PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Seymour Lara (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Markus Delap (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Markus Delap was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Lara
vs
Delap

220 cm
22
140 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

172 cm
21
137 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight 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, Seymour Lara!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Markus Delap!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice takedown defense from Lara. No joy for Delap on that attempt.

Lara fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Delap sprawls well initially but Lara persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Delap is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Lara scores with a couple of nice shots.
Lara takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Lara will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Delap missing with punches from the bottom.
Delap throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Lara lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Delap looks like he's trying to stand up.
Lara lands with a punch from half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lara slows the pace down in half guard.
Lara really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Delap is looking to control Lara's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Delap avoid being mounted?
Lara is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Lara there.
Nice strikes from Lara there.
Lara 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.
Delap pushes Lara off looking to stand but Lara dives back in and keeps control.
Lara is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Lara looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Ground and pound from Lara.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Delap wants to get back to his feet.
Lara working over Delap with some ground and pound. Delap looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Lara keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Lara 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.
Lara scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Delap flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Lara lands strikes from half guard.
Nice strikes from Lara there.
Delap pushes Lara off looking to stand but Lara dives back in and keeps control.
Lara working over Delap with some ground and pound. Delap looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Delap is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Lara scores with a couple of nice shots.
Lara landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Delap looking for submissions off his back.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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. Lara connects with a nice short shot to Delap's temple.
Delap is looking to escape.
Lara scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Delap wants to control but Lara is keeping busy.
Lara lands with a punch from half guard.
Lara is controlling the pace.
Delap on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Delap tries to roll over but Lara keeps him under control.
Delap flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Delap looks winded!
Lara content to control rather than advance.
Lara lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lara is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Ground and pound from Lara.
Nice strikes from Lara there.
Lara controlling the pace.
Lara is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Lara looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Delap with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Lara performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Delap has hold of Lara's hands but Lara slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Delap looking for submissions off his back.
Lara performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Delap wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lara seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Lara trying to control the pace.
Lara working over Delap with some ground and pound. Delap looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ground and pound from Lara.
Lara performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Delap tries to kick Lara off but Lara keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Lara slows the pace down in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lara lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Seymour Lara 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.

Delap is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Lara wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Lara with a poor takedown
and Delap counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Delap shoots in but no luck this time.
Delap uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Lara.
Delap is looking for the big counter here.
Lara fails with a takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Delap tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lara paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Lara fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Delap avoids it really well and circles away.
Despite the aggression on Delap's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Seymour Lara. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lara looking to score a takedown here. Delap is defending well but Lara drives through and ends up in Delap's guard.
Delap trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Delap looking to control.
Lara working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Delap's head.
Lara stands up over Delap, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Lara postures up and lands a big shot to Delap's brow.

Delap pushes Lara off and gets back to his feet.

Lara closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Delap to the mat! Delap manages to get full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lara distracts Delap with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lara working some strikes from top position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lara is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Lara wants to control from the top but Delap keeps moving.
Lara working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Lara stops Delap from standing up.
Lara with a nice head shot there.
Lara landing with the ground and pound.
Lara cracks Delap with a solid left hand.
Lara is in close to Delap's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Lara connects with a couple of short punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lara content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Lara controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Lara seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Delap for as long as he can get away with.
Lara postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Lara prevents Delap from getting back to his feet.
Lara lands a couple of elbows.
Lara won't allow Delap to sweep him here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lara content to stall in guard here.
Lara is in close to Delap's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Delap throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Lara working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Delap pushes Lara off and gets back to his feet.
Delap is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Lara changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Delap looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Seymour Lara overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lara landing a few strikes.
Lara controlling from side mount.
Delap is trying to buck Lara off.
Delap striking from the bottom but nothing landed.
Lara controls the position.
Delap takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Lara thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Delap is working to avoid the ground and pound but Lara connects with a decent elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Seymour Lara dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Delap is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Delap looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Lara misses with a jab to the body

and Delap counters by moving into the clinch.
Lara jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Delap walks away with a smile on his face. Lara gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
No luck for Lara with that takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Lara drives through with a takedown into Delap's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lara keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Delap's head.
Lara stands up over Delap, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Delap scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Lara shoots in and drives through. Delap sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Seymour Lara. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lara misses with a takedown attempt - Delap sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
As Lara backs off Delap throws a huge counter combo but Lara manages to avoid it all.
Nice sprawl there from Lara as Delap shoots in.
Horrible takedown attempt by Delap or perhaps it was just good defense by Lara, which made it look bad.
Lara seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Delap takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Lara is defended easily by Delap.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lara shoots in but Delap avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Delap is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Delap stuffs the takedown attempt from Lara. Lara gets slowly back to his feet.
Delap throws a counter combo.
Lara dives in for a single leg takedown but Delap sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Delap throws a counter combo.

Lara tries to keep at a distance but Delap has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Delap manages to pull guard.
Delap wants to stand but Lara is controlling the position.
Lara lands a couple of elbows.
Lara is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Delap wants to get back to his feet but Lara is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Delap looking for a sweep. Not yet Delap, not yet.
Lara postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Delap has momentary wrist control but Lara slips an elbow through the middle.
Lara is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Lara working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Delap working for a triangle but Lara defends it easily.
Lara working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Delap's head.
Markus Delap has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Lara lands a couple of digs.
Lara working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Lara cracks Delap with a solid left hand.
Lara working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Delap's head.
Lara postures up and lands a big shot to Delap's brow.
Lara postures up and lands a big shot to Delap's brow.
Lara with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Delap throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Lara lands a couple of decent looking shots.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Markus Delap.
I think Lara has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Seymour Lara!