PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Wes Ray (ranked 2093 p4p, 266 weight class) and Brian Maples (ranked 2751 p4p, 341 weight class). Ray comes to the cage accompanied by The Best Around. Maples is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: cowboys from hell. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Ray
vs
Maples

190 cm
25
197 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
190 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

IniTech Nutrition
Helsinki Xtreme Fightwear

HGH Nutrients Q160 Tycoons Best Quality supps

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Wes Ray!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Brian Maples!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Maples as Ray shoots in.
Maples is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Ray shoots in but Maples avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Maples clobbers Ray with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

Maples has closed the distance and engaged Ray in a clinch.
Maples gets through Ray's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Maples lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Ray or not.
Ray drops down looking for an ankle pick but Maples pulls his leg out and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wes Ray. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Ray shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Ray is in close to Maples's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Maples preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Ray trying to control the position from guard on top but Maples is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ray scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ray in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Maples is looking to stand up but Ray isn't so interested in that idea.
Ray postures up in Maples's guard and throws a big left but Maples blocks it.
Maples wants to stand but Ray is controlling the position.
Ray pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Maples is keeping the position for now.
Ray working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Ray throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Maples works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Ray looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maples is looking to stand up but Ray isn't so interested in that idea.
Ray is working Maples over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Maples told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ray is looking to work some ground and pound but Maples has wrist control.
Ray throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ray throwing strikes but missing.
Maples wants to stand up but Ray is controlling him.
Ray postures up and lands a big shot to Maples's brow.

Maples manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Ray closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Ray lands in his opponent's guard.
Ray with a nice head shot there.
Ray landing with the ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ray postures up and lands a big shot to Maples's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maples is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Ray throwing strikes from guard but Maples blocks nicely.
Ray lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ray throwing strikes from guard but Maples blocks nicely.
Ray scoring with punches to the head and body.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Maples can do anything to dispel that myth.
Ray missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Ray is looking to work some ground and pound but Maples has wrist control.
Maples keeping moving, preventing Ray from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ray keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Maples's head.
Ray prevents Maples from getting back to his feet.
Ray controlling from the top position.
Ray keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Maples's head.
Ray pushes down on Maples's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Ray not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ray thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Maples's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wes Ray 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.

Maples closes the distance and pushes Ray back into the cage.
Maples makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

Maples breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Maples clinches with his opponent.
Maples throws a punch but it's blocked by Ray.

Maples manages to break the clinch.

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

Maples is defending against the submission attempts here by Ray.
Maples has hold of Ray's hands but Ray slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

It looks like Brian Maples has been cut.
Ray working Maples over with strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ray trying to control from half guard but Maples is working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ray looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Maples with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Maples is rocked!
Ray is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Maples is still in real trouble! Can Ray finish him?
Ray lands a massive shot from half guard that has rocked Maples! More strikes land and this one is all over! Ray jumps to his feet and is applauded loudly by the crowd!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Wes Ray!
Wes Ray is the new middleweight champion!
Our winner, Wes Ray, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.