PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Diatomaceous Smiff (ranked 5997 p4p, 2782 weight class) and Mark Banner (ranked 676 p4p, 388 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Smiff
vs
Banner

185 cm
25
192
0 - 1 - 0

178 cm
25
195
2 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
KO power

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Diatomaceous Smiff!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Mark Banner!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, Winston Alpacca and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Banner ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Smiff moves away.
As Banner tries to get set, Smiff tries to push him back and clinch up but Banner manages to avoid the attempt.
Smiff moves in looking to clinch but Banner pushes him off.
Banner keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Smiff.
Smiff rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Banner counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Smiff manages to get to full guard.

Smiff escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Banner gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Smiff has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Banner working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Banner avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Banner must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Banner preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banner working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Smiff's head.
Banner landing some decent shots from guard.
Banner controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Banner working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Smiff's head.

It looks like Diatomaceous Smiff has been cut.
Banner has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Monkey Magic. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Smiff looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Banner postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Banner is working Smiff over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Diatomaceous Smiff's cut is getting worse.
Banner trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Banner trying to control but Smiff is working from the bottom.
Banner is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Smiff escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Banner gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Banner sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Smiff's guard.
Banner working over Smiff with some ground and pound. Smiff looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

Diatomaceous Smiff's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Banner lands a nice short elbow.
Smiff is looking to improve his position.
Banner not doing much here.

Banner is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Smiff doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Banner.
Ground and pound from Banner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Banner landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Jeez, Diatomaceous Smiff's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Diatomaceous Smiff's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:34 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Mark Banner!