PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Sonny Bradford (ranked 1766 p4p, 243 weight class) and Evan Better (ranked 1221 p4p, 168 weight class). Better comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Mother by Danzig kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Bradford
vs
Better

186 cm
31
190 lbs
18 - 13 - 0

188 cm
37
181 lbs
28 - 22 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

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 18 - 13 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Sonny Bradford!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 28 - 22 - 0, fighting out of New York, Evan Better!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Columbo Gatti and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bradford throws a head kick that misses.
Better moves out of range as Bradford throws a body kick.

Bradford tries to sprawl but Better drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Bradford has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Better is on him like a limpet, forcing Bradford back against the cage.
Better prevents Bradford from breaking the clinch.
Better dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Bradford is working for takedown but Better is calmly controlling the position for now.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Better has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
A short right from Better.
Bradford avoiding damage as Better throws knees to the body.
Better changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Bradford fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Better wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A slapping leg kick lands for Better.
Better throws a front kick aimed at Bradford's knee but Bradford avoids it well.
Bradford keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Better shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Bradford napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Sloppy strikes there by Better.
Better working the ground and pound but Bradford is defending the strikes.
Bradford defending against the ground and pound.
Better cracks Bradford with a big right hand but Bradford just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Better lands a nice forearm strike.
Bradford is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bradford trying to control but Better postures up.

Better looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Better thows a huge punch but Bradford dodges it nicely.
Better works his way into full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Better jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Bradford manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Better wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Bradford, who protects the arm well.
Bradford is not content to let Better control the position.

Better is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Bradford has escaped the position, nice work there.

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.
Bradford tries to bench press Better off him but Better keeps the position.
Bradford can't do much from the bottom here.
Better cracks Bradford with a big right hand but Bradford just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bradford is trying to control Better's posture but Better avoids it.
Better lands a decent elbow from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Evan Better dominated that 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.

Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Better, as that shot connected.
Bradford takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Better throws a nice outside leg kick.
Bradford gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Better counters with a nice double leg into side control. Bradford won't be happy with that.

Bradford sneaks out the side door and pushes Better away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Better fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Bradford has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Better thumps Bradford with a low kick.
Better cracks Bradford with a right hand to the side of the head.

Better moves into the clinch.

Bradford pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Better throws out a loose jab but Bradford uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A low kick from Bradford misses
and Better counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Better misses with a leg kick
and Bradford counters with a two punch combo.
Bradford fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Better is out of range.
Better throws a lazy uppercut
and Bradford counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Better fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Bradford.
Bradford misses with a hook.
Bradford tries a head kick but it misses.
Better has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Better lands a slapping body shot.
Better stuns Bradford with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Better throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Bradford on the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Better moves out of range of the body kick.
Better with the counter takedown but Bradford avoids it easily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Better pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Bradford lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Better throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Bradford fires out a quick counter leg kick but Better just manages to avoid it.
Bradford keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Better listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Bradford avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Better.
A head kick misses from Bradford.
Bradford moves forwards but Better connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Bradford takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Good standup being displayed there by Better as he connects with a hook.
Better fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Better clobbers Bradford with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Bradford drops his hands momentarily and Better takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Bradford takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Better throws the left hand but Bradford avoids the punch easily.
Better has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Bradford finds it's way round the side to connect with Better's head.
Bradford pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bradford thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Better if he has to take too many more of those.
Better will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bradford thinks about countering with a body kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Better throws out a leg kick but Bradford moves out of range and Better only half commits.
Bradford takes one to the chin there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bradford throws a half hearted mid kick.
A clash of legs there as Bradford blocks the low kick.
Bradford misses with a kick to the body

and Better counters with a shoot takedown. Bradford fights it but they end up in guard.
Better stands and throws Bradford's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Better wants to control but Bradford is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Evan Better showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Better shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Better showed some decent athleticism there.
Better working over Bradford with some ground and pound. Bradford looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Bradford keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Better throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Bradford is trying to maintain the position but Better is very close to passing his half guard.
Bradford won't allow Better to pass to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Better is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Better seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Bradford is defending against the submission attempts here by Better.
Better is pressing down on Bradford's thigh, looking to free his foot. Bradford is holding on for now.

That's two 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.
Bradford keeping hold of Better's head, controlling as best he can.
Better missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Better is looking for a kimura but Bradford is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Better to get the leverage.
Better thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bradford is staying active underneath Better, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Better shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Bradford manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Bradford knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Better on the ground.
Better postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Better stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Bradford swivels though and keeps the full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Better accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sonny Bradford has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bradford keeping moving, preventing Better from controlling successfully.
Evan Better has got the better of the ground game so far.
Better with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Better trying to control but Bradford is working from the bottom.
Better passes Bradford's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Evan Better is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Better is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Better's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

And that's the end of the fight!
Evan Better comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Better 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 27:30
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 27:30
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Evan Better!
An out of breath Evan Better thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.