PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bovver Meerten (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Sawyer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Meerten
vs
Sawyer

194 cm
23
220 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

191 cm
24
199 lbs
5 - 3 - 1

Good takedowns
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Bovver Meerten!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Tom Sawyer!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Meerten fails with a takedown attempt.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sawyer.
Meerten taking punishment in the form of punches.
Meerten is working to avoid the ground and pound but Sawyer connects with a decent elbow.
Meerten managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Sawyer.
Sawyer passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Meerten!
Meerten is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Sawyer unloads with some shots from mount but Meerten bucks and avoids them well.
Meerten keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Sawyer looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Meerten keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Sawyer unloading with bombs!
Poor strikes thrown by Sawyer there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Meerten is trying desperately to improve position.
Meerten wants to hold on but Sawyer pushes him away.
Sawyer throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Meerten because Sawyer loaded up on that one.
Sawyer putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Meerten is looking to get to half guard.
Sawyer lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sawyer scoring with strikes but Meerten is staying in there.
Sawyer looking to control but Meerten is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sawyer with good strikes from the mount here!
Poor strikes thrown by Sawyer there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Sawyer scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Meerten wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Sawyer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer looking to control but Meerten is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sawyer working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Meerten tries to hold on but Sawyer postures up.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Meerten slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Meerten preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Meerten is looking to improve his position.
Sawyer takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Meerten is looking for a sweep. Sawyer is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Sawyer trying to control the action but Meerten is working from the bottom.
Sawyer not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer prevents Meerten from standing back up.
Sawyer trying to mount his opponent but Meerten defends it.
Meerten is holding on to half guard well.
Sawyer trying to control the action but Meerten is working from the bottom.
Sawyer throws a strike but Meerten avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Meerten trying to control the position here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sawyer throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Meerten works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sawyer stopping the sweep attempt from Meerten.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sawyer accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

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.
Sawyer trying to control but Meerten is working from the bottom.
Sawyer thows a big elbow that misses.
Meerten looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sawyer is one step ahead there.
Sawyer trying to control but Meerten is working from the bottom.
Meerten is trying to control the position but Sawyer postures up.
Meerten looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

We're going to have a standup here because Bovver Meerten wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Sawyer throws a right and a left that both miss.
Meerten circles away from the clinch attempt

and Meerten counters with a single leg into guard. Sawyer didn't expect that.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tom Sawyer dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Sawyer throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Meerten counters with a shoot takedown. Sawyer fights it but they end up in guard.
Sawyer keeping moving, preventing Meerten from controlling successfully.
Meerten controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Sawyer manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Meerten manages to get himself to full guard.
Sawyer tries to free his leg and advance position but Meerten is retaining full guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Sawyer. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Meerten is on top in guard.
Sawyer looking to control.
Meerten looking to sit in guard and control but Sawyer gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Sawyer preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sawyer missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Meerten is on top in guard.
Meerten looking to pass the guard.
Sawyer wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Meerten is now in half guard.
Tom Sawyer has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sawyer tries to roll over but Meerten keeps him under control.

That's two 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.
Meerten missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Meerten is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Sawyer doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Meerten.
Meerten throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Meerten is thwarting Sawyer's attempts to control the position.
Meerten performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Meerten prevents Sawyer from improving his position.
Sawyer has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Meerten is working away from the top position though.
Sawyer tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Meerten has advanced to mount. Uh oh.

Meerten is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Sawyer 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.
Meerten throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Sawyer tries to hold on but Meerten pushes him away.
BOOM! Meerten connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Sawyer tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Meerten is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Sawyer has managed to escape the submission attempt.

Meerten swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Sawyer is now in Meerten's guard. A big mistake from Meerten there, giving up the dominant position!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bovver Meerten dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Meerten dodges the punch combination from Sawyer.
Sawyer throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Meerten counters with a takedown into side control.
Sawyer is letting Meerten control him for a moment.
Meerten throws an elbow but Sawyer slips to the side and avoids it well.
Sawyer tries to bench press Meerten off him but Meerten keeps the position.
Sawyer regains half guard.
Meerten trying to control from half guard but Sawyer is working away.
Meerten looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sawyer has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Meerten is working away from the top position though.
Sawyer avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Meerten.
Meerten wants to pass to mount but Sawyer is defending the position.
Sawyer tries to roll over but Meerten keeps him under control.
Meerten trying to control from half guard but Sawyer is working away.

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.

Meerten is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Sawyer defends it well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Meerten wants to pass to mount but Sawyer is defending the position.

Sawyer is defending against the submission attempts here by Meerten.
Sawyer is staying active underneath Meerten, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer wants to improve his position but Meerten is controlling well.
Sawyer is in trouble now - Meerten has advanced to mount!
Sawyer stops Meerten from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Meerten landing strikes from the mount.
Sawyer tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sawyer tries to lock up and control but Meerten gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

Meerten looking to isolate an arm here. Sawyer doesn't see it coming and as Meerten extends the arm, he's forced to tap out! Nice submission by Meerten!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:18 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Bovver Meerten!