PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bubba Drew (ranked 3121 p4p, 430 weight class) and Randy Engelhard (ranked 3465 p4p, 471 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Randy Engelhard enters the cage!

Drew
vs
Engelhard

200 cm
20
212 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

205 cm
19
216 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

Beer or Fear

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bubba Drew!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Randy Engelhard!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Robert Twigg and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drew wants to slow Engelhard down by chopping away at his legs.
Engelhard lands a jab to Drew's midsection.
Drew tries to clinch up but Engelhard circles away and keeps his distance.
Nice defenses there by Drew.
Drew misses with an uppercut.
Drew shoots in for a double leg but Engelhard sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Engelhard has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Drew is landing a low percentage of strikes.

Engelhard bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Engelhard happy to just control the position for now.
Engelhard misses with the ground and pound.
Drew wants to control but Engelhard postures up.
Engelhard wants to lay and pray for a moment but Drew keeps working.
Drew's coaches at Boomerang!! PURE ELITE COACHES and Sparring Center have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drew is trying to get back to half guard.
Engelhard is putting a hurting on Drew here, landing some big shots from side control.
Drew is looking for a sweep.
Drew gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Drew wants to hold on but Engelhard pushes him away.
Drew is working to get back to half guard.
Drew blocking the ground and pound.
Engelhard punishing his opponent with strikes.

Engelhard looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Engelhard lands a nice shot to the head.
Drew is looking to get to half guard.
Engelhard with good strikes from the mount here!
Drew is in a horrible position here. Engelhard smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Engelhard thowing shots but they're missing.
Engelhard wants to control the pace but Drew is squirming around nicely.
Engelhard lands a nice shot to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drew wants to hold on but Engelhard pushes him away.
Drew bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Drew has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Engelhard is proving hard to escape from.
Engelhard trying to keep a closed guard but Drew is proving a slippery customer.
Engelhard has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Engelhard is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Drew tries to free his leg and advance position but Engelhard is retaining full guard.
Engelhard keeping moving, preventing Drew from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Drew looking to pass the guard.

Engelhard looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Engelhard had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Drew defends it easily.
Engelhard wants to sweep here but Drew controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Randy Engelhard dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Engelhard throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Horrible takedown attempt by Drew or perhaps it was just good defense by Engelhard, which made it look bad.
Engelhard slips a jab from Drew.
Engelhard feints the counter takedown.

Drew closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Engelhard quickly recovers to half guard.
Drew is thwarting Engelhard's attempts to control the position.
Engelhard wants to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drew is trying to control the action in half guard but Engelhard is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Drew wants to pass to mount but Engelhard is defending the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Engelhard works his way to full guard. Good work.
Drew has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Engelhard looking for a guillotine here but Drew defends easily.
Drew looking to sit in guard and control but Engelhard gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Drew keeping moving, preventing Engelhard from controlling successfully.
Engelhard working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Engelhard advances to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drew keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Engelhard not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Engelhard passes to full mount!
Poor strikes thrown by Engelhard there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Engelhard misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Drew is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Drew is working hard here to advance position.
Engelhard dominating with strikes here.
Drew taking shots to the head.
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!
Poor strikes thrown by Engelhard there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drew tries to reverse the position but Engelhard maintains control.
Engelhard pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Drew is squirming around, avoiding Engelhard's attempts to control the action.
Drew is working to get back to half guard.
Drew is trying to stand up.
Drew is looking to improve his position but Engelhard isn't that keen on the idea.
Engelhard postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Drew looks a forlorn figure.
Drew is trying desperately to improve position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Drew tries to hold on but Engelhard postures up.
Drew is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Engelhard content just to control the position here.
Engelhard is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Drew can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Engelhard with the ground and pound from mount.
Engelhard punching from mount but Drew doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Engelhard working the ground and pound effectively.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Engelhard throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Randy Engelhard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Drew misses with a leg kick.
A slow jab from Engelhard misses its intended target.
Drew throws a big counter combination but Engelhard scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Drew gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Engelhard.
Drew throws a series of punches but Engelhard moves out of range.
Donk. Drew catches Engelhard right on the button with a cross.
Bubba Drew is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Drew throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Engelhard keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Drew.
A little jabbing left from Engelhard on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Drew gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drew displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Engelhard throws out the jab.
Engelhard misses the shot to the body.

Drew shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Engelhard's guard.

Engelhard is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Drew is aware though and is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Engelhard keeping moving, preventing Drew from controlling successfully.
Drew looking to pass the guard.

Engelhard working for submissions but it's allowed Drew to get to half guard.
Engelhard is looking for a sweep. Drew is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Drew has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Engelhard is squirming around, avoiding Drew's attempts to control the action.

Drew jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Engelhard is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Engelhard and Drew has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Drew tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Randy Engelhard is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Drew wants to control but Engelhard is keeping him busy.
Engelhard gets back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Engelhard manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Engelhard controls Drew momentarily but Drew frees himself.
Drew trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Engelhard looking for a guillotine here but Drew defends easily.
Engelhard controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Drew is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Drew looking to sit in guard and control but Engelhard gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Engelhard throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Drew works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Engelhard content to stall in guard here.
Drew looking for a sweep. Not yet Drew, not yet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Bubba Drew has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Drew can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Engelhard controls the pace.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Bubba Drew.
Well Engelhard has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Randy Engelhard!