PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Sam Barnes (ranked 4602 p4p, 23181 weight class) and African King (ranked 575 p4p, 736 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Barnes
vs
King

187 cm
25
194
6 - 9 - 1

180 cm
26
199
5 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sam Barnes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 13 - 0, fighting out of London, African King!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Frank Dennis and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - King looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Barnes lands with a nice body punch.
Barnes lands a head kick!

It looks like African King has been cut.

King is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Barnes's half guard.
Barnes wants to improve his position but King is controlling well.
King tries to pass to full mount but Barnes defends it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King wants to lay and pray for a moment but Barnes keeps working.
King stops Barnes from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
King wants to pass the guard but Barnes is keeping the position.
King content to stall in guard here.
King throwing strikes from guard but Barnes blocks nicely.
Barnes is trying to keep King in close.
Barnes wants to sweep but no luck.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.
King tries to free his leg and advance position but Barnes is retaining full 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.
Barnes can't keep his opponent in guard - King advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Barnes is trying to stand up here but King is controlling him well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

King seems to be working for a kimura but Barnes defends the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
King trying to control the action but Barnes is working from the bottom.

King is working for a kimura but Barnes is defending it quite comfortably.
Barnes manages to get to full guard.
Barnes not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King trying to control the position from guard on top but Barnes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barnes not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
King advances position into side control!

King looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Barnes is looking to reverse the position.
Barnes is not content to let King control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

King is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Barnes wants to improve his position but King is controlling well.

King is working for a kimura but Barnes is defending it quite comfortably.
Barnes wants to get back to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but African King will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on African King's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

King blocks a leg kick.
King scores with a push kick.

Barnes tries to keep at a distance but King has taken the fight into the clinch.
Barnes swings away with an uppercut that misses.
King scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Barnes lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of King backwards.
Barnes tries to throw a body punch but King avoids it by throwing Barnes back against the cage.
Barnes is defending well against a takedown attempt.
King jumps guard but Barnes stands there with King around his waist. King gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

King jumps into guard, dragging Barnes to the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
King looking for a sweep. Not yet King, not yet.
Barnes is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Barnes connects with a couple of short punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.

King is looking for a triangle here but Barnes uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
King is trying to get back to half guard.
Barnes looks up at the clock and then as King takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Barnes smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
King sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
King is trying to control but can't.
King is staying active underneath Barnes, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
King avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Barnes.
Barnes trying to control the action but King is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes prevents King from improving his position.
King trying to control but Barnes postures up.
Barnes is trying to control the action in half guard but King is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Barnes trying to mount his opponent but King defends it.
King wants to improve his position but Barnes is controlling well.

King actively working from the bottom here.
King is staying active underneath Barnes, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
King has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Barnes is working away from the top position though.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Barnes connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
King throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Barnes on the side of the head.
That kick from Barnes tenderised King's leg. King is trying to keep his angry face on.
Sam Barnes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Barnes connects with an inside leg kick.
King moves out of range of the leg kick from Barnes.
Nice cross by King.
Barnes keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Sam Barnes has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of African King.
Barnes explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes throws a low kick but King avoids it.
Barnes circles away from the clinch attempt.
Barnes gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Sam Barnes is winning the standup battle so far.
King throws a leg kick
and Barnes counters with a left and a right that stings King.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
King tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Barnes manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Barnes throws a nice looking combination but King bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
King raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Barnes throws a low kick but King avoids it.
King scores with a head kick. Barnes tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
King takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Barnes misses with a double jab.
King has a takedown stuffed.
As King backs away, Barnes returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
King works Barnes's body with a nice hook.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Barnes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on African King's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

King with the inside leg kick.
Barnes buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Barnes looks to land a combination but King avoids it well.
Barnes blocks a head kick by King.
King walks into a jab.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Barnes!
Barnes with a body punch. A glancing blow.
The fighters circling - King throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
King has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Barnes.
Barnes looks to land a combination but King avoids it well.
King looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
King slips a straight right by Barnes.
Nice takedown defense from Barnes. No joy for King on that attempt.
Barnes is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that King can do to turn this around?
This has been an exciting period of action!
Barnes throws a right hand that King ducks under and follows up with a left that King also avoids with ease.

King clinches up with Barnes and pushes him back against the cage.
Barnes tries to throw a body punch but King avoids it by throwing Barnes back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
King lands on the inside with an uppercut.
King taking a breather.
Barnes tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
King goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
King blocks a body shot from Barnes.
King jumps guard but Barnes turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Barnes pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Barnes misses with a takedown attempt
and King counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Barnes moves forwards but King connects with a nice, crisp jab.
King pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Barnes swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
A decent looking cross lands there for Barnes.
King tries to close the distance and clinch but Barnes swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

King clinches up against the cage.
King blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
King lands with a left to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Barnes lands a right hand.
Barnes doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Barnes.
King is trying to pull guard but Barnes has him pressed against the cage.
Sam Barnes has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of African King.
Good body shot from Barnes.
King tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Barnes smiles and moves away.
King takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
King uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Barnes.
Sam Barnes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Barnes throws a series of strikes that have King backpedaling.
Barnes chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Barnes takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
King tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
King shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Barnes sprawls well. Barnes wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. King gets slowly back to his feet.
As King looks to move away, Barnes throws a big counter combo but King just gets out of the way.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
King jabs Barnes right on the nose. Barnes blinks but takes it well.
Barnes blocks a head kick by King.
Barnes will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
King is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
King throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Barnes dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on King. That did some damage!
King uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Barnes.
Barnes lands a jab to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
King misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barnes throws a low kick but it's checked well by King.
King has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

King is rocked!
Barnes cracks King on the jaw with a powerful right hand and King falls backwards against the cage. Barnes follows up with more strikes that drop King to his knees. Barnes keeps the pressure on and the referee jumps in to save King! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Sam Barnes!
Sam Barnes decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.