PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shane Carter (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maurice Lafay (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Carter
vs
Lafay

190 cm
18
190 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

173 cm
22
185 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Tends to cut

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Shane Carter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Maurice Lafay!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Anthony Taglia and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Carter shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.

Carter stands up from mount. Strange move.

Carter scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Lafay wants to improve his position but Carter is controlling well.
Lafay won't allow Carter to pass to mount.
Lafay trying to control here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Carter stands up out of the half guard.
Carter tries for a takedown but Lafay sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Carter will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Lafay is looking to clinch but Carter is avoiding it.
Lafay fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
No luck for Carter with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shane Carter. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Carter wants to clinch up but Lafay keeps it at a distance.
Lafay looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Lafay closes the distance and pushes Carter back into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carter wants to break free but Lafay has control.
Carter keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Lafay's efforts to push away.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Carter is trying to break the clinch but Lafay is controlling him.
Carter is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Lafay tries to pull guard but Carter holds him up against the cage and eventually Lafay drops back down to his feet.
Lafay fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Carter dodges an elbow strike from Lafay.
Carter is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

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.
Lafay lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Carter has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Lafay is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Carter is keeping busy.
Carter is trying to break the clinch but Lafay is controlling him.

Carter's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Carter.

Carter decides to stand back up.
Lafay looks gassed!
Horrible takedown by Lafay or perhaps it was just good defense by Carter which made him look bad.
Horrible takedown by Carter or perhaps it was just good defense by Lafay which made him look bad.
Carter swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Carter drives through with a takedown into guard.

Carter decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Carter closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Carter gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Carter misses with a few strikes there.
Carter tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Lafay swivels and escapes.
Lafay wants to clinch.
Carter throws a right and a left that Lafay avoids nicely.
Carter misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Carter gets the takedown into side control.

Carter decides to stand back up. Carter steps back and let's Lafay get back to his feet.

Carter looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Carter in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Carter tries to stand but Lafay is controlling from the bottom.

Carter stands up and waves to Lafay to follow him.
Lafay should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Carter fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Carter looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Lafay is fending him off so far but Carter persists. Nope, Lafay circles away and we're back to standing.
Lafay wants to clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Carter shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Lafay pinned against the cage. Lafay gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Shane Carter seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Lafay takes a swing at Carter's ribcage but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Carter dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Carter looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Carter wants to stand up but Lafay has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Lafay wants to control but Carter is keeping busy.
Carter wants to stand up but Lafay is controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carter tries to pass the half guard into mount. Lafay knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Carter tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Lafay.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Lafay manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Carter stands up from Lafay's guard - Carter perhaps looking for a knockout.

Carter scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Carter decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Carter feints and as Lafay raises his hands in defense, Carter changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Lafay keeping moving, preventing Carter from controlling successfully.
Carter tries to stand but Lafay is controlling from the bottom.
Lafay keeping moving, preventing Carter from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carter trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Lafay manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Lafay wanted to stand there but Carter had control of the position.
Lafay throws and elbow that misses. Carter uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Lafay's guard. Nice move by Carter!
Lafay is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lafay keeping moving, preventing Carter from controlling successfully.

Carter stands up from Lafay's guard - Carter perhaps looking for a knockout.

Lafay gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Carter to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Carter stands up from Lafay's guard - Carter perhaps looking for a knockout.

Carter looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Lafay!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Carter looking to secure an arm triangle but Lafay defends it well.
Lafay is wriggling around trying to escape.

Carter looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Lafay blocking the ground and pound.
Carter thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

Carter stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Carter dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Lafay fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Carter manages to avoid it.
Nice sprawl there from Lafay as Carter shoots in.
Lafay takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Carter is defended easily by Lafay.

Lafay instigates a clinch.
Lafay is trying to stall.
Lafay tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lafay can't break the clinch.
Carter looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
A shot in the inside from Lafay.
Lafay takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lafay escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Carter closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Carter lands in his opponent's guard.
Carter is looking to stand up but Lafay won't let him.
Shane Carter overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Carter drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Carter jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Carter wants to stand but Lafay is controlling his posture from full guard.
Carter trying to control but Lafay is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carter trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Carter trying to control the position from guard on top but Lafay is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Lafay stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shane Carter. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Carter drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Carter drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Lafay manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Carter has Lafay in his guard.
Lafay wants to stand but Carter is controlling his posture from full guard.
Carter will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carter 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.

Carter has his foot on Lafay's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Lafay works his way back into a safe position though.
Lafay wanted to stand there but Carter had control of the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Carter tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Lafay wanted to stand there but Carter had control of the position.

Carter had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Lafay defends it easily.
Maurice Lafay has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Carter on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Carter tries to get out of the position.
Lafay throws a strike but Carter rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shane Carter showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Carter, 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 Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shane Carter!