PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mike Carpenter (ranked 2220 p4p, 3632 weight class) and Bertrand Wade (ranked 297 p4p, 445 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Carpenter
vs
Wade

182 cm
33
276
12 - 18 - 0

189 cm
30
266
5 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

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 12 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mike Carpenter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bertrand Wade!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Paul Aken and Radbod Blank.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Carpenter tries for a takedown. No joy.
Wade avoiding damage.
Carpenter can't get the takedown.
Wade goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
We've been hearing reports that Carpenter has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Carpenter prevents a body shot from Wade.
Carpenter wants a takedown but no success here.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Carpenter. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wade tries to work over Carpenter's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Wade breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Carpenter drives through with a takedown into guard.
Carpenter controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Carpenter landing some decent shots from guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wade is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Wade looking to hit a scissor sweep but Carpenter is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Carpenter cracks Wade with a solid left hand.
Wade looking to hit a scissor sweep but Carpenter is one step ahead there.
Wade looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Carpenter puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Carpenter sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Wade is looking to improve his position.

That's two 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.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Carpenter in particular looking to stall.
Wade is looking to control Carpenter's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Wade avoid being mounted?

Wade looking for submissions off his back.
Carpenter lands with a punch from half guard.
Carpenter working Wade over with strikes.
Wade has hold of Carpenter's hands but Carpenter slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Carpenter keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Carpenter scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter trying to control the pace.
Wade moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Carpenter controls from within his opponent's guard.
Carpenter advances position into side control!
Wade tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wade being controlled for a moment.

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.
Wade trying his best to control but Carpenter has mounted him.
Wade can't escape the position.
Carpenter sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Wade is desperately trying to improve his position but Carpenter has a good base and remains in mount.
Wade has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Wade wants to control but Carpenter is having none of it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Carpenter dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Wade shoots for a takedown but Carpenter saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Carpenter dives in and grabs Wade's left leg, looking for a takedown. Wade pushes down on Carpenter's head and hops out.
Wade tries to close the distance and clinch up but Carpenter swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Wade doesn't manage to clinch there - Carpenter circles away.
Wade looks to land a combination but Carpenter avoids it well.
Carpenter shoots in but Wade avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Carpenter keeps the fight on the outside.

Carpenter drives through and clinches with Wade against the cage.
Wade is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Carpenter is defending well for now.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Wade.
Carpenter avoids a wild elbow strike from Wade.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Wade has picked Carpenter up - he's going for a ride! Wade dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

Carpenter has one foot on Wade's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Wade closes the distance and pushes Carpenter back into the cage.
Carpenter blocks a body shot from Wade.
Carpenter is looking to take this one to the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Carpenter. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carpenter has a couple of punches blocked by Wade.
Carpenter working aggressively here.

Wade pulls guard.
Carpenter stopping the sweep attempt from Wade.
Carpenter is in close to Wade's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Carpenter with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Carpenter cracks Wade with a solid left hand.
Carpenter scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Wade is looking for a triangle but Carpenter pushes his legs off easily.
Carpenter controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Wade is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Carpenter landing with the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Wade's head.
Wade working a defensive guard here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Carpenter pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Wade is keeping the position for now.
Carpenter is working hard here to advance position.

Wade is looking for a triangle but Carpenter pushes his legs off easily.
Wade controls Carpenter momentarily but Carpenter frees himself.
Mike Carpenter overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Wade looking for a guillotine here but Carpenter defends easily.
Carpenter is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carpenter controls from within his opponent's guard.
Carpenter working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Carpenter is in close to Wade's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Wade is trying to keep Carpenter in close.
Carpenter has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Carpenter landing some decent shots from guard.
Carpenter working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Wade's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Wade 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.
Carpenter is stalling in the full guard.
Carpenter cracks Wade with a solid left hand.
Carpenter content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Carpenter won't allow Wade to sweep him here.
Carpenter is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.

Wade isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Carpenter stacks Wade on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Carpenter!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Carpenter dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Carpenter shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Carpenter lands with a punch from half guard.
Carpenter prevents Wade from improving his position.
Carpenter is taking a breather. Wade 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carpenter has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade gets full guard.
Wade looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Wade being controlled here, momentarily.
Carpenter pushing down on Wade's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Carpenter takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Wade trying to control but Carpenter postures up.
Carpenter is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Carpenter performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wade wants to improve his position but Carpenter is controlling well.
Carpenter is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Wade can do to turn this around?
Carpenter looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Wade with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Wade is looking to improve his position.
Wade on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Wade slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Wade can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Carpenter controls the pace.
Wade trying to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade is looking to sweep but instead, Carpenter has passed into half guard.
Carpenter winds up and cracks Wade with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Carpenter slows the pace down in half guard.
Carpenter working Wade over with strikes.
Carpenter controlling the pace.
Wade is trying to maintain the position but Carpenter is very close to passing his half guard.
Carpenter seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

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.
Wade is looking to improve his position.
Bertrand Wade has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Carpenter takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Carpenter looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Wade with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Mike Carpenter is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Wade is trying to control but can't.

Wade looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Carpenter showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Carpenter, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27
Judge Radbod Blank scores the fight 30:27

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