PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Varun Kumar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Luke Danes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kumar
vs
Danes

185 cm
21
180 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

184 cm
22
175 lbs
9 - 3 - 1

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Tri Light Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Varun Kumar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Luke Danes!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Danes tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kumar paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Danes tries to clinch up.
Kumar throws a body kick that misses.
Kumar throws a sloppy head kick and Danes moves out of range easily.
Kumar swats away the attempt to clinch by Danes.
Kumar circles away from the clinch attempt.
Danes moves in looking to clinch but Kumar pushes him off.
Kumar throws a head kick but Danes moves out of range.
Danes moves in looking to clinch but Kumar pushes him off.
Danes tries to clinch but Kumar is having none of it.
Kumar keeps the fight on the outside.
Kumar throws a head kick but Danes moves out of range.
Danes fails in his attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Danes tries to clinch up but Kumar circles away and keeps his distance.
Danes looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Kumar is fending him off so far but Danes persists. Nope, Kumar circles away and we're back to standing.
Kumar throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Kumar keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Kumar misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Danes takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Danes shoots for a takedown but Kumar saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Kumar throws a head kick that misses.
Danes wants to clinch up but Kumar keeps it at a distance.
Danes fails with an attempt to clinch.

Kumar clinches up against the cage.
Danes throws an elbow but it misses.
Danes controlling the action here for a moment.
Danes tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kumar avoids it.
Danes trying to land knees to the body.
Danes misses with an elbow over the top.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Danes trying to land knees to the body.

Kumar pulls guard successfully.
Kumar controlling the position.
Kumar is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Danes wants to get back to full guard.
Danes is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Danes is staying active underneath Kumar, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Danes controlling the position for now.
Danes is trying to stand up here but Kumar is controlling him well.

Kumar looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Kumar is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Danes doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Kumar.
Danes is in trouble now - Kumar has advanced to mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kumar can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Danes is looking to escape.
Kumar is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Danes is looking to get to half guard.
Kumar avoids the attempt from Danes to control.
Danes is wriggling around trying to escape.

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.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Danes wants to get back to his feet.
Kumar tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kumar thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Kumar lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kumar controlling his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Kumar shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Danes keeping moving, preventing Kumar from controlling successfully.
Kumar trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Kumar trying to move into half guard but instead Danes has managed to sweep!
Danes stopping the sweep attempt from Kumar.
Danes is looking to stand up but Kumar won't let him.

Danes gets to his feet - Kumar follows without any prompting.
Danes tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Kumar cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Danes closes the distance looking to clinch

and Kumar counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kumar wants to control from the top but Danes keeps moving.
Kumar is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Danes is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Danes looking for a sweep. Not yet Danes, not yet.
Danes keeping moving, preventing Kumar from controlling successfully.
Kumar looking to pass the guard.
Kumar is working hard here to advance position.

That's two 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.
Kumar is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Kumar is looking to score with low kicks.
Danes tries to clinch

and Kumar counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Danes's guard now.
Danes looking for a sweep. Not yet Danes, not yet.
Kumar controls from within his opponent's guard.
Danes wants to stand but Kumar is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kumar wants to control from the top but Danes keeps moving.
Kumar stands up over Danes, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Kumar is looking to work some ground and pound but Danes has wrist control.
Kumar pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Danes is keeping the position for now.
Danes wants to sweep but no luck.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Kumar circles away from the clinch attempt

and Kumar counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Danes's guard now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kumar wants to control from the top but Danes keeps moving.
Kumar passes Danes's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Kumar is pressing down on Danes's thigh, looking to free his foot. Danes is holding on for now.
Danes is refusing to be controlled, as Kumar sits in half guard.
Danes has his hands clasped together around Kumar's back. He's all about the action.
Danes won't allow Kumar to pass to mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Varun Kumar dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Kumar gets a clinch.
Kumar blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Danes goes for a takedown in the clinch but Kumar prevents it.
Danes is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Kumar pushes Danes back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.

Kumar breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Luke Danes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Danes shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Danes working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Kumar's thigh. Kumar counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Danes stays in close to Kumar's body and controls the position.
Kumar is trying to keep Danes in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kumar keeping moving, preventing Danes from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Danes is fighting to break Kumar's control of his arms but Kumar is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Kumar looking to hit a scissor sweep but Danes is one step ahead there.
Kumar is controlling Danes's posture.

Kumar throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Varun Kumar overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Danes sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Kumar is trying to control the position but Danes postures up.

Kumar is working an open guard so Danes takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Danes shoots and misses

and Kumar counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Luke Danes has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kumar is just content to waste time from the top position. Danes takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Kumar trying to control the position from guard on top but Danes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kumar passes into half guard.

Kumar is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Danes doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Kumar.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Danes wants to improve his position but Kumar is controlling well.
Danes slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Kumar wants to control from the top but Danes keeps moving.

Kumar thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Danes trying to keep a closed guard but Kumar is proving a slippery customer.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Danes is on top in guard.
Danes trying to stand up but can't free himself from Kumar's guard.
Danes preventing the sweep.
Danes postures up.
Kumar has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Danes is looking to stand up but Kumar won't let him.
Varun Kumar is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Danes is looking to work some ground and pound but Kumar has wrist control.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Varun Kumar.
Well Kumar 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 Suge Night scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Varun Kumar!