PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Virgil Hurst (ranked 6906 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rick Balboa (ranked 5144 p4p, 0 weight class). Virgil Hurst had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Hurst
vs
Balboa

188 cm
24
279 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
20
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Hates pizza

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Virgil Hurst!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rick Balboa!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Wesley Smith and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hurst takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Balboa throws a half hearted mid kick.
Hurst tries to counter with a takedown but Balboa is quick to defend against it.

Balboa gets a takedown into half guard.

Hurst has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Balboa is on him like a limpet, forcing Hurst back against the cage.
Balboa is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Hurst pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Hurst doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Hurst scores a nice knee to the body.
Balboa looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Hurst lands with a short shot to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Balboa tries to pull guard but Hurst forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Hurst drags the fight down to the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hurst preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Balboa looking to sit in guard and control but Hurst gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Balboa is trying to control the position from the bottom.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Balboa is on top in guard.

Balboa got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hurst has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Balboa has managed to get both his arms back between Hurst's legs - danger averted.

Hurst has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Balboa can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Balboa controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Balboa decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Balboa looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Hurst throws a counter high kick but Balboa was just alert enough to avoid it.
Virgil Hurst has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Balboa.

Balboa gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Hurst putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Balboa in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balboa tries to pull guard but Hurst holds him up against the cage and eventually Balboa drops back down to his feet.
Balboa can't get the takedown.
Balboa tries to land knees in the clinch but Hurst avoids the damage to the body.
Balboa fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hurst keeps control of Balboa as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Balboa has Hurst pressed against the cage, preventing Hurst from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Balboa misses with a punch on the inside.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Balboa.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Balboa.
Hurst manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Balboa changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Hurst fights it off and pushes away nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balboa shoots in but Hurst avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Balboa fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Hurst feinted with a counter takedown.
Balboa looks winded!

Hurst drives through and clinches with Balboa against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hurst is trying to push Balboa away but Balboa has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Balboa is trying to force a seperation but Hurst has the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Virgil Hurst dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Hurst stuffs the takedown attempt from Balboa. Balboa gets slowly back to his feet.
Balboa fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Hurst closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Balboa's guard.
Hurst is standing up over Balboa. Balboa looks to escape but Hurst dives into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hurst could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Hurst is working Balboa over with some ground and pound from side control.
Hurst tries to score with some ground and pound. Balboa controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Hurst working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Balboa is trying to control Hurst's posture but Hurst avoids it.
Balboa tries to control but Hurst manages to take his back.
Balboa is in bad spot here.

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.
Hurst is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Hurst looking for the choke from the back.
Hurst biding his time, controlling Balboa.
Balboa is trying to break free.
Hurst is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Hurst gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Hurst gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Hurst apologises and we restart here on the feet.
Balboa with a poor takedown
and Hurst counters with a straight right hand.
Virgil Hurst has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Balboa.
Balboa is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hurst gets tackled into the cage by Balboa. Balboa maintains the clinch.
Balboa using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hurst has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Hurst breaks from the clinch.
Rick Balboa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balboa misses with a combination
and Hurst cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Hurst tries to keep at a distance but Balboa has taken the fight into the clinch.
Hurst keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Balboa's efforts to push away.
A shot in the inside from Hurst.
A bit of stalling here from Hurst.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Hurst takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Balboa wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Balboa jumps guard but Hurst stands there with Balboa around his waist. Balboa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Balboa wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Balboa breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Hurst closes the distance and pushes Balboa back into the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Balboa throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Balboa is looking to control Hurst's arms but Hurst gets an underhook and turns him. Now Balboa has his back to the cage.
Balboa is working for takedown but Hurst is calmly controlling the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Virgil Hurst dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Hurst gets the takedown into side control.
Balboa looking for a sweep but Hurst has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Hurst lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Balboa wants to control but Hurst is having none of it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The referee warns Balboa that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Hurst landing shots from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hurst landing punches.
Balboa slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Balboa takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hurst winds up and cracks Balboa with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Hurst is nestled in close to Balboa, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Balboa wants to improve his position but Hurst is controlling well.
Balboa trying to control from the bottom.

Hurst is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Balboa on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hurst looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Balboa with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Hurst is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Balboa has managed to free his arm - good work.
Hurst missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Hurst sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Balboa defending well though.
Balboa is looking to control Hurst's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Balboa avoid being mounted?
Rick Balboa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balboa is looking to improve his position.
Hurst drops an elbow to the side of Balboa's head.
Hurst is thwarting Balboa's attempts to control the position.
Hurst slips a nice elbow through Balboa's hands, connecting with Balboa's forehead.

Hurst is looking for a kimura here.
Hurst not landing any meaningful shots this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

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.
A nice inside leg kick there by Balboa. That's going to slow Hurst down.
Balboa tries for a takedown but Hurst sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Hurst is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Balboa can do to turn this around?

Balboa closes the distance and clinches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hurst holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Hurst avoiding damage as Balboa throws knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Virgil Hurst showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hurst has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Virgil Hurst!