PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Monty Don (ranked 1104 p4p, 987 weight class) and Bill Hilly (ranked 155 p4p, 139 weight class). Hilly is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Gary Moore - Whiskey in the Jar (Tribute to Phil Lynott) [HQ] [9/10]. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Don
vs
Hilly

185 cm
27
219
5 - 2 - 0

185 cm
27
210
6 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Monty Don!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Bill Hilly!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Michael Johnstone and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hilly ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Don moves away.
Hilly misses with an uppercut

and Don counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Hilly!
Don lands a nice forearm strike.
Hilly takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Don is putting a hurting on Hilly here, landing some big shots from side control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Hilly can do anything to dispel that myth.
Hilly wants to control but Don postures up.
Don trying to control the action but Hilly is working from the bottom.
Don tries to move into full mount but can't pass Hilly's legs.
Hilly can't do much from the bottom here.
Hilly prevents Don from improving position.
Don throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Hilly tries to bench press Don off him but Don keeps the position.
Don working away.

Don wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Hilly, who protects the arm well.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Don tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hilly is not content to let Don control the position.
Hilly struggling a bit here.
Hilly takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Hilly stops Don from passing to mount.

Don thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Don has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Hilly wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Don.
Don scoring with strikes but Hilly is staying in there.
We've been hearing that Don has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Don connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Don lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Hilly tries to reverse the position but Don maintains control.
Hilly is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Don throwing strikes here but Hilly is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hilly is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Don raining down hammerfists from mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Don postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Hilly looks a forlorn figure.
Don lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Don dominating with strikes here.
Don looking to finish Hilly with some ground and pound. This is bad for Hilly!

Hilly is rocked!
Hilly wants to control but Don is having none of it.
Don landing shots from mount.
Hilly is desperately trying to improve his position but Don has a good base and remains in mount.
Don dominating with strikes here.
Don punishing his opponent with strikes.
Hilly is wriggling around trying to escape.
Don lands a big elbow.
Don is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Hilly is in a horrible position here. Don smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Hilly is still in real trouble! Can Don finish him?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hilly taking shots to the head.
Don trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Hilly seems to have recovered his senses.
Don looking to ground and pound but Hilly is blocking nicely.
Hilly is working to get back to half guard.
Don throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Don working Hilly over with strikes here.
Don avoids the attempt from Hilly to control.
Don landing strikes from the mount.
A nice elbow there by Don.
Don trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Don lands a couple of good shots and Hilly has given up his back, trying 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!
Don softening up his opponent with strikes here.
Don missing with punches from the back.
Hilly covering up well under a series of strikes from Don.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hilly trying to get back to his feet but Don is in full control for now.
Even with his hooks in, Don manages to miss with strikes from the back.

Don is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Hilly knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Hilly for a finish.
Hilly is keeping busy.
Hilly avoids the strikes from Don.
Don missing with strikes.
Don keeps control of the position as Hilly tries to break free.
Don lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Don lands a shot to the body.
Hilly tries to escape the position.
Don connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Hilly to escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Monty Don dominated that round.
That's time! Don's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Hilly smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Hilly has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Don is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Donk. Hilly catches Don right on the button with a cross.
Hilly throws a right hand that Don ducks under and follows up with a left that Don also avoids with ease.
Don appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Hilly lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Hilly swings widly with a right hand

so Don counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Don throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Hilly really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Don. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Hilly 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.
Hilly avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Hilly has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Hilly utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Don looking to pass the guard.
Don with a flurry of punches that miss.
Don looking to pass the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hilly seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Don 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.
Don lands a couple of elbows.
Hilly is pulling down on Don's head. It's preventing any offense from Don, at least for the moment.
Don postures up and lands a big shot to Hilly's brow.
Don looking to pass the guard.
Hilly trying to keep a closed guard but Don is proving a slippery customer.
Hilly keeping moving, preventing Don from controlling successfully.
Don is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hilly can do to turn this around?
Don in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hilly pulls Don in close to his closed guard and prevents Don from doing any damage or advancing position.
Don throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hilly works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Don missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hilly tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hilly working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Don.
Don slips nicely into half guard.

Don is trying to work for a kimura but Hilly is defending well.
Don tries to pass the half guard into mount. Hilly knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Don throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Hilly is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Hilly is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Hilly wants to control but Don is keeping busy.
Don throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Don is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Hilly has managed to free his arm - good work.
Hilly trying to control here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Don content to control rather than advance.
Hilly tries to get to full guard but Don has control of the leg.
Hilly is holding on to half guard well.
Don thows a huge punch but Hilly dodges it nicely.
Don thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Hilly's head.
Hilly trying to control but Don postures up.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Don connects with a nice short shot to Hilly's temple.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Don connects with a nice short shot to Hilly's temple.
Monty Don overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Hilly is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Hilly avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Don.

Don is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Don trying to pass the guard but Hilly defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Don working over Hilly with some ground and pound. Hilly looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Hilly tries to roll over but Don keeps him under control.
Hilly holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Don working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Don is nestled in close to Hilly, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Don drops an elbow to the side of Hilly's head.
Don sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Hilly defending well though.
Hilly is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.

Don is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Don scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Hilly controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
Don works his way into full mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Monty Don dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Hilly moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Don misses with an uppercut.
Don shoots in looking for a takedown. Hilly tries to sprawl out of it but Don keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Hilly manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Hilly blocks the body kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sloppy strikes from Hilly. Those never looked like landing.
Nice defenses there by Hilly.
Don misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Don drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hilly misses with a lunging right hand

and Don counters with a takedown into side control.
Hilly is looking for a sweep.
Hilly is not content to let Don control the position.
Don working the head and body with strikes.

Don thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Don has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Hilly!
Don putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Hilly tries to reverse the position but Don maintains control.
Hilly is bucking up trying to escape but Don cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Hilly tries to hold on but Don pushes him away.
Hilly can't escape the position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Don is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Hilly to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Hilly shrugs it off.
Don working Hilly over with strikes here.
Hilly wants to hold on but Don pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Don working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Hilly is bucking up trying to escape but Don cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Hilly tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Hilly takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Don cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Oooh a big shot lands for Don! Hilly is out! The ref dives in to save him from more punishment!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:34 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Monty Don!
Our winner, Monty Don, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.