moves away.

Morgan takes the fight into the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lyle Morgan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Morgan, 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lyle Morgan!