PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Evan Reese (ranked 5895 p4p, 0 weight class) and Billy Basington (ranked 4829 p4p, 0 weight class). Billy Basington acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Reese
vs
Basington

180 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

161 cm
25
135 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Evan Reese!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Billy Basington!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Dillan Fox and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Reese throws a right and a left that both miss.
Basington takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Basington shoots in and bounces Reese off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Basington cracks Reese with a solid left hand.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Reese has momentary wrist control but Basington slips an elbow through the middle.
Reese utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Basington stays in close to Reese's body and controls the position.
Reese really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Reese wants to stand and escape but Basington is having none of it.
Basington pushes down on Reese's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Basington missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Basington lands with a punch from half guard.
Basington tries to pass the half guard into mount. Reese knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Basington landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Basington scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Reese knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Basington on the ground.
Reese taking some punishment here, with Basington in his half guard.
Basington is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Basington lands a big elbow.
Basington controlling from mount.
Basington landing shots from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Reese taking shots to the head.
Basington prevents Reese from getting the reversal.
Reese is breathing heavily.
Basington controlling the pace for now.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Basington is landing with some decent strikes but Reese is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Basington controlling his opponent.
Basington with a couple of short strikes.
Basington lands a heavy elbow.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Basington cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Basington has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Reese is trying to stand.
Basington is landing with some decent strikes but Reese is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Basington tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Basington looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Basington lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Basington fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Basington lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Reese is rocked!
Basington scoring with strikes but Reese is staying in there.
Oh Reese is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Basington putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Basington is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Reese can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Basington landing shots from mount.
Basington controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Basington lands a big elbow.
Reese seems to have got his legs back now.
Basington lands a heavy elbow.
Basington lands a big shot there that rocks Reese but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Basington takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Basington pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Basington lands a big elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Reese checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Reese lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Basington swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Reese swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Basington looks to throw the jab but Reese is out of range.
Reese misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sloppy strikes from Reese. Those never looked like landing.
Basington tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Reese was well out of range. Poor timing from Basington.
Reese is looking for a counter combo.
Basington ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Reese moves away.
Sloppy strikes from Reese. Those never looked like landing.

Basington shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Reese is trying to defend but Basington finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Basington working the head and body with strikes.
Basington has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Basington takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Basington looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Basington working over Reese with some ground and pound. Reese looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Basington looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Basington is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Ground and pound from Basington.
Basington looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Basington performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Reese has hold of Basington's hands but Basington slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Basington not doing much here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Basington lands with a punch from half guard.
Basington working over Reese with some ground and pound. Reese looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Basington connects with a nice short shot to Reese's temple.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Basington lands a nice short elbow.
Basington working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Basington controlling the action here.
Basington scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Reese taking some punishment here, with Basington in his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Basington lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Basington works his way into full mount!
Basington is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Reese can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Basington sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Basington landing strikes from the mount and Reese is in trouble!
Basington working the ground and pound effectively.
A nice elbow there by Basington.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Basington looking to control and managing it successfully.
Basington raining down hammerfists from mount.
Basington content just to control the position here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Basington lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Basington landing punches.
Basington is landing with some decent strikes but Reese is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Basington looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Billy Basington showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Basington shoots in and gets a takedown into Reese's guard.
Basington looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Basington passes into half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Basington connects with a nice short shot to Reese's temple.
Basington content to control rather than advance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Basington is continuing to stall.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Basington drops an elbow to the side of Reese's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Basington lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Basington looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Basington looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Basington content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Reese has hold of Basington's hands but Basington slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Basington winds up and cracks Reese with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Basington landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Basington lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Evan Reese has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Basington sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Basington's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Basington working the head and body with strikes.
Basington scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Basington in particular looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
The adventures of Basington the control monster continue. Boring.
Basington looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Reese with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nice strikes from Basington there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Billy Basington comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Basington winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 26:30
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 26:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Billy Basington!