PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between John Bear (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steven Drake (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Bear
vs
Drake

184 cm
24
177 lbs
15 - 8 - 0

185 cm
22
175 lbs
10 - 19 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
KO power

Decent wrestler
Excellent MT
Powerful

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 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, John Bear!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steven Drake!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Gwen Towbar and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bear misses with a takedown attempt
and Drake counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

It looks like John Bear has been cut.
Drake misses with a head kick.
Drake leaves Bear with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Drake tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A nice combination there by Bear.
Bear moves to clinch but Drake breaks away

and Drake counters with a head kick that drops Bear to the mat! Bear scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!

Bear is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Drake throws a sloppy head kick
and Bear counters with a one-two to the body.
Drake throws a head kick that misses

and Bear holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Drake wants to break the clinch but can't.
Drake blocks an elbow strike.
Bear digs a right hand into Drake's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Drake's gas tank.
Drake wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

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

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

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bear is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Drake doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Bear.
Bear thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Drake's head.
Drake blocking the ground and pound attempt from Bear.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Drake can do anything to dispel that myth.
Bear sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Drake defending well though.
Drake trying to control from the bottom.
Drake is not content to let Bear control the position.
Drake really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Bear. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Bear wants to pass to mount but Drake is defending the position.
Bear is trying to control the action in half guard but Drake is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Bear passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Drake!
Bear thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Bear can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Drake is looking to escape.
Bear misses with a head shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drake tries to hold on but Bear postures up.
Drake blocking the ground and pound.
Bear thowing shots but they're missing.
Bear thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Bear lands with some strikes.
Bear tries to control but Drake wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bear 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.
Bear raining down shots from the mount!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Drake holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Bear tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Bear throwing strikes here but Drake is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Bear has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Drake avoids a series of strikes thrown by Bear.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bear scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Drake?
Bear trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that John Bear will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on John Bear's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A combination from Bear does no damage.
Bear fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bear misses with a takedown attempt - Drake sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Bear fails in his attempt to clinch.
Drake pulls out of a head kick attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drake circles away from the clinch attempt
and Drake counters with a big head kick but Bear shrugs it off.
Drake keeps the fight on the outside.
John Bear seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horrible takedown by Bear or perhaps it was just good defense by Drake which made him look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Bear. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bear fails with the takedown.
Bear cracks Drake with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Drake slaps away a takedown attempt from Bear, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Drake throws a lazy head kick
and Bear counters with a two punch combo.

Bear scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Drake defending against the ground and pound.
Bear fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Bear tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bear trying to control the position but Drake is working away.
Drake defending against the ground and pound.
Bear misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Bear fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Bear working the ground and pound.
Bear sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Drake is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Bear throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Drake can't do much from the bottom here.
Bear misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drake defending against the ground and pound.
The strikes coming from Bear are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Drake tries to bench press Bear off him but Bear keeps the position.
Drake parries the strikes from Bear easily there. Bear is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Drake to escape.
Bear working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Bear lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

Bear has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Drake feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Bear's calf.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bear tries to close the distance and clinch up but Drake swats him away and circles back towards the center.
John Bear is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bear looks for a takedown but Drake sprawls well.
A left and a right from Bear both land. Nice combination.
A head kick misses from Drake.
A shot to the liver by Bear. Beautiful body shot.
Bear tries to clinch but Drake is having none of it.
Bear shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Drake pinned against the cage. Drake gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Drake misses with a head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that John Bear will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on John Bear's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Bear tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Drake throws a head kick that misses
and Bear makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Bear lands with a right hand.
Bear moves to clinch but Drake breaks away
and Drake counters with a leg kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bear looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Bear misses with a few strikes there.
Bear looks to clinch

and Drake counters with a head kick that drops Bear to the mat! Bear scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!
Bear closes the distance and clinches up with Drake, looking for a takedown. Bear pushes Drake against the cage but Drake circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A head kick by Drake misses
and Bear counters with a slapping leg kick.
Bear throws a leg kick
and Drake counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bear tries to clinch there but Drake circles away.
Drake pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Steven Drake is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Bear gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Drake is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Drake wants to get back to striking at distance but Bear won't allow it.

Drake breaks from the clinch.
Bear fails to land the takedown.
Drake avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bear avoids the head kick by Drake.
Bear misses with a takedown
and Drake counters with a low kick, right behind Bear 's knee.
John Bear is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Bear. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head kick by Drake misses
and Bear counters with a three punch combo that has Drake backing up. Drake nods at Bear to acknowledge the strikes.
Drake throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Bear tries to close the distance and clinch up but Drake swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Bear fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bear throws a leg kick
and Drake counters with a head kick.
Drake pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Drake keeps the fight on the outside.
Bear blocks a head kick by Drake.
Drake tries a head kick but it misses.
Bear blocks a head kick by Drake.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bear doesn't manage to clinch there - Drake circles away.
Bear shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Drake defends it nicely.
Bear looks to clinch
and Drake counters with a head kick. That will keep Bear thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Nice takedown defense from Drake. No joy for Bear on that attempt.
Bear tries to clinch but Drake is having none of it.
Bear tries to clinch but Drake is having none of it.
Bear closes the distance but Drake moves to the side
and Drake counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Drake tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Bear blocks a head kick by Drake.
Bear is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Steven Drake has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Bear.
A head kick misses from Drake.
No luck for Bear with that takedown attempt.
Bear blocks a head kick by Drake.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bear moves in looking to clinch but Drake pushes him off.
Drake misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Bear has a takedown stuffed.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steven Drake comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Bear has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 George Francis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Bear!