PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mark Morton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brad Tavares (ranked 0 p4p, 0 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 Brad Tavares was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Morton
vs
Tavares

189 cm
26
156 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

179 cm
23
145 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Lethal high kicks
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mark Morton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Brad Tavares!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

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

Morton wants to finish this one by submission but Tavares is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Morton.
Morton really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Morton misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Morton throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

Morton looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Morton looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
You get the feeling that Tavares really doesn't like being in this position too much.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Morton working for a submission but Tavares is keeping him at bay.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morton misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

Morton working for a submission but Tavares is keeping him at bay.

Morton is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Tavares has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Morton is breathing heavily.
Tavares squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Tavares in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavares wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.

Morton working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Morton throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Morton throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Morton landing strikes, looking to finish!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Morton throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Morton working away from the top, dropping strikes.

Morton has hold of Tavares's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Tavares manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morton working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

Morton wants to finish this one by submission but Tavares is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Morton.

Morton is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Tavares can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Morton looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Tavares is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

Morton is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Tavares to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Tavares shrugs it off.
Tavares holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Morton tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Morton looking for a guillotine from mount but Tavares is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Morton dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Morton misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Tavares looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Tavares tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Nice sprawl there from Tavares as Morton shoots in.
Some bone on bone action there as Morton checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Morton will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Morton. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tavares scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Brad Tavares seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morton shoots in but Tavares avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Morton misses with a wild body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavares misses with a double jab.
Tavares walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Morton checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
An inside leg kick lands from Tavares.
Tavares misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Morton moves out of range of the strikes.
Tavares throws the kick towards the body but Morton avoids it.
Tavares pushes Morton away with a front kick.
Tavares scoring well with a low kick there.
Tavares throws a leg kick but Morton sees it coming and moves out of range.
Tavares tries a head kick but it misses.
Tavares throws a quick inside leg kick.

Morton drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Morton creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Tavares sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morton prevents Tavares from escaping the position.

Morton tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Morton wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Tavares, who protects the arm well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Morton throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morton working the ground and pound but Tavares is defending the strikes.
The ground and pound from Morton seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Morton throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Tavares wants to get back to his feet but Morton drags him back down.

Morton looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Morton thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Tavares parries the strikes from Morton easily there. Morton is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Tavares to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Morton looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Morton working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Morton working the ground and pound but Tavares is defending the strikes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tavares is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Morton dominated that second round.
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. This is the final round!

Tavares throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Morton.
Tavares dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Morton. That did some damage!

Morton shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Morton has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Tavares's face.

Morton working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Morton misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Mark Morton overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morton throwing strikes here but Tavares is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

Morton is working for a guillotine from mount but Tavares frees his head quite easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morton is working for a guillotine from mount but Tavares frees his head quite easily.
Tavares avoids a series of strikes thrown by Morton.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Morton tries to control but Tavares wriggling away.

Morton has control of Tavares's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Tavares regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Morton controlling the pace for now.
Tavares's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morton content just to control the position here.
Morton has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Morton seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Tavares for as long as he can get away with.

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

The referee stands the fighters back up. Mark Morton just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Tavares throws a sloppy head kick and Morton moves out of range easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Morton showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Morton, 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:26
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:26
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Morton!