PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Michael Alastair (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xarel Vaex (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alastair comes to the ring accompanied by Look At Me Now by Chris Brown. Michael Alastair had a look across the ring there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Alastair
vs
Vaex

199 cm
20
220 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

197 cm
18
245 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Hates pizza

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Michael Alastair!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Xarel Vaex!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Tiny Johnson and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Vaex instigates a clinch.
Vaex tries to land knees in the clinch but Alastair avoids the damage to the body.
Vaex lands an elbow just above Alastair 's eye.

It looks like Michael Alastair has been cut.
Vaex misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Alastair.
Alastair blocks an elbow strike from Vaex.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Vaex throws an elbow but misses.
Vaex is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alastair is defending well for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alastair is trying to break free.
Vaex unloads a knee to the mid-section. Alastair lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Vaex with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alastair takes an elbow to the forehead.
Vaex lands an elbow just above Alastair 's eye.
Alastair on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Vaex tries to land a knee to the head but Alastair blocks with his arms.

Vaex breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Alastair misses with the combination.
Alastair is breathing heavily.

Vaex tries to keep at a distance but Alastair has taken the fight into the clinch.
Alastair fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alastair can't break the clinch.
Alastair wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Vaex connects with a nasty looking knee right to Alastair's face.
Vaex is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alastair is defending well for now.

Vaex breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Vaex clinches.
Vaex tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alastair avoids it.
Vaex trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vaex trying to land knees to the body.

Vaex pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Vaex tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Alastair paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Alastair throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Vaex.
Vaex wants to clinch.
Alastair misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Alastair throws a combination that misses

and Vaex moves into the clinch.
Alastair looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Vaex creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Alastair's defenses.
Vaex missing with knees to the body.
Vaex is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

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

Vaex has closed the distance and engaged Alastair in a clinch.
Vaex with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Vaex landing knees to the body.
Vaex is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alastair is defending well for now.
Alastair takes a knee to the side of the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Vaex landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Vaex unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Vaex pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xarel Vaex dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Michael Alastair's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Vaex tries to clinch up but Alastair circles away and keeps his distance.
Vaex showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Alastair.
Vaex fails with a takedown attempt.
Vaex tries a head kick but it misses.
Vaex explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Vaex shoots in for a takedown but Alastair shows good takedown defense.
Vaex tries to clinch but Alastair moves out of range.
Vaex tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Vaex pushes Alastair up against the ropes in a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vaex creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Alastair's defenses.
Vaex misses with some punches.
Vaex with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alastair wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Vaex has him pressed against the ropes.
Vaex blocks an elbow strike from Alastair.
Alastair blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Vaex tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Alastair jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Vaex walks away with a smile on his face. Alastair gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Alastair avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Vaex tries to clinch up but Alastair circles away and keeps his distance.
Alastair leaves Vaex with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Alastair went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Michael Alastair has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Xarel Vaex.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Some wild striking there from Alastair.
Vaex flicks out a counter leg kick but Alastair steps away.
Vaex fails with an attempt to clinch.
Vaex shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Alastair but Alastair pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Vaex tries to clinch up.
Alastair is looking for a counter combo.

Vaex closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Alastair manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Alastair displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Vaex.

Vaex rushes Alastair and presses him up against the ropes.
Vaex connects with a knee to the head.
Vaex tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alastair avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vaex tries to land knees in the clinch but Alastair avoids the damage to the body.
Vaex has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Vaex trying to land knees to the body.

Alastair breaks from the clinch.
Vaex tries to clinch up.
Vaex closes this distance looking for a takedown but Alastair circles away.
No joy there for Alastair, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Vaex is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Alastair shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Vaex pinned against the ropes. Vaex gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Vaex is looking to clinch but Alastair is avoiding it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alastair throws a series of punches but Vaex avoids them all with ease.
Vaex looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Alastair is fending him off so far but Vaex persists. Nope, Alastair circles away and we're back to standing.

Vaex has taken the fight to the clinch.
Vaex tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Vaex is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alastair is defending well for now.
Vaex missing with knees to the body.
Vaex throws an elbow that misses.
Alastair lands a left hand that snaps the head of Vaex backwards.
Vaex pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Michael Alastair will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Michael Alastair's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Vaex tries to clinch there but Alastair circles away.
Alastair half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Vaex fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Vaex tries to clinch but Alastair is having none of it.
Alastair fails to land with a series of punches.
Alastair misses with the combination.
Alastair slaps away a takedown attempt from Vaex, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Horrible takedown attempt by Vaex or perhaps it was just good defense by Alastair, which made it look bad.
Michael Alastair has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Xarel Vaex.
Alastair misses with a wild combination.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Vaex closes the distance and pushes Alastair back into the ropes.
Vaex comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vaex lands a nice knee to the body.
Alastair takes an elbow to the temple.
Knees to the body from Vaex.
Alastair on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Vaex tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Vaex tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alastair avoids it.
Vaex comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vaex fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Vaex misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Alastair.
Alastair is trying to break the clinch but Vaex is controlling him.
Alastair managing to block the knees to the body from Vaex.

Vaex breaks the clinch.
Vaex tries to clinch there but Alastair circles away.
Alastair tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Vaex manages to circle out of the way.
Vaex closes this distance looking for a takedown but Alastair circles away.
Alastair lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Vaex circles away quickly and effectively.
Vaex tries to counter with a clinch but Alastair shakes him off and moves away.
Vaex moves in looking to clinch but Alastair pushes him off.
Alastair is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Vaex.
Vaex shoots for a double leg takedown but Alastair sprawls well. He's pushed Vaex's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alastair misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Vaex clinches up with Alastair and pushes him back against the ropes.
Alastair on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Alastair takes an elbow to the forehead.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Vaex just misses with a elbow thrown towards Alastair's brow.
Vaex utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Vaex throws an elbow but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alastair dodges an elbow strike from Vaex.
Vaex trying to land knees to the body.

Vaex pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Vaex dodges the punch combination from Alastair.
Alastair sets himself, and Vaex steps forward looking for the clinch! Alastair avoids it this time.
Vaex wants to clinch.
Vaex shoots for a takedown but Alastair saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Alastair attempts a counter takedown but Vaex avoids it well and moves away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Alastair rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Vaex moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Vaex fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Alastair, pushing him back against the ropes.
Alastair on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xarel Vaex comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Vaex 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xarel Vaex!
Michael Alastair spoke after the fight, saying 'I'd like to thank my fans for their support!'.