PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mitch Pace (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Haitam Swaber (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Pace
vs
Swaber

200 cm
18
193 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

188 cm
25
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Very confident

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mitch Pace!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Haitam Swaber !
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Swaber misses with some punches.
Pace is working for takedown but Swaber is calmly controlling the position for now.
Pace tries to pull guard but Swaber forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Pace goes for a takedown attempt but Swaber pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mitch Pace. That's going to take a lot out of him.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Pace drags the fight down to the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Swaber avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Swaber stands up from Pace's guard - Swaber perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pace gets tackled into the cage by Swaber . Swaber maintains the clinch.
Pace blocks an elbow strike.
Pace wants a takedown.

Swaber breaks the clinch.

Swaber clinches up against the cage.
Pace is trying to pull guard but Swaber has him pressed against the cage.
Pace tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Swaber just stands there and leans against the cage.
Swaber gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Mitch Pace has been cut.
Swaber misses with a knee strike.

Swaber has clasped his hands together around Pace's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Swaber looks winded!
Pace is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pace gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pace flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Pace throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

Pace looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Swaber blocks the strikes from Pace.
Pace is looking for a sweep. Swaber is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Pace missing with punches from the bottom.
Pace really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pace makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Pace.
Swaber not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Swaber trying to control but Pace is working from the bottom.
Pace wants to sweep here but Swaber controlling him for the moment.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Pace working for a triangle but Swaber defends it easily.

Pace working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Swaber doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Swaber manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Swaber clinches with his opponent.

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

Swaber feints and as Pace raises his hands in defense, Swaber changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Pace lands a decent shot there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pace bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Swaber 's guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pace trying to control but Swaber is working from the bottom.
Pace lands a couple of decent looking shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Haitam Swaber dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Mitch Pace'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.

Pace gets tackled into the cage by Swaber . Swaber maintains the clinch.
Swaber manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Swaber throws an elbow but it misses.
Swaber looking to slow down the pace here.

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

Swaber moves into range and clinches up with Pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pace blocks the elbow strike.
Swaber displaying some good clinch control by pressing Pace up against the cage.

Swaber lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Swaber is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Pace manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Pace looking for a sweep. Not yet Pace, not yet.

Swaber drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Swaber jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Pace manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Swaber manages to get himself to full guard.

Pace scoring with some ground and pound.
Swaber 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.
Pace 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.
Pace throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Swaber works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pace loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Swaber trying to keep a closed guard but Pace is proving a slippery customer.
Pace postures up in Swaber 's guard and throws a big left but Swaber blocks it.
Pace will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Pace trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Pace trying to control but Swaber is working from the bottom.
Pace with a nice head shot there.
Pace trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pace loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Swaber working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Pace moves into the clinch.
Swaber has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Pace has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Swaber is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Nice elbow from Swaber .
Pace tries to pull guard but Swaber won't allow it.

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

Swaber has Pace up against the cage in a clinch.
Swaber misses with a knee to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

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

Pace 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.
Pace is standing up over Swaber . Swaber looks to escape but Pace dives into side control.
Pace sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Swaber is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pace cracks Swaber with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Pace is putting a hurting on Swaber here, landing some big shots from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Haitam Swaber will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Mitch Pace's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Pace shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Swaber 's guard.
Swaber utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Pace trying to control the position from guard on top but Swaber is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Swaber working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pace.
Pace works over Swaber with some ground and pound from guard.
Pace loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pace scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Pace makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Swaber takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Pace wants to pass the guard but Swaber is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pace throwing strikes from guard but Swaber blocks nicely.
Pace scoring with punches to the head and body.
Pace connects with a couple of short punches.
Pace in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Pace's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Pace trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Pace throws a big right hand that misses.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Swaber shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Pace's guard.
Swaber must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Pace bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Swaber 's guard.

Swaber is trying to keep Pace in close.
Pace trying to control but Swaber is working from the bottom.

Pace drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Swaber dives on top into guard.

Pace manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Swaber manages to get himself to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Swaber controlling Pace's posture.
Pace landing some decent shots from guard.
Pace wants to control from the top but Swaber keeps moving.
Pace throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Pace is stalling in the full guard.
Swaber seems keen to control Pace's posture.
Swaber wants to sweep here but Pace controlling him for the moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pace works over Swaber with some ground and pound from guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mitch Pace showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Swaber 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Haitam Swaber !