PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eric Whitaker (ranked 1154 p4p, 176 weight class) and Jambe De Bois (ranked 688 p4p, 114 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Whitaker
vs
De Bois

185 cm
26
220 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

186 cm
26
205 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very quick

Good wrestler
Brawler
Good gas tank

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 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Eric Whitaker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jambe De Bois!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Michael Johnstone and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Whitaker wants to clinch up but De Bois keeps it at a distance.

Whitaker shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Whitaker showed some decent athleticism there.
De Bois wants to improve his position but Whitaker is controlling well.
De Bois is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Whitaker wants to control but De Bois is keeping him busy.
Whitaker is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because De Bois is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
De Bois looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Whitaker missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
De Bois gets back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Whitaker cracks De Bois with a solid left hand.
De Bois working a defensive guard here.
Whitaker in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whitaker pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. De Bois is keeping the position for now.
Whitaker is in close to De Bois's body, working some short punches and elbows.
De Bois working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Whitaker.
De Bois utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Whitaker is stalling in the full guard.
De Bois tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Whitaker wants to pass the guard but De Bois is keeping the position.
Whitaker working some strikes from top position.
De Bois looking for a sweep. Not yet De Bois, not yet.
Whitaker trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Bois keeping moving, preventing Whitaker from controlling successfully.
Whitaker wants to pass the guard but De Bois is keeping the position.
De Bois manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Whitaker manages to get himself to full guard.

De Bois must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
De Bois stopping the sweep attempt from Whitaker.
De Bois is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Whitaker not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
De Bois trying to control the position from guard on top but Whitaker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Bois postures up and lands a big shot to Whitaker's brow.
Whitaker wants to sweep but no luck.
De Bois scoring with some ground and pound.
Whitaker wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Whitaker trying to control the action but De Bois is working from the bottom.
De Bois trying to control but Whitaker postures up.
De Bois is trying to get back to full guard.
De Bois trying to control but Whitaker postures up.
Whitaker has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Whitaker winds up and cracks De Bois with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Whitaker drops an elbow to the side of De Bois's head.
De Bois tries to roll over but Whitaker keeps him under control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if De Bois can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker wants to control but De Bois is keeping him busy.
De Bois is looking to control Whitaker's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can De Bois avoid being mounted?
Whitaker seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but De Bois does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
De Bois is looking to improve his position.
Whitaker perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
De Bois won't allow Whitaker to pass to mount.
Whitaker throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
De Bois is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Whitaker scores with a couple of nice shots.
De Bois manages to get to full guard.
De Bois really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Whitaker. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
De Bois has momentary wrist control but Whitaker slips an elbow through the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Whitaker dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A jab from De Bois misses.
Whitaker takes one to the chin there.
Whitaker looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Whitaker tries to clinch up.
Whitaker connects with a nice looking jab.
Whitaker bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
De Bois jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Whitaker throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Whitaker drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
De Bois is trying to get back to half guard.
Whitaker wants to lay and pray for a moment but De Bois keeps working.
De Bois stuck in half guard on the bottom here.
Whitaker fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Whitaker is putting a hurting on De Bois here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Bois is looking for a sweep.
De Bois takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
You can see the frustration on De Bois's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
De Bois tries to bench press Whitaker off him but Whitaker keeps the position.
Whitaker trying to control the position but De Bois is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Bois tries to buck Whitaker off but Whitaker is having none of it.
Whitaker wants to control but De Bois is keeping him busy.
De Bois tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Whitaker wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Whitaker controls the position from side control.
De Bois tries to get back to half guard but can't.
De Bois is trying to control Whitaker's posture but Whitaker avoids it.
Whitaker landing strikes.
Whitaker wants to control but De Bois is keeping him busy.
Whitaker has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for De Bois!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker punching from mount but De Bois doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Whitaker is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that De Bois can do to turn this around?
Whitaker connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Whitaker lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
De Bois sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Whitaker not landing any meaningful shots this time.
De Bois avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Whitaker.
De Bois is looking to control Whitaker's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can De Bois avoid being mounted?
De Bois tries to get to full guard but Whitaker has control of the leg.
De Bois is looking to control Whitaker's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can De Bois avoid being mounted?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. De Bois defending well though.
Nice strikes from Whitaker there.
De Bois taking some punishment here, with Whitaker in his half guard.
Whitaker wants to pass the guard but De Bois is defending well.
Whitaker working the head and body with strikes.
Eric Whitaker overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Whitaker uses his free foot to push down on De Bois's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for De Bois.
De Bois tries to lock up and control but Whitaker gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whitaker punishing his opponent with strikes.
Whitaker avoids the attempt from De Bois to control.
Whitaker in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Whitaker dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! 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.

De Bois waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Whitaker.

Whitaker shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. De Bois is trying to defend but Whitaker finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Whitaker moves nicely into side control.
Whitaker misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Whitaker has knee on belly and moves into mount.
De Bois tries to lock up and control but Whitaker gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Bois takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Whitaker lands with some strikes.
Whitaker looking to finish De Bois with some ground and pound. This is bad for De Bois!

De Bois is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Whitaker cracks De Bois with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eric Whitaker!
Eric Whitaker decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.