PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jakub Nowak (ranked 3248 p4p, 406 weight class) and Evan Better (ranked 2315 p4p, 301 weight class). Better has chosen Mother by Danzig as his entrance music. Evan Better is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Nowak
vs
Better

169 cm
25
192 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

188 cm
36
181 lbs
25 - 21 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Fast

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 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jakub Nowak!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 21 - 0, fighting out of London, Evan Better!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Bruno Lombardi and Lou da Vinci.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nowak swings widly with a right hand
and Better counters with a straight right hand.
Better scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Nowak misses with a hook
and Better counters with a slapping leg kick.
Better slips a jab from Nowak.
Better wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Better bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Nowak misses the body punch
and Better counters with a good low kick that Nowak was not able to check.
Better lands a head shot.
Better scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Nowak throws a shot from downtown. Better moves away and avoids it.
Better moves into range and connects with a jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nowak is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Better.
Nowak throws a right hand that misses
letting Better counter with a right hand.
Better changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Nowak misses with a looping right.
Better bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Nowak missing with a left hand there. Better was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nowak on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Good leg kick by Better there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Nowak is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Better's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Nowak takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Nowak throws a right hand that misses
and Better counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Jakub Nowak is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Better throws a head kick that Nowak semi-blocks.
Nowak misses with an uppercut
and Better counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Better dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Nowak. That did some damage!
Jakub Nowak seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nowak misses with a body shot
and Better counters with a nice low kick that buckles Nowak's knee momentarily.
Nowak on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Better shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Nowak eats them both and turns towards Better to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Better moves into the clinch.
Nowak wants to break free but Better has control.
Better has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Nowak working aggressively here.
Better lands an uppercut.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Nowak takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nowak takes an elbow to the temple.
Better lands a body punch in the clinch.

Better lands a takedown into guard.
Nowak is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Better dives into side control.

Better lands a few punches from side control.
Better cracks Nowak with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Better misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Better in side control, throwing shots but Nowak defends.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Nowak taking punishment in the form of punches.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Better working his ground and pound in the gym.
Better has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Better working the body and head with strikes.

Better goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Nowak rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Better's guard! Nice work there by Nowak!
Better trying to control the position here.
Nowak might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Better is continuing to stall.
Better's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Nowak has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Better working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Nowak doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Oh but Better is tightening it up a little... Nowak has to be careful here... He's got his foot tucked under now, this looks tight! Nowak reacted too slowly and this one could be over in a matter of seconds! YES! Nowak taps out! Nice BJJ there by Better!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:43 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Evan Better!
Evan Better decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.