PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Owen Rivers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lukasz Patrykowski (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lukasz Patrykowski will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Rivers
vs
Patrykowski

214 cm
24
194 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

181 cm
21
180 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Likes comics

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Likes musicals

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Owen Rivers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Lukasz Patrykowski!
The judges for this bout are Chris Dean, Damien Edna and Ben Watson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Patrykowski shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Rivers manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Patrykowski preventing the sweep.
Patrykowski tries to free his leg and advance position but Rivers is retaining full guard.

Rivers working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Patrykowski doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Patrykowski manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Rivers bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Patrykowski's guard.

Patrykowski throws his legs up looking for a submission but Rivers uses it to pass to side control.
You can see the frustration on Patrykowski's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Patrykowski takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rivers stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Patrykowski shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Patrykowski showed some decent athleticism there.

Rivers manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Patrykowski looks winded!

Patrykowski closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Rivers did well to prevent Patrykowski getting side control.
Rivers wants to get back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Rivers is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Patrykowski pulls his head out easily.
Rivers is pressing down on Patrykowski's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rivers pulls Patrykowski in close to his closed guard and prevents Patrykowski from doing any damage or advancing position.
Patrykowski trying to control the position from guard on top but Rivers is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rivers looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Rivers is on top in guard.

Rivers will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Rivers gets to his feet - Patrykowski follows without any prompting.
Patrykowski swings widly with a right hand

and Rivers counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Patrykowski is looking to control Rivers's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Patrykowski avoid being mounted?
Nice strikes from Rivers there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivers trying to control the pace.
Nice strikes from Rivers there.
Rivers is thwarting Patrykowski's attempts to control the position.
Rivers working over Patrykowski with some ground and pound. Patrykowski looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Rivers working Patrykowski over with strikes.

That's four 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.
Patrykowski on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rivers controlling the action here.
Rivers lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Rivers seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Owen Rivers dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rivers shoots in but Patrykowski avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Patrykowski scores with a takedown into Rivers's guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Rivers is on top in guard.

Rivers gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Patrykowski misses with a double jab

so Rivers counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Patrykowski is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Rivers dives into side control.

Patrykowski is breathing heavily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Patrykowski takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivers happy to just control the position for now.
Patrykowski takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Owen Rivers overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rivers grinds an elbow into Patrykowski's temple.
Rivers scoring with punches and elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Patrykowski taking a bit of punishment here - Rivers scoring with strikes.
Rivers scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Patrykowski to see if he's OK.

Rivers stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Rivers tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Patrykowski swivels and escapes.

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

Rivers kicks Patrykowski off and gets back to his feet.
Rivers shoots in for a takedown but Patrykowski shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Owen Rivers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Patrykowski throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

Rivers scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Patrykowski is looking to get back to his feet here but Rivers is keeping cool and he's managed to take Patrykowski's back.
Rivers throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Patrykowski!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
I would not like to be Patrykowski right now.
Rivers is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Patrykowski. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Rivers connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Patrykowski to escape the position.
Rivers biding his time, controlling Patrykowski.

That's four 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.
Rivers has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Patrykowski.
Patrykowski covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
Rivers has Patrykowski flattened out and is raining down punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Owen Rivers dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

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

Patrykowski pushes Rivers off and scrambles back to his feet.
Rivers fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Patrykowski scores with a head kick.
Lukasz Patrykowski is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Patrykowski stuffs the takedown attempt from Rivers. Rivers gets slowly back to his feet.
Rivers slips a jab and a cross from Patrykowski.

Patrykowski fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Rivers sprawls well initially but Patrykowski persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rivers makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Rivers.
Patrykowski takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rivers tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Rivers is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Patrykowski can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rivers has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Patrykowski can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Rivers has Patrykowski pulled in close to control his posture.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Rivers is on top in guard.

Rivers cracks Patrykowski with a solid left hand.
Rivers landing with the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rivers controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rivers scoring with some ground and pound.
Rivers stands up over Patrykowski, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Rivers with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivers postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Rivers sitting in guard here, content to control.

Patrykowski isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Rivers stacks Patrykowski on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Rivers!
Rivers working the ground and pound.
Rivers lands an elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Rivers decides to stand back up.

Rivers scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Patrykowski tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
Patrykowski wants to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Owen Rivers.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rivers, 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 Chris Dean scores the fight 30:27
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Owen Rivers!
Lukasz Patrykowski spoke after the fight, saying 'Next time I will rec him!!!!'.