PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Phil Maroni (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and TJ Guillard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Guillard is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by White Lines. Phil Maroni has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Maroni
vs
Guillard

177 cm
25
190 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

185 cm
20
188 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Enjoys gardening

Heavy Hitters

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Phil Maroni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, TJ Guillard!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, George Francis and Stewart Dunkirk.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Guillard feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Guillard in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Maroni definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Guillard seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Guillard tries to free his leg and advance position but Maroni is retaining full guard.
Guillard has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Maroni is proving hard to escape from.
Guillard looking to sit in guard and control but Maroni gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maroni working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Maroni postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Guillard tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maroni missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Guillard scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Maroni walks into a left hand.
Guillard looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Guillard falls off balance throwing a combination
and Maroni counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Maroni dives in for a single leg takedown but Guillard sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Guillard throws a jab but it's blocked by Maroni.
Guillard swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Guillard stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Maroni.
Guillard lands with an uppercut that bounces Maroni off the cage and back into range.
Maroni looks to land a combination but Guillard avoids it well.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Guillard misses with an uppercut.

Guillard clinches with his opponent.
Maroni blocks a body shot from Guillard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maroni on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Maroni lands a nice knee to the body.
Maroni stalling.
With the fighters up against the cage, Maroni throws an elbow but misses.
Guillard takes a knee to the side of the body.
Maroni throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Maroni has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Guillard avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Nice body punch from Maroni - that landed with a thud.
Maroni missing with knees to the body.
A body shot lands from Maroni.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maroni goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Maroni misses with a hook to the ribs.
Maroni swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Maroni is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Guillard tries to land knees in the clinch but Maroni avoids the damage to the body.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Guillard is trying to break the clinch but Maroni is controlling him.
Maroni trying to control the position but instead, Guillard has worked for underhooks and has pushed Maroni into the cage.

That's four 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.
Guillard tries to break free but Maroni pushes him back against the cage.
Maroni creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Guillard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
A slapping leg kick lands for Maroni.
Guillard takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Maroni.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Phil Maroni. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Guillard slips a jab and a cross from Maroni.
Guillard lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Maroni tries to clinch but Guillard moves out of range.
Guillard misses with a two punch combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but TJ Guillard will probably get the nod.
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.

Guillard stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Guillard wants it to stay on the feet.
Maroni looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Maroni throws a leg kick which misses Guillard's front leg but catches the back leg as Guillard tries to avoid it.

Guillard clinches with his opponent.
Maroni tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Maroni keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Guillard's efforts to push away.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Guillard is looking to break free of the clinch but Maroni has double underhooks.
Guillard wants to get back to striking at distance but Maroni won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Guillard can't get the takedown.

Maroni pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Guillard takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Guillard tries to close the distance and clinch up but Maroni swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Guillard closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Guillard lands in his opponent's guard.
Guillard slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Guillard looking to pass the guard.
Guillard in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Guillard postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Maroni trying to control the position.
Maroni is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Guillard is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maroni looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Guillard must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Guillard wants to stand and escape but instead Maroni has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Guillard is looking to stand up but Maroni isn't so interested in that idea.
Maroni loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Guillard is trying to control the position but Maroni postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maroni throwing strikes but missing.
Guillard looking for a sweep. Not yet Guillard, not yet.
Guillard really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Maroni. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Maroni trying to control the position from guard on top but Guillard is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Maroni misses with a double jab.
Maroni tries to close the distance and clinch but Guillard swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Maroni tries to clinch up.
Guillard looks to land a right hand but Maroni moved out of range.
Nice defenses there by Maroni.
Guillard missing with a left hand there. Maroni was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Maroni is looking for a counter combo.
Guillard goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Guillard chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Maroni can pounce on him.

Guillard closes the distance and clinches.
Maroni drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Guillard avoiding damage as Maroni throws knees to the body.
Guillard prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Phil Maroni. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Guillard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
TJ Guillard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Guillard tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Maroni is able to avoid easily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Maroni lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
A jab from Guillard misses.
Guillard works over Maroni's head and body with a nice combination.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maroni scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but TJ Guillard will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. 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.

Maroni thumps Guillard with a low kick.
Maroni walks into a left hand.

Guillard clinches.
Maroni pushes off an throws an elbow but Guillard leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Maroni avoiding damage as Guillard throws knees to the body.
Guillard dodges an elbow strike from Maroni.
Guillard has had enough of the clinch but Maroni keeps him there for the moment.
Guillard is trying to break free.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Guillard's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!

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

Guillard shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Maroni 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.
Maroni is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maroni being controlled here, momentarily.
Maroni lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Guillard controls Maroni momentarily but Maroni frees himself.
Maroni missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Maroni postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Guillard 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.
Guillard is looking to stand up but Maroni isn't so interested in that idea.
Guillard utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Maroni with a flurry of punches that miss.
Guillard keeping moving, preventing Maroni from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Guillard ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Guillard swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Maroni shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Guillard eats them both and turns towards Maroni to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Maroni looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Maroni tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Guillard paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Guillard closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Maroni's guard.

Maroni pushes Guillard off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Phil Maroni has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Maroni throws a combination. Guillard tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Guillard swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Guillard forces Maroni back against the cage and clinches.
Guillard takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Maroni looking to slow down the pace here.
Maroni leaning against his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maroni misses with an elbow over the top.
Guillard is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Maroni tries to break the clinch but Guillard is controlling the position.
Guillard blocking some punches.
Maroni tries to land knees in the clinch but Guillard avoids the damage to the body.
Maroni throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Maroni is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Maroni is trying to maintain a safe position but Guillard gets an underhook and turns Maroni into the cage.
TJ Guillard is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Guillard jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Maroni walks away with a smile on his face. Guillard gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Phil Maroni showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Guillard 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 29:29
Judge George Francis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... TJ Guillard!
TJ Guillard was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.
The defeated Phil Maroni had this to say: 'He was the better man tonight'.