PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Noah Ricklass (ranked 4645 p4p, 249 weight class) and Taz Duncan (ranked 6472 p4p, 292 weight class). I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Ricklass
vs
Duncan

180 cm
19
130 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

170 cm
22
138 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Decent elbows
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Noah Ricklass!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Taz Duncan!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Don Winkell and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ricklass tries to close the distance and clinch but Duncan swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Duncan is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Ricklass's half guard.
Ricklass taking some punishment here, with Duncan in his half guard.
Duncan is taking a breather. Ricklass says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Duncan is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Duncan working the ground and pound effectively.
Duncan cracks Ricklass with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Duncan tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Duncan gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!

Duncan feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Duncan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Duncan wants to stand but Ricklass is controlling his posture from full guard.
Duncan's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Duncan's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
More stalling from Duncan.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Noah Ricklass seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Ricklass moves into the clinch successfully.

Duncan jumps guard and drags Ricklass to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

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.
Duncan seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Duncan is looking for a triangle but Ricklass pushes his legs off easily.
Duncan keeping full guard, as Ricklass tries to pass.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Duncan is controlling Ricklass's posture.

Duncan working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Ricklass doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Ricklass manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Ricklass tries to close the distance and clinch but Duncan swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Duncan tries to counter by closing the distance.

Duncan gets a takedown into half guard.
Ricklass is trying to escape back to his feet but Duncan uses the scramble to pass into side control.
Ricklass is trying to get back to his feet.

Duncan decides to stand back up. Duncan steps back and let's Ricklass get back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Duncan drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Duncan is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Duncan has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duncan is chipping away with strikes.

Duncan decides to stand back up. Duncan steps back and let's Ricklass get back to his feet.
Ricklass tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Duncan counters with a huge uppercut, hook combination that drops Ricklass! The ref has seen enough - he's dived in to stop the fight! Brutal strikes by Duncan!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Taz Duncan!