PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Arnold (ranked 24881 p4p, 0 weight class) and Anthony Wallace (ranked 3778 p4p, 0 weight class). Anthony Wallace has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Arnold
vs
Wallace

152 cm
20
151 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

183 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Matthew Arnold!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Anthony Wallace!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Jonathan Paton and David Schapiro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wallace with a lazy takedown attempt

and Arnold counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Wallace manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Arnold really is a fat lump.
Wallace throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Anthony Wallace seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A nice combination there by Wallace.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Arnold moves into the clinch.
Wallace wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Arnold effectively controlling the action here.
Arnold misses with an elbow strike.

Wallace pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Wallace swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

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

Arnold has Wallace pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Arnold pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Wallace tumbling to the mat - Arnold dives into Wallace's guard.

Wallace pushes Arnold off and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wallace has his takedown stuffed

and Arnold counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Wallace is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Arnold pulls guard.
Arnold controlling Wallace's posture.
Wallace has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Arnold is proving hard to escape from.
Arnold is pulling down on Wallace's head to control his posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arnold has a closed guard, preventing Wallace from standing up.
Arnold looking for a sweep. Not yet Arnold, not yet.
Wallace tries to stand but Arnold is controlling from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Arnold is pulling down on Wallace's head. It's preventing any offense from Wallace, at least for the moment.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Wallace looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Matthew Arnold has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Anthony Wallace.

Arnold rushes Wallace and presses him up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wallace prevents the takedown attempt.
Wallace tries to break free but Arnold pushes him back against the cage.
Arnold has Wallace pushed against the cage.
Arnold keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Wallace's efforts to push away.

Arnold breaks from the clinch.
Matthew Arnold is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Arnold takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Wallace throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Arnold looked to counter with a high kick but didn't commit.
Wallace feints a jab promting Arnold to slip. Wallace then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Arnold slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Wallace scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Wallace misses with a leg kick

and Arnold counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Arnold gets to his feet - Wallace follows without any prompting.
Wallace swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Arnold counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Wallace pushes Arnold off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Wallace looks winded!
Wallace throws a series of punches but Arnold avoids them all with ease.

Arnold closes the distance and clinches.

Arnold lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Arnold decides to return to a standing position.
Wallace throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Arnold clinches up against the cage.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Arnold obliges.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Wallace tries to circle away but Arnold has him pinned against the cage.

Arnold gets a trip takedown into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Anthony Wallace will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Arnold rushes Wallace and presses him up against the cage.
Arnold leaning against his opponent.
Arnold is trying to pull guard but Wallace has him pressed against the cage.

Arnold jumps guard.
Arnold pulls Wallace in close to his closed guard and prevents Wallace from doing any damage or advancing position.
Wallace is looking to stand up but Arnold won't let him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wallace being controlled here momentarily.
Arnold continues to stall.
Wallace wanted to stand there but Arnold had control of the position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Arnold tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Wallace attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Wallace lands a jab-cross combination.
Arnold wants to clinch up but Wallace keeps it at a distance.
Wallace lands with a nice combination. Arnold backs away looking to recover.

Arnold has taken the fight to the clinch.
Arnold drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Wallace gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Wallace takes an elbow to the forehead.
The referee calls for Arnold to work.
Wallace has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wallace tries to circle away but Arnold has him pinned against the cage.

Arnold breaks from the clinch.
Arnold tries to clinch up but Wallace circles away and keeps his distance.
Wallace throws a counter combo.
Arnold avoids a punch combination nicely.
Wallace misses with a few strikes there.
Arnold is looking to clinch.
Wallace tries to bum rush Arnold with a series of wild strikes but Arnold uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Wallace moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Wallace misses with a double jab

and Arnold holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Arnold is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Wallace to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matthew Arnold. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Arnold works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Arnold postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Arnold working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Arnold stands and steps away. Wallace gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Wallace throws a series of strikes that have Arnold backpedaling.
Wallace works the jab nicely.
Wallace shoots in looking for a takedown but Arnold manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Wallace's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Arnold moves into the clinch successfully.
Wallace is trying to break free.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Anthony Wallace showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Arnold wants to clinch up but Wallace keeps it at a distance.
Wallace throws a series of punches but Arnold moves out of range.

Arnold has managed to clinch.

Arnold's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Some wild striking there from Wallace.
Arnold seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

Arnold fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Wallace, pushing him back against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Arnold breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A combination from Wallace does no damage.
Wallace with a nice cross.
A nice combination there by Wallace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wallace swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Wallace tries to clinch up

and Arnold counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Wallace!
Wallace is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Arnold asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Wallace takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Arnold lands some shots froms side control.

Arnold decides to stand up, so the ref orders Wallace to his feet.

Arnold has Wallace up against the cage in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arnold has Wallace pushed against the cage.

Arnold drags the fight down to the ground.
Matthew Arnold overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Wallace trying to stand up but can't free himself from Arnold's guard.
Arnold has his hands on Wallace's head, controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arnold's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Wallace trying to stand up but can't free himself from Arnold's guard.
Anthony Wallace is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Arnold has his hands on Wallace's head, controlling the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Wallace swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Wallace misses with a double jab

so Arnold counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Arnold lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Arnold slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Arnold throws a big right hand that misses.

Arnold stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Arnold showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Wallace.
It looked like Arnold was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Wallace.
Wallace misses with a jab, cross combination.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Wallace throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Arnold counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nice strikes from Arnold there.
Matthew Arnold has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Wallace on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matthew Arnold showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Wallace has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Steve Montenegro scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 28:29
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Anthony Wallace!
Anthony Wallace was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.