PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Time To Fight Wright (ranked 429 p4p, 1699 weight class) and Simon Hedegaard (ranked 58 p4p, 207 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Simon Hedegaard was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Wright
vs
Hedegaard

189 cm
27
198
17 - 12 - 0

208 cm
34
195
34 - 20 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
Brawler
Powerful

30th Century Beer Store

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 17 - 12 - 0, fighting out of London, Time To Fight Wright!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 34 - 20 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Simon Hedegaard!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Paul Aken and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wright slaps away a takedown attempt from Hedegaard, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Hedegaard is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Hedegaard misses with a takedown attempt
and Wright counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Wright misses with a shot to the body

and Hedegaard counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Wright 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.
Hedegaard wants to control from the top but Wright keeps moving.
Wright wants to stand up but Hedegaard is controlling him.

Wright looking for a guillotine here but Hedegaard defends easily.
Hedegaard slips nicely into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hedegaard is thwarting Wright's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright is positioning himself well to prevent Hedegaard advancing to mount.
Hedegaard prevents Wright from improving his position.
Wright is working hard here to advance position.

Hedegaard is working for a kimura but Wright is defending it quite comfortably.

Wright looking for submissions off his back.

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.
Hedegaard landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Wright wants to get back to his feet.
Hedegaard landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Wright looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Wright tries to get to full guard but Hedegaard has control of the leg.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Hedegaard working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.

Hedegaard is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wright is trying to get back to full guard.
Wright controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

Hedegaard is working for a kimura here but Wright manages to reverse the position and he's now in Hedegaard's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wright lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Hedegaard keeping full guard, as Wright tries to pass.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hedegaard looking for a guillotine here but Wright defends easily.
Hedegaard trying to control the position.
Wright stays in close to Hedegaard's body and controls the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hedegaard keeping moving, preventing Wright from controlling successfully.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Time To Fight Wright will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Hedegaard.
Wright lands a body shot.
Wright lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Wright is looking to clinch.
Hedegaard walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.

Wright darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Hedegaard makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hedegaard has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Hedegaard shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Wright sprawls well. Wright wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Hedegaard gets slowly back to his feet.
Hedegaard shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Wright defends it nicely.
Time To Fight Wright has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Simon Hedegaard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hedegaard shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Wright napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Wright tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Wright might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Wright is looking to improve his position but Hedegaard isn't that keen on the idea.
Wright is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
Hedegaard with good strikes from the mount here!
Wright is in all sorts of trouble here.
Hedegaard manages to capitalize on a mistake by Wright to take his back!
Wright turns into Hedegaard and is now in his guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Hedegaard is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Hedegaard looking to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hedegaard manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Wright manages to get himself to full guard.

Hedegaard is working Wright over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Wright keeping moving, preventing Hedegaard from controlling successfully.

Wright throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Wright can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Hedegaard controls the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hedegaard stopping the sweep attempt from Wright.
Wright working a defensive guard here.
Wright is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Wright looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Hedegaard trying to control the position from guard on top but Wright is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.

Wright is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Hedegaard trying to move into half guard but instead Wright has managed to sweep!

Hedegaard wants to control the position but Wright says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Wright scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Ground and pound from Wright.
Wright content to control rather than advance.
Hedegaard is trying to get back to full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Time To Fight Wright dominated that second round.
That's time! Wright's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Wright gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Wright pushes Hedegaard back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Wright throws a knee to the head but misses.
Hedegaard has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Wright after a bit of a struggle.
Hedegaard is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Wright gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Hedegaard has picked Wright up - he's going for a ride! Hedegaard dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Wright is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hedegaard's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hedegaard's back!
Hedegaard is trying to remain composed but Wright is hammering down strikes to the side of his head.
You can see the frustration on Hedegaard's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Wright really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Hedegaard.
Hedegaard looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Wright scores with strikes from the back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Wright.
Wright trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Wright controlling well, preventing Hedegaard from escaping the position.
Hedegaard prevents Wright from getting a body triangle.
Hedegaard takes a big shot to the side of the head.
Oooh a big shot gets through from Wright. Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!
Time To Fight Wright is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wright biding his time, controlling Hedegaard.
Hedegaard breaks Wright's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Wright looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Wright has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hedegaard trying to control the position from guard on top but Wright is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Wright has Hedegaard pulled in close to control his posture.
Hedegaard stopping the sweep attempt from Wright.
Wright looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Wright wants to sweep here but Hedegaard controlling him for the moment.
Wright is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hedegaard can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Wright working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Hedegaard doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Hedegaard manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Hedegaard trying to control the position from guard on top but Wright is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Wright wants to sweep but no luck.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Hedegaard dodges the punch combination from Wright.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hedegaard misses with a right hand
and Wright counters with a straight right hand.
Simon Hedegaard has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hedegaard shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Wright pinned against the cage. Wright gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Time To Fight Wright showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Wright has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Time To Fight Wright!
Time To Fight Wright made sure to mention his sponsor, Un-Kaged Nutrition in his post fight interview.