PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ray Tony (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Denny Balls (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Tony
vs
Balls

189 cm
18
173 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

180 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ray Tony!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Denny Balls!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Wesley Smith and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tony misses with a double jab.

Balls clinches.
Tony keeps control of Balls as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Balls throws a knee to the head but misses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Tony as Balls tries to tie him up.
Balls misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tony.
Tony pushes off an throws an elbow but Balls leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Balls stalling in the clinch but Tony improves position.
Tony taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Balls looking to throw knees to the head but Tony is blocking nicely.
Balls controlling the action here for a moment.
Balls drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tony throws an elbow but it misses.

Tony works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balls is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tony wants to control from the top but Balls keeps moving.
Tony throws a strike but Balls rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Tony is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Balls postures up.
Tony managing to control the position.
Tony wants to sweep here but Balls controlling him for the moment.
Balls trying to control but Tony is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Tony shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Balls looks gassed!
Tony is looking to stand up but Balls won't let him.
Tony is looking to work some ground and pound but Balls has wrist control.
Balls tries to land a sweep but no joy.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tony accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Tony has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Tony missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Tony throws a big right hand that misses.
Balls is trying to control the position but Tony postures up.
Tony preventing the sweep.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Tony scores with a takedown into Balls's guard.
Tony working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balls looking to hit a scissor sweep but Tony is one step ahead there.

Balls working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Tony doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Tony manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Tony drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Tony jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Balls manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Tony manages to get himself to full guard.
Balls slips nicely into half guard.
Tony is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Tony knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Balls on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Balls seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Tony does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Balls keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Balls passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Tony!
Balls tries to control but Tony wriggling away.
Tony on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Tony tries to get out of the position.

Balls is going olschool here, as he tries to force Tony to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Tony shrugs it off.
Balls tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ray Tony dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Balls tries to clinch there but Tony circles away.
Tony misses with a takedown attempt - Balls sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Tony shoots in looking for a takedown. Balls tries to sprawl out of it but Tony keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Balls manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Balls misses with the combination.
Some wild striking there from Balls.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Tony closes the distance and clinches.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Tony is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Balls is keeping busy.
Balls jumps guard but Tony stands there with Balls around his waist. Balls gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Balls has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Tony uses from the top position.
Balls thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Balls is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Balls is looking to take a break and control but Tony is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tony on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Tony wants to control but Balls is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Tony looking for submissions off his back.
Tony wants to control but Balls passes into side.

That's two 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.
Balls is working Tony over with some ground and pound from side control.
Tony tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Balls wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Balls happy to just control the position for now.
Balls working the head with strikes.
Balls trying to control the action but Tony is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tony tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Tony dodges the punch combination from Balls.
Tony tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Balls paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Balls drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

Balls decides to stand back up.

Balls takes the fight into the clinch.
Balls is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tony breaks the clinch.
Balls scores with the left hand. Tony knows he should have avoided that one.
Tony shoots in for a double leg but Balls sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ray Tony. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Tony tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Balls stuffs the takedown.
Balls goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Balls tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Balls gets the takedown into side control.
Tony is not content to let Balls control the position.
Balls controlling from side mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Denny Balls showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Balls shoots in but no luck this time.
Tony tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Tony throws a head kick that misses.
Balls shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Tony gets the takedown into side control.
Balls gets back to half guard.
Tony missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Denny Balls has got the better of the ground game so far.
Balls is pressing down on Tony's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balls is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Balls working for a triangle but Tony defends it easily.
Balls is trying to keep Tony in close.
Tony would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

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.
Tony stopping the sweep attempt from Balls.
Tony trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Tony slips a jab and a cross from Balls.
Balls gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Tony counters with a nice double leg into side control. Balls won't be happy with that.
Ray Tony has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Denny Balls.
You can see the frustration on Balls's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Balls tries to strike from the bottom but misses.
Balls managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Tony.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tony tries to advance to mount but Balls instead regains half guard.
Tony wants to pass the guard but Balls is defending well.
Balls trying to hold on to Tony's head to control him but Tony postures up.
Balls works his way to full guard. Good work.
Tony trying to control but Balls is working from the bottom.
Tony not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Balls working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Tony throwing strikes from guard but Balls blocks nicely.

Balls pushes Tony off and scrambles back to his feet.
Balls swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ray Tony seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Balls clinches up against the cage.

Balls pulls Tony into guard.
Balls controls Tony momentarily but Tony frees himself.
Balls has a closed guard, preventing Tony from standing up.
Tony wants to control from the top but Balls keeps moving.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ray Tony showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Tony has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 29:28
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ray Tony!