PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Travis Herald (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kabal Labak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kabal Labak told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Herald
vs
Labak

186 cm
35
191 lbs
15 - 6 - 0

180 cm
28
198 lbs
15 - 15 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Granite chin

KAISER
Sully's Bar & Grill

Sully's Bar & Grill

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Travis Herald!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Kabal Labak!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, James Ackerman and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Herald takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Labak rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Herald counters with a thumping low kick.
Labak uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Herald.
Labak swats away the attempt to clinch by Herald.
Labak has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Labak there as he acknowledges the shot.
Labak throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Nice defenses there by Labak.
Herald throws a right hand that misses

and Labak counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Labak throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Herald wants to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Herald is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Labak scores with a couple of nice shots.

Labak trying to work for an americana but Herald has managed to regain full guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Labak wants to control from the top but Herald keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herald has Labak pulled in close to control his posture.
Labak is stalling in the full guard.
Labak wants to control from the top but Herald keeps moving.
Labak looking to pass the guard.
Labak looking to sit in guard and control but Herald gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Labak is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Labak is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Herald sees it coming and defends easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well, if Labak is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Labak misses with a head shot. Herald uses the momentum to regain guard.
Labak working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Herald's head.
Labak working some strikes from top position.
Herald is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Herald holds on and takes a little breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Labak throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Herald works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Labak is looking to pass into half guard but Herald pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Herald is in guard.

Herald preventing the sweep.
Herald stands and throws Labak's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Labak is looking to reverse the position.
Labak is trying to control Herald's posture but Herald avoids it.
Herald trying to control the position but Labak is working away.
Labak tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Herald wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Labak struggling a bit here.
Labak is looking for a sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Labak struggling a bit here.
Labak has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Labak is looking for a sweep.
Labak is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Herald off and has taken his back!
Herald is covering up but some of the strikes from Labak are getting through and doing damage.
Labak is working the ground and pound. Can Herald escape?
Labak scores with strikes from the back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Labak trying to control.
Labak controlling well, preventing Herald from escaping the position.
Herald covering up well and avoiding damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kabal Labak dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Herald lands with a cross.
Herald's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Labak connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Herald scrambles back to his feet.

It looks like Travis Herald has been cut.
Labak misses with an uppercut.
A slow jab from Labak misses its intended target.
Herald tries to clinch but Labak is having none of it.
Labak misses with a straight right.
Labak blocks the body kick.
Labak swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Herald misses with a low kick.
A little jabbing left from Labak on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Labak throws out a loose jab but Herald uses good head movement to avoid it.
Herald scores with a sloppy right hand. Labak should have avoided that one.

Herald moves into the clinch successfully.

Labak's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nice body kick there by Herald.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Labak avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Labak tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Labak avoids the head kick by Herald.
Herald steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Labak.

Herald fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Labak, pushing him back against the cage.
Herald pushes Labak back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Herald fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Labak blocks a body shot from Herald.
Herald misses with a short punch on the inside.
Labak works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Herald scores with an uppercut up the middle.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Labak.
Labak lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Herald wants to break the clinch but can't.
Labak is working Herald over against the cage.
Herald misses with a body punch.
A short left from Herald.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Herald.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Herald.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Labak tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Herald's elbow.
Herald misses with a hook to the ribs.
Herald swings wildly with an uppercut but Labak uses good head movement to avoid it.
Labak lands with a light punch inside.
Herald misses with a short punch on the inside.

Labak breaks from the clinch.
Herald looks to score with a jab to the body but Labak is just out of range.
Labak replies with a solid counter kick to the body but Herald blocks it well.
Herald misses with an uppercut. Labak saw that one coming.
Herald tries to close the distance and clinch up but Labak swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Herald backing away here, and Labak unleashes a leg kick that just misses.

Labak clinches with his opponent.
Labak misses with the head strike.
Travis Herald has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Herald misses with a short punch on the inside.
Herald fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Herald lands a hook that snaps the head of Labak backwards.
Labak tries to throw a body punch but Herald avoids it by throwing Labak back against the cage.
Labak struggles to land a body shot inside as Herald controls his hands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Herald swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Herald prevents a body shot from Labak.
Herald goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Herald's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Herald lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Travis Herald is winning the standup battle so far.
Labak looks to throw the jab but Herald is out of range.
Herald attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Herald swings widly with a right hand
and Labak cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Herald swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Labak.
Labak has a takedown stuffed.
Herald pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Herald misses with an attempted mid kick.
Labak flicks out a counter leg kick but Herald steps away.
Herald lands with a straight right. Labak didn't see that one coming.
Travis Herald is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Labak throws the left hand but Herald avoids the punch easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Labak lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Herald swings away with a body shot that misses
and Labak counters with a left to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Labak fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Herald does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
A big right from Herald misses.
Labak swats away the attempt to clinch by Herald.
Travis Herald seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Labak chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Herald can pounce on him.
Herald throws a low kick but Labak moves out of range easily.
Herald moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Herald connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Labak's hands.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Travis Herald dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Travis Herald's cut.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

A big left from Herald misses.
Labak uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Herald.
Labak takes one on the button.
Herald closes the distance but Labak moves to the side
and Labak counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Labak walks into a stiff left hand from Herald.
Herald ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
An attempted straight right counter from Herald misses the target.
Herald fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Herald throws a sloppy head kick and Labak moves out of range easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Labak connects with a body shot.
Herald fails in his attempt to clinch.
Herald throws a body shot but no joy.
It seemed like Labak was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Herald doesn't manage to clinch there - Labak circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Labak tries to keep at a distance but Herald has taken the fight into the clinch.
Labak lands a hook to the side of the head.
Labak misses with a punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Labak.
Herald has a couple of punches blocked by Labak.
Labak misses with a punch to the body.
Labak working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Labak works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Labak creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A short body shot lands from Labak as the two fighters clinch.
Labak lands a nice uppercut.
Labak cracks Herald with a nice body shot.
Labak tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Labak has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Herald uses from the top position.
Herald stopping the sweep attempt from Labak.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Herald sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Labak's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Herald is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Labak sees it coming and defends easily.
Labak tries to get to full guard but Herald has control of the leg.

Labak actively working from the bottom here.
Labak makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Labak.
Labak is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Labak is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Labak not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Labak working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Labak throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Labak trying to mount his opponent but Herald defends it.
Labak seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Labak not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Labak throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Herald blocking the ground and pound attempt from Labak.
Kabal Labak has got the better of the ground game so far.
Labak thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Herald's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Labak lands with a punch from half guard.
Labak not doing much here.
Labak prevents Herald from improving his position.
Labak working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Herald desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Herald wants to get back to full guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Labak connects with a nice short shot to Herald's temple.
Labak not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kabal Labak comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Labak has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Richard Clark scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kabal Labak!
Kabal Labak made sure to mention his sponsor, Sully's Bar & Grill in his post fight interview.