PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bertrand Wade (ranked 3310 p4p, 4377 weight class) and Mike Carpenter (ranked 434 p4p, 558 weight class). Mike Carpenter acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Wade
vs
Carpenter

189 cm
28
266
4 - 4 - 0

182 cm
32
276
9 - 17 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

Good wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bertrand Wade!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mike Carpenter!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Blasius, Albert Achterberg and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wade doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

Wade gets tackled into the cage by Carpenter. Carpenter maintains the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Carpenter.
Wade throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Carpenters head.

Carpenter has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Wade is trying to keep an underhook but Carpenter manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Carpenter is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Wade wants to improve his position but Carpenter is controlling well.
Wade wants to control but Carpenter is keeping busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Carpenter working the head and body with strikes.
Carpenter is controlling the pace.
Carpenter's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade tries to get to full guard but Carpenter has control of the leg.
Carpenter performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Wade has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Carpenter is working away from the top position though.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Carpenter in particular looking to stall.
Wade wants to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Wade has hold of Carpenter's hands but Carpenter slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Carpenter looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Carpenter is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Wade is looking to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wade moves into full guard.
Wade working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Carpenter.
Carpenter seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Carpenter stopping the sweep attempt from Wade.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Carpenter with a nice head shot there.
Carpenter connects with a couple of short punches.
Wade wants to sweep but no luck.
Wade is trying to control the position but Carpenter postures up.
Carpenter postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Wade can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Carpenter controls the pace.
Wade wants to sweep here but Carpenter controlling him for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter chips away with some ground and pound.
We've been hearing good reports from Wade's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Carpenter is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Carpenter working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Carpenter stopping the sweep attempt from Wade.
Carpenter is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Wade not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Carpenter engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Carpenter's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Wade can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Carpenter controls the pace.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Carpenter dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Wade closes the distance and clinches.
Wade trying to stall but Carpenter improves his position.
Wade tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Wade works on Carpenter's body with a couple of short punches.
Wade has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Carpenter avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Wade doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Wade is pressed up against the cage. Carpenter has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Wade down to the mat. Wade avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Carpenter has Wade up against the cage in a clinch.
Wade lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Carpenter backwards.
Carpenter tries for a takedown. No joy.
Wade drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Carpenter gets the underhooks and prevents it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carpenter tries for a takedown but Wade manages to get underhooks.
Bertrand Wade has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mike Carpenter.

Wade pulls guard.
Carpenter engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Carpenter with a nice head shot there.
Carpenter has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Carpenter seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Carpenter preventing the sweep.
Wade is working hard here to advance position.
Carpenter sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Carpenter is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Carpenter controls from within his opponent's guard.
Wade looking to hit a scissor sweep but Carpenter is one step ahead there.
Carpenter lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Carpenter controls the pace.
Carpenter scoring with some ground and pound.
Carpenter keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Wade's head.
Carpenter makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Carpenter lands a couple of digs.
Carpenter is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Carpenter cracks Wade with a solid left hand.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Carpenter working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.
Wade tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Carpenter seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Wade is trying to keep Carpenter in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Carpenter stays in close to Wade's body and controls the position.
Wade manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Carpenter manages to get himself to full guard.

Wade drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Carpenter manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Wade has Carpenter in his guard.

Carpenter seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Mike Carpenter will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Wade tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Carpenter fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Wade misses with the combination.

Carpenter drops Wade with a big left hand and mounts him. Wade is in big trouble!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Carpenter controlling from the full mount.
Carpenter looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Wade is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Carpenter with the ground and pound from mount.
Wade is trying desperately to improve position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carpenter raining down hammerfists from mount.

Wade is rocked!
Wade tries to hold on but Carpenter postures up.
Wade is looking to improve his position but Carpenter isn't that keen on the idea.
Carpenter controlling from the full mount.
Wade is in all sorts of trouble here.
Carpenter looking to control and managing it successfully.
Wade is trying desperately to improve position.
Carpenter lands a big shot there that rocks Wade but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wade is trying desperately to improve position.
Carpenter looking to control and managing it successfully.
Carpenter looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Wade tries to reverse the position but Carpenter maintains control.
Carpenter content just to control the position here.
Carpenter looking to finish Wade with some ground and pound. This is bad for Wade!
Oh Wade is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Carpenter cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Wade is looking to improve his position but Carpenter isn't that keen on the idea.
Wade seems to have got his legs back now.
Carpenter controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade is working to get back to half guard.
Carpenter controlling his opponent.
Wade slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Carpenter performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Carpenter prevents Wade from improving his position.

That's four 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.
Carpenter lands with a punch from half guard.
Bertrand Wade has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Carpenter scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Still in half guard, Carpenter seems content to control.
Carpenter lands strikes from half guard.
Nice strikes from Carpenter there.
Wade wants to improve his position but Carpenter is controlling well.
Carpenter working over Wade with some ground and pound. Wade looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Carpenter slows the pace down in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Carpenter comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Carpenter winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 27:30
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Carpenter!