PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between John Conley (ranked 5238 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pearse Mullen (ranked 7880 p4p, 0 weight class). Pearse Mullen is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Conley
vs
Mullen

185 cm
25
171 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

170 cm
23
170 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, John Conley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Pearse Mullen!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Colin Fotheringham and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mullen fails to land with a series of punches.

Mullen darts in and clinches Conley up against the cage.

Mullen's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Conley misses with a jab, cross combination.
Conley misses with a few strikes there.
A head kick misses from Mullen.

Mullen closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Conley to the mat! Conley manages to get full guard.
Mullen wants to control from the top but Conley keeps moving.
Mullen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Mullen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Mullen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mullen must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Mullen wants to control from the top but Conley keeps moving.

Mullen gets to his feet - Conley follows without any prompting.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Conley.

Mullen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Conley drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Conley is breathing heavily.

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.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

Mullen breaks the clinch.
Mullen tries a head kick but it misses.
Conley is looking for a counter combo.
Conley tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Mullen swivels and escapes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Conley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Conley shoots and misses
and Conley takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Mullen misses with a wild combination.
Conley looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Mullen has Conley up against the cage in a clinch.

Mullen wants the takedown. Conley is fighting it off but Mullen persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Conley's guard against the cage.
Mullen working some strikes from top position.
Conley is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mullen landing with the ground and pound.
Mullen wants to control from the top but Conley keeps moving.
Mullen looking to pass the guard.
Mullen wants to get up but he can't break Conley's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Conley is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Mullen wants to control from the top but Conley keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Mullen stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Conley swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Mullen stands up and waves to Conley to follow him.

Mullen 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.

Conley pushes Mullen off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Conley dives in for a single leg takedown but Mullen sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Conley walks into a jab.
Mullen misses with a double jab.

Mullen closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pearse Mullen dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Mullen closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Conley to the mat! Conley manages to get full guard.

Mullen decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Mullen closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Mullen pulls guard successfully.
Conley is on the wrong end of a couple of strikes there.
Mullen 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.
Conley throws a big right hand that misses.
Conley stopping the sweep attempt from Mullen.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Mullen is on top in guard.

Conley is working an open guard so Mullen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mullen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Conley is not content to let Mullen control the position.
Mullen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Mullen sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Conley defending well though.
Conley manages to get to full guard.
Mullen wants to stand but Conley is controlling his posture from full guard.
Conley manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Mullen manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mullen looking for a sweep. Not yet Mullen, not yet.
Conley throwing strikes but missing.
Conley throwing strikes but missing.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Conley accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Conley stopping the sweep attempt from Mullen.
Conley will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Conley with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mullen looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Conley won't allow Mullen to get back to his feet.
Conley controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Mullen lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Mullen.
Conley looks to clinch
and Mullen counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Pearse Mullen seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Mullen throws a leg kick which misses Conley's front leg but catches the back leg as Conley tries to avoid it.
Mullen fails to land with a series of punches.
Mullen throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Conley on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Conley rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Mullen moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Conley chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Mullen can pounce on him.
Conley dives in and grabs Mullen's left leg, looking for a takedown. Mullen pushes down on Conley's head and hops out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Conley gets caught napping as Mullen dives in and scores a takedown. Conley manages to retain guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mullen keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Conley's head.

Conley is rocked!
Conley is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Mullen trying to control the position from guard on top but Conley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mullen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Mullen trying to stand up but can't free himself from Conley's guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pearse Mullen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Conley shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Mullen sprawls well. Mullen wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Conley gets slowly back to his feet.

Mullen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Conley manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Mullen keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.

Mullen manages to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mullen misses with a combination
and Conley counters with a one-two to the body.

Mullen instigates a clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Conley is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Mullen pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Mullen has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mullen drops Conley with a right and a left! Mullen comes rushing in but Conley regains his composure and manages to keep Mullen in guard.
Oh Conley is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Mullen postures up from his opponent's guard, before exploding into some vicious ground and pound! Conley covers up, he's hurt! Mullen keeps throwing the strikes, glancing at the referee... Will he stop it?? One more big shot from Mullen and the ref steps in to end the fight! Mullen can't hide his delight as he celebrates with his corner.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:25 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Pearse Mullen!