PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zach Hardgrave (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brett Rogers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rogers is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Step Into A World. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hardgrave
vs
Rogers

186 cm
18
300 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
18
319 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Zach Hardgrave!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Brett Rogers!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Damien Edna and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A combination from Rogers does no damage.
Rogers misses with a few strikes there.
Rogers throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Hardgrave.
A cross from Rogers lands.
Rogers misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Hardgrave shoots in and bounces Rogers off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Hardgrave stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rogers swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Hardgrave throws a big right hand that misses.
Hardgrave controlling from the top position.
Hardgrave won't allow Rogers to sweep him here.
Rogers wants to stand and escape but Hardgrave is having none of it.
Hardgrave connects with a couple of short punches.
Hardgrave is pushing down on Rogers's leg trying to pass to half guard. Rogers is fighting to maintain full guard but Hardgrave has managed to sneak the leg through.
Hardgrave is looking to take a break and control but Rogers is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rogers tries to get to full guard but Hardgrave has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardgrave throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Hardgrave lands a nice short elbow.
Rogers wants to get back to full guard.
Hardgrave looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rogers with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Hardgrave takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Rogers wants to improve his position but Hardgrave is controlling well.
Hardgrave drops an elbow to the side of Rogers's head.
Rogers trying to hold on to Hardgrave's head to control him but Hardgrave postures up.
Hardgrave is nestled in close to Rogers, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Rogers looking for submissions off his back.
Hardgrave has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Hardgrave winds up and cracks Rogers with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Hardgrave lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rogers taking some punishment here, with Hardgrave in his half guard.
Hardgrave working Rogers over with strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hardgrave working Rogers over with strikes.
Rogers moves into full guard.
Rogers looking for a sweep. Not yet Rogers, not yet.
Rogers looks gassed!
Hardgrave looking to pass the guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Hardgrave's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rogers keeping full guard, as Hardgrave tries to pass.
Hardgrave keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rogers's head.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Hardgrave works over Rogers with some ground and pound from guard.
Hardgrave keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rogers's head.
Hardgrave slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave scores with punches from side control.
Rogers tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Hardgrave wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
You can see the frustration on Rogers's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Hardgrave scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Rogers to see if he's OK.
Hardgrave wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rogers keeps working.
Hardgrave takes a little break here. Rogers wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Rogers is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Rogers gets back to full guard.
Rogers throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Hardgrave tries to free his leg and advance position but Rogers is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave postures up.
Hardgrave thows a big elbow that misses.
Hardgrave looking to pass the guard.
Hardgrave is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Hardgrave connects with a couple of short punches.
Hardgrave throws a big right hand that misses.
Rogers is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Rogers utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Hardgrave distracts Rogers with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rogers manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Hardgrave tries to reverse the position but Rogers maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zach Hardgrave dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Hardgrave misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Hardgrave dodges the punch combination from Rogers.
Rogers is looking to land body kicks.
Rogers throws a right and a left that Hardgrave avoids nicely.
A big right from Rogers misses.
Hardgrave uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Rogers.
Rogers swinging wilding here.
Some wild striking there from Rogers.
Rogers throws a looping overhand right but Hardgrave ducks down to avoid it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rogers stuffs the takedown attempt from Hardgrave. Hardgrave gets slowly back to his feet.
Nice sprawl there from Rogers as Hardgrave shoots in.
Nice straight punches there by Rogers. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Rogers.

Hardgrave scores a takedown into full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rogers tries to reverse the position but Hardgrave maintains control.
Rogers is breathing heavily.
Hardgrave scoring with strikes but Rogers is staying in there.
Rogers is working to get back to half guard.
Hardgrave takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hardgrave seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Rogers for as long as he can get away with.
Hardgrave with good strikes from the mount here!
Rogers is in a horrible position here. Hardgrave smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Hardgrave fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hardgrave scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rogers takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Hardgrave landing strikes from the mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave cracks Rogers with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Hardgrave with the ground and pound from mount.
Rogers in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Hardgrave lands a big shot there that rocks Rogers but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Hardgrave scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Rogers is in a horrible position here. Hardgrave smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Rogers really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Hardgrave lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Rogers slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Hardgrave slips a nice elbow through Rogers's hands, connecting with Rogers's forehead.
Hardgrave landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Hardgrave scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Zach Hardgrave overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rogers is staying active underneath Hardgrave, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Hardgrave working the head and body with strikes.
Rogers moves into full guard.
Hardgrave keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rogers's head.
Hardgrave trying to control the position from guard on top but Rogers is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hardgrave cracks Rogers with a solid left hand.
Rogers looking for a sweep. Not yet Rogers, not yet.
Hardgrave trying to control but Rogers is working from the bottom.
Hardgrave chips away with some ground and pound.
Hardgrave looking to sit in guard and control but Rogers gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Rogers wants to control from the top but Hardgrave keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave looking to control.
Hardgrave lands a couple of decent looking body shots there.
Hardgrave looking for a sweep. Not yet Hardgrave, not yet.
Rogers slips nicely into half guard.
Rogers trying to control from half guard but Hardgrave is working away.
Hardgrave moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Hardgrave tries to strike from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rogers wants to pass the guard but Hardgrave is keeping the position.
Rogers preventing the sweep.
Rogers wants to pass the guard but Hardgrave is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zach Hardgrave dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Rogers misses with a double jab.
Rogers is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hardgrave.
Hardgrave fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Hardgrave shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Rogers's guard.
Hardgrave pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rogers is keeping the position for now.
Hardgrave throwing strikes but missing.
Rogers trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Rogers keeping full guard, as Hardgrave tries to pass.
Rogers is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Hardgrave connects with a couple of short punches.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hardgrave postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rogers avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Rogers wants to sweep here but Hardgrave controlling him for the moment.
Hardgrave pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rogers is keeping the position for now.
Rogers is trying to keep Hardgrave in close.
Rogers is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Hardgrave is controlling him.
Hardgrave stopping the sweep attempt from Rogers.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Hardgrave decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Nice strikes from Hardgrave there.
Hardgrave is keen to just control but Rogers is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave lands with a punch from half guard.
Hardgrave looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Rogers is refusing to be controlled, as Hardgrave sits in half guard.
Hardgrave is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rogers can do to turn this around?
Hardgrave prevents Rogers from improving his position.
Hardgrave scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Hardgrave looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Hardgrave content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Hardgrave working over Rogers with some ground and pound. Rogers looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Rogers taking some punishment here, with Hardgrave in his half guard.
Rogers is trying to get back to full guard.
Rogers is trying to stand up here but Hardgrave is controlling him well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardgrave lands with a punch from half guard.
Hardgrave seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Rogers makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Zach Hardgrave is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hardgrave shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rogers as he jumps to the side.
Rogers throws a series of punches but Hardgrave avoids them all with ease.

Hardgrave scores with a takedown into Rogers's guard.
Hardgrave distracts Rogers with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Rogers keeping full guard, as Hardgrave tries to pass.
Hardgrave working some strikes from top position.

Rogers pushes Hardgrave off and gets back to his feet.
Rogers keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zach Hardgrave. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rogers fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Hardgrave shoots in and bounces Rogers off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Rogers wants to sweep here but Hardgrave controlling him for the moment.
Brett Rogers has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hardgrave landing some decent shots from guard.
Rogers is trying to control the position but Hardgrave postures up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hardgrave advances position into side control!
Rogers is not content to let Hardgrave control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Zach Hardgrave showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Hardgrave, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zach Hardgrave!