PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Buck Morris (ranked 24042 p4p, 820 weight class) and Del Byrd (ranked 24055 p4p, 793 weight class). Morris's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Radioactive - Imagine Dragons feat. Kendrick Lamar. Del Byrd told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Morris
vs
Byrd

179 cm
20
204 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

193 cm
21
205 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very quick

Decent wrestler
Good kicks
Likes musicals

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Buck Morris!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Del Byrd!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Anthony Taglia and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Morris misses.
Byrd uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Morris.

Morris forces Byrd back against the cage and clinches.
Morris wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Byrd has him pressed against the cage.
Morris scores with an uppercut up the middle.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Morris creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Byrd goes for a takedown attempt but Morris pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Morris dips to his left and cracks Byrd with an uppercut!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morris lands with an overhand left.
Morris throws a head kick that misses

and Byrd counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Byrd.

Morris drags the fight down to the ground.
Morris has momentary wrist control but Byrd slips an elbow through the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morris has control of Byrd's left arm, preventing Byrd from doing any damage.
Morris lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Morris lands a couple of elbows.
Byrd has Morris pulled in close to control his posture.
Morris tries to free his leg and advance position but Byrd is retaining full guard.
Morris controlling from the top position.
Byrd avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morris trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Byrd trying to control the position here.
Morris throws a big elbow that misses.
Byrd keeping full guard, as Morris tries to pass.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Morris accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Morris preventing the sweep.
Byrd working a defensive guard here.
Byrd wants to control but Morris passes easily into half guard.
Morris definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Byrd is positioning himself well to prevent Morris advancing to mount.
Morris trying to control the pace.
Morris working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Byrd's thigh. Byrd counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Morris might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Byrd has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Morris is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Byrd.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Byrd parries the strikes from Morris easily there. Morris is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Byrd to escape.
Morris wants to lay and pray for a moment but Byrd keeps working.
Byrd tries to improve position but can't.
Byrd is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Morris moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Byrd struggling a bit here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Byrd is trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Buck Morris dominated that round.
That's time! Morris's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Morris throws a sloppy head kick and Byrd moves out of range easily.
Morris is looking to clinch.
Morris misses with a body shot.
Byrd takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Byrd on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Byrd throws a nice inside leg kick.
Morris throws a right and a left that Byrd avoids nicely.
Byrd steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Morris.
Byrd throws a low kick but it's checked well by Morris.
Morris takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Byrd looks to throw the jab but Morris is out of range.
Morris takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Morris connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Byrd's hands.
Byrd uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morris.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by Byrd or perhaps it was just good defense by Morris, which made it look bad.
Byrd tries for a takedown but Morris sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Morris is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Byrd can do to turn this around?
Morris avoids a punch combination nicely.
Byrd misses with an attempted mid kick.
Morris throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Morris fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Buck Morris is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morris lands a right hook to the body.
Morris tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Morris connects with a high kick.
Buck Morris seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morris throws a head kick but Byrd moves out of range.
Byrd checks a low kick from Morris.

Byrd throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Morris was covering up waiting for the punch and Byrd finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Morris has scooted to the edge of the canvas and used the cage to get back to his feet. Byrd has stuck on his opponent and is forcing him back against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Byrd prevents a body shot from Morris.
Byrd avoids the elbow strike from Morris, against the cage.
Byrd blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Morris tries to circle away but Byrd has him pinned against the cage.
Byrd fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Buck Morris has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Del Byrd.
Morris taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morris breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Byrd darts in looking for a takedown but Morris gets double underhooks and turns Byrd into the cage.
Byrd lands a nice shot that snaps Morris's head back.
Morris lands a jab.
The fighters circling - Byrd throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Morris throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Byrd counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
A big right from Morris misses.
Morris looks for the body kick but Byrd saw that one coming.
Byrd is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Morris tries a head kick but it misses.
Byrd misses the jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Byrd shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Morris sprawls well. Morris wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Byrd gets slowly back to his feet.
Morris throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Byrd.
Morris misses with a looping left.
Morris bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Byrd's head.
Buck Morris is winning the standup battle so far.
Byrd avoids a kick to the body.
Byrd thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Morris if he has to take too many more of those.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Morris slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Morris pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Morris throws out a loose jab but Byrd uses good head movement to avoid it.
Morris closes the distance looking to clinch

and Byrd counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Buck Morris dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Byrd throws a front kick that sends Morris stumbling back into the cage.

Byrd decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Byrd scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Morris looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ground and pound from Byrd.
Byrd thows a huge punch but Morris dodges it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters are battling for position here. Morris manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Byrd looking to sit in guard and control but Morris gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Morris is fighting to break Byrd's control of his arms but Byrd is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morris trying to control but Byrd is working from the bottom.
Byrd wants to sweep here but Morris controlling him for the moment.
Morris wants to control from the top but Byrd keeps moving.
Morris wants to pass the guard but Byrd is keeping the position.
Morris with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Morris wants to control from the top but Byrd keeps moving.
Byrd is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Let's hope that Byrd has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Morris stopping the sweep attempt from Byrd.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Morris fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Byrd throws a head kick that misses
and Byrd takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Byrd is the more experienced fighter here and he's going to need to draw on some of that experience if he's going to pull this one out the bag.
Morris chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Byrd can pounce on him.
Morris misses the shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris takes a swing at Byrd's ribcage but misses.
Morris looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Byrd tries to counter by closing the distance.
Byrd dodges the punch combination from Morris.
And Byrd tries to counter it with a takedown but Morris pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Byrd throws a right and a left that Morris avoids nicely.
Morris appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Morris looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Byrd tries to clinch up.
Morris fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Byrd keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Byrd drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Morris defends it well.
Morris misses with a head kick.
Morris throws a leg kick that is checked

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Byrd controls the position.
A control attempt from Morris but he's now mounted!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Byrd landing strikes, looking to finish!
Morris takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Byrd scoring with strikes but Morris is staying in there.
Byrd wants to control the pace but Morris is squirming around nicely.
Del Byrd has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Buck Morris is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Byrd punishing his opponent with strikes.
Morris in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Byrd lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Del Byrd.
Well Morris has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Reed Andrews scores the fight for Buck Morris!
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight for Buck Morris!
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight for Buck Morris!

Buck Morris wins by unanimous decision!
During a confident post fight interview, Buck Morris thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.