PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Hendrik Van Tonder (ranked 25194 p4p, 3928 weight class) and William Ward (ranked 512 p4p, 409 weight class). Van Tonder comes to the cage accompanied by Orkney snork nie. Hendrik Van Tonder has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Van Tonder
vs
Ward

175 cm
21
155
0 - 3 - 0

173 cm
18
162
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hendrik Van Tonder!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, William Ward!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Konstantin Menshow and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Ward drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Ward connects with a couple of short punches.
Ward stands up over Van Tonder, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Ward content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Ward working some strikes from top position.
Ward is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Ward cracks Van Tonder with a solid left hand.
Ward connects with a couple of short punches.
Van Tonder is breathing heavily.
Ward lands a couple of elbows.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ward lands a couple of elbows.
Ward controlling from the top position.
Ward landing some decent shots from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

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

Ward managing to control the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Ward can do anything to dispel that myth.
Van Tonder throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ward works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Van Tonder won't allow Ward to sweep him here.
Ward bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Van Tonder's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward stands up over Van Tonder, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Ward lands a couple of digs.
Van Tonder knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Ward on the ground.
Ward lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ward showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Ward drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Ward seems to have locked his on tight now - Van Tonder screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Ward, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:39 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). William Ward!
After winning the bout, William Ward thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
Hendrik Van Tonder spoke after the fight, saying 'Jis dit was amper'.