PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Barney Rasmussen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Whitehead (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). James Whitehead looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Rasmussen
vs
Whitehead

166 cm
18
161 lbs
1 - 6 - 0

172 cm
21
152 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 6 - 0, fighting out of London, Barney Rasmussen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, James Whitehead!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, William Gold and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rasmussen circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rasmussen tries to close the distance and clinch but Whitehead swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Whitehead has managed to clinch.
Rasmussen is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Whitehead is defending well.

Whitehead breaks the clinch.
Whitehead tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

Whitehead moves into the clinch.
Rasmussen tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Whitehead smiles and moves away.

Whitehead shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Whitehead was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Rasmussen manages to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rasmussen has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Whitehead is working away from the top position though.
Rasmussen is pressing down on Whitehead's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Rasmussen has a closed guard, preventing Whitehead from standing up.
Rasmussen is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Whitehead postures up.

Whitehead stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Whitehead fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Whitehead throws a head kick that misses.
Whitehead lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Rasmussen closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Whitehead manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Rasmussen on his heels. He'll look to pass Rasmussen's guard now, I'm sure.
Whitehead looks winded!
Rasmussen is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Whitehead won't allow Rasmussen to sweep him here.
Whitehead is fighting to break Rasmussen's control of his arms but Rasmussen is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Whitehead tries to free his leg and advance position but Rasmussen is retaining full guard.
Rasmussen keeping moving, preventing Whitehead from controlling successfully.
Rasmussen seems keen to control Whitehead's posture.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitehead sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Whitehead doesn't manage to clinch there - Rasmussen circles away.
Rasmussen appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.

Whitehead clinches up with Rasmussen and pushes him back against the cage.
Rasmussen fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Barney Rasmussen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rasmussen has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Whitehead after a bit of a struggle.
Nice elbow from Whitehead.
Whitehead throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Rasmussen fails to pull guard.
Whitehead stalling in the clinch.

Rasmussen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Whitehead doesn't manage to clinch there - Rasmussen circles away.
An attempted straight right counter from Rasmussen misses the target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitehead throws a leg kick
and Rasmussen connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Whitehead tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rasmussen is looking to counter punch.

Whitehead drives through with a takedown into Rasmussen's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Rasmussen is on top in guard.

Whitehead is looking to stand up but Rasmussen isn't so interested in that idea.
Rasmussen landing some decent shots from guard.
Whitehead wants to stand up but Rasmussen is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Whitehead 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.

Whitehead drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Whitehead must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Whitehead controlling from the top position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Let's hope that Whitehead has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Whitehead wants to get up but he can't break Rasmussen's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Rasmussen has control of Whitehead's left arm, preventing Whitehead from doing any damage.
Rasmussen can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Whitehead controls the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rasmussen working a defensive guard here.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Rasmussen has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

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

Whitehead instigates a clinch.

Whitehead's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Whitehead takes the fight into the clinch.
Rasmussen tries to pull guard but Whitehead won't allow it.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitehead wants to sweep here but Rasmussen controlling him for the moment.
Whitehead is breathing heavily.
Whitehead working a defensive guard here.

Whitehead working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Rasmussen has passed into half guard!
Whitehead is looking to escape.
Whitehead on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rasmussen thows a huge punch but Whitehead dodges it nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rasmussen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Whitehead's head.
Whitehead avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rasmussen.
Rasmussen is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Whitehead is trying to stand up here but Rasmussen is controlling him well.
Rasmussen looks to land a strike but Whitehead avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Rasmussen throwing strikes from guard but Whitehead blocks nicely.
Rasmussen throwing strikes but missing.
Rasmussen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Rasmussen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Rasmussen won't allow Whitehead to get back to his feet.

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

Rasmussen drives through with a takedown into Whitehead's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Rasmussen working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Rasmussen throwing strikes but missing.

Rasmussen decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rasmussen keeps the fight on the outside.
Rasmussen is looking to counter with a shot to the body.

Rasmussen scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Whitehead pushes Rasmussen off but Rasmussen dives into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barney Rasmussen dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Whitehead throws a half hearted mid kick.
A counter left hand to the body from Rasmussen misses its target.

Whitehead has Rasmussen up against the cage in a clinch.
Whitehead looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Whitehead manages to break the clinch.
Whitehead tries to clinch but Rasmussen is having none of it.
Whitehead tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Whitehead gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Whitehead pressing his opponent against the cage.
Rasmussen tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Whitehead looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Whitehead takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Whitehead scores with a head kick.
Whitehead looks to score with a jab to the body but Rasmussen is just out of range.
Whitehead tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A quick step to the side and Rasmussen tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.

Rasmussen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Rasmussen is working Whitehead over with some ground and pound from side control.
Rasmussen works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

Rasmussen decides to stand back up. Rasmussen steps back and let's Whitehead get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Whitehead throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Rasmussen was covering up waiting for the punch and Whitehead finishes the takedown easily into guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rasmussen has control of Whitehead's left arm, preventing Whitehead from doing any damage.
Whitehead has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Rasmussen's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Whitehead stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rasmussen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Rasmussen is pulling down on Whitehead's head. It's preventing any offense from Whitehead, at least for the moment.
Whitehead trying to control but Rasmussen is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rasmussen pulls Whitehead in to control the position.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Whitehead throws a leg kick
and Rasmussen counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Whitehead will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Whitehead is looking to clinch.
Rasmussen was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Whitehead has managed to clinch.
Rasmussen tries to pull guard but Whitehead holds him up against the cage and eventually Rasmussen drops back down to his feet.
Whitehead lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Rasmussen tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Whitehead smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Barney Rasmussen. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Rasmussen shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Whitehead is trying to defend but Rasmussen finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Whitehead makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

And that's the end of the fight!
James Whitehead comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Whitehead has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29
Judge William Gold scores the fight 27:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Whitehead!
James Whitehead seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.