PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ralph Ritter (ranked 4102 p4p, 4015 weight class) and Jan Claude Van Damme (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Ritter
vs
Van Damme

185 cm
25
189
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
195
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ralph Ritter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jan Claude Van Damme!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Daniel Franklin and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Van Damme lands a nice looking body kick.
Van Damme pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Van Damme throws a nice head kick!
Ritter throws a head kick but Van Damme moves out of range.
Van Damme scores with a kick to the midsection.
Van Damme throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Ritter counters with a right hand to the body.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Van Damme.
Van Damme throws a head kick that half lands.
Ritter tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Van Damme paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Van Damme misses with a kick to the body.
Ritter has his takedown stuffed
and Van Damme counters with a leg kick.
Van Damme is looking to slow Ritter down with leg kicks.
Van Damme scores with a kick to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Damme defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ritter.
Ritter closes this distance looking for a takedown but Van Damme circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ralph Ritter. That's going to take a lot out of him.
An inside leg kick lands from Van Damme.
Ritter blocks the body kick.
Ritter fails to land the takedown.
Ritter with a poor takedown
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Van Damme pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ritter takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Ritter shoots in looking for a takedown. Van Damme tries to sprawl out of it but Ritter keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Van Damme manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Van Damme thinks about the counter body kick.
Ralph Ritter seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ritter closes the distance looking to clinch
and Van Damme counters with a flying knee. Nice.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Damme scores with a nice body kick.
Van Damme with the inside leg kick.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Van Damme - that will leave a mark!

Ritter moves into the clinch successfully.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Van Damme tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ritter working aggressively here.
Ritter taking a breather.
Ritter blocks an uppercut.
Van Damme controlling the action here for a moment.
Ritter blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Damme swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Van Damme fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Van Damme letting Ritter take a breather here.
Van Damme keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ritter's efforts to push away.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Ritter wants to break the clinch but can't.
Van Damme tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ritter prevents Van Damme from breaking the clinch.
Van Damme misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ritter blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Ritter tries for a takedown. No joy.

That's four 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.
Van Damme wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Ritter has him pressed against the cage.
Van Damme working aggressively here.
Ritter is looking to take this one to the mat.

Ritter breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Crunch! Van Damme slams his shin into Ritter's torso.
Ritter tries to land a leg kick but Van Damme saw it coming and moves away.
Van Damme throws a sloppy head kick

and Ritter decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Van Damme's guard.
Van Damme looking to control.
Ritter looking to pass the guard.
Ritter trying to control but Van Damme is working from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jan Claude Van Damme dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Van Damme connects with an inside leg kick.

Ritter scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Van Damme parries the strikes from Ritter easily there. Ritter is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Van Damme to escape.
Ritter lands a few punches from side control.
Van Damme is not content to let Ritter control the position.
Van Damme is trying to improve his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Damme gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ritter sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Van Damme trying to control but Ritter postures up.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Ritter in particular looking to stall.
Van Damme is refusing to be controlled, as Ritter sits in half guard.

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.
Van Damme wants to get back to his feet.
Van Damme trying to control but Ritter postures up.
Van Damme tries to get to full guard but Ritter has control of the leg.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Van Damme throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Ritter shoots in for a double leg but Van Damme sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Ritter changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Van Damme tries to avoid it but Ritter manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Van Damme to the ground. Van Damme escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Van Damme steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.
Ritter misses with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ritter throws a sloppy head kick
and Van Damme counters with an outside leg kick.
Ritter throws a head kick but Van Damme moves out of range.
Ritter throws a hook but Van Damme avoids it easily.
Nice takedown defense from Van Damme. No joy for Ritter on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ralph Ritter. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Van Damme is looking to slow Ritter down with leg kicks.
Ritter will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Ritter throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Van Damme's waist but Van Damme gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Ritter off to one side.
Ritter is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Ritter takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Van Damme with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Ritter throws a lazy head kick
and Van Damme counters with a head kick.
Van Damme with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Van Damme leaves Ritter with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ritter shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Van Damme defends it nicely.
Ritter takes a kick to the side of the head.
Jan Claude Van Damme seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Van Damme tries a head kick but it misses.
Ritter feinted with a counter takedown.
Ritter shoots in for a takedown but Van Damme shows good takedown defense.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ritter tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Van Damme swivels and escapes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ritter wants to clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jan Claude Van Damme showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Van Damme throws a sloppy head kick

so Ritter counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Van Damme is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Van Damme is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Van Damme working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ritter.
Ritter wants to control from the top but Van Damme keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ritter controls from within his opponent's guard.
Van Damme keeping full guard, as Ritter tries to pass.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Damme is trying to control the position from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Ritter shoots in for a takedown but Van Damme shows good takedown defense.
Ritter is trying hard to land a takedown here. Van Damme sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Van Damme lands with a kick to the temple. Ritter shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
A clash of legs there as Van Damme blocks the low kick.
Ritter tries to close the distance and clinch but Van Damme swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Van Damme shapes to counter with a head kick.
Ritter shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Van Damme sprawls well. Van Damme wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ritter gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ralph Ritter. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ritter throws a head kick that misses.
Ritter digs a good body shot into Van Damme's ribs.
Van Damme throws a head kick but Ritter moves out of range.
Ritter shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Van Damme but Van Damme pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Ritter has a takedown stuffed.
Van Damme fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Ritter has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Van Damme throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Ritter throws a nice looking combination but Van Damme bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ritter gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Van Damme makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Ritter really felt that one!
Ritter throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
A head kick by Van Damme misses

and Ritter counters with a single leg into guard. Van Damme didn't expect that.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Van Damme is controlling Ritter's posture.

Ritter gets to his feet. Van Damme looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Ritter with a poor takedown
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Van Damme plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Van Damme defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ritter.
Ritter with a poor takedown
and Van Damme counters with an inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ritter throws a push kick but Van Damme slaps the foot to one side.
Van Damme connects with a leg kick.
Ritter digs a good hook to Van Damme's body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Van Damme stuffs the takedown.
Ralph Ritter is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ritter moves in looking to clinch but Van Damme pushes him off.
Van Damme is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.
A solid leg kick lands there for Van Damme.
Van Damme fakes the leg kick and cracks Ritter in the body.
Ritter throws a leg kick
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Ritter fails to land the takedown.
Ralph Ritter has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jan Claude Van Damme is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Van Damme throws a head kick that half lands.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jan Claude Van Damme comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Van Damme 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 Santiago Holmes scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jan Claude Van Damme!