PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Julio Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Methven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Smith comes to the cage accompanied by South Bronx. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Smith
vs
Methven

179 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
24
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Julio Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Tom Methven!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smith scores with a nice right hand.
Methven misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Smith ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Methven blocks the body kick.
Smith misses with a straight right.

Smith lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Methven sprawling to the canvas. Smith follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Methven hang on?

Methven is rocked!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Smith is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Methven is still in real trouble! Can Smith finish him?
Methven missing with punches from the bottom.
Methven seems to have recovered his senses.
Smith scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Methven moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Methven has his feet on Smith's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith thows a body shot but no joy.
Methven tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Smith has his takedown stuffed

and Methven counters with a nice double leg into side control. Smith won't be happy with that.
Methven advances to mount.
Methven has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Smith's face.
Smith is trying desperately to improve position.
Smith is working hard here to advance position.
Smith is breathing heavily.
Methven is landing with some decent strikes but Smith is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Methven landing strikes, looking to finish!
Smith is wriggling around trying to escape.
Methven raining down hammerfists from mount.
Methven trying to control but Smith is having none of it.

Methven has control of Smith's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Smith regains control of the situation pretty easily.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Smith working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith tries to control Methven's body but Methven pushes him off. Smith squirms to his side and now Methven has his back!
Smith staying busy and making it hard for Methven to control.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Methven.
Methven lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.

Smith preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Methven.
Methven looking to hold on to the position here but Smith rolls and ends up regaining guard.
Methven passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Methven has control of an arm but Smith manages to advance to Methven's back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith doesn't have the hooks in and Methven manages to turn into his guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Methven accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Methven slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Smith looking for a sweep. Not yet Smith, not yet.
Smith is trying to control the position but Methven postures up.
Methven trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Methven sitting in guard, not really doing much.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Methven fails with a takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Tom Methven will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Smith throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Methven.
Julio Smith is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Methven shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Smith pinned against the cage. Smith gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Methven tries for a takedown but Smith sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Methven tries to close the distance and clinch but Smith swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Smith lands with a hook. Methven tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Methven scoring well with a low kick there.
Smith works over Methven's head and body with a nice combination.
Methven shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Smith defends it nicely.
Julio Smith has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Methven.
A combination from Smith does no damage.
Julio Smith seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith looks to land a combination but Methven avoids it well.
Smith doesn't succeed with the takedown
letting Methven counter with a right hand.
Methven on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Nice straight punches there by Methven. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Methven.
Smith moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.

Methven scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Smith tries to roll over but Methven keeps him under control.
Methven wants to pass to mount but Smith is defending the position.
Methven is trying to control. Smith wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Methven missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Methven is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Smith reverses the position - he's now on top in Methven's guard.
Smith lands a couple of elbows.
Tom Methven has got the better of the ground game so far.

Methven is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Smith is aware though and is defending well.
Methven is looking to stand up but Smith isn't so interested in that idea.
Smith stopping the sweep attempt from Methven.

Smith gets to his feet. Methven looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Methven ducks right into an uppercut from Smith.
Smith swinging wildly here.
Methven throws a shot to the body.
Smith fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Methven avoids it really well and circles away.

Methven shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Methven showed some decent athleticism there.
Methven looks to land a strike but Smith avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Methven forces his way into half guard.
Smith is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith pushes Methven off looking to stand but Methven dives back in and keeps control.
Smith wants to get back to full guard.
Methven moves into full mount! Smith won't be happy about that!
Smith wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
What can Smith do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Smith tries to escape but Methven has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
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 Julio Smith will probably get the nod.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Methven closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Methven tries for a takedown but Smith manages to get underhooks.

Methven escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Methven shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Methven drives through with a takedown into guard.

Smith had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Methven defends it easily.

Smith looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Methven pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Smith is keeping the position for now.
Methven loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Smith is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Methven is aware though and is defending well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Smith has an active guard here but Methven has managed to pass into half guard.
Methven sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Smith gets full guard.
Smith being controlled here, momentarily.
Smith is trying to keep Methven in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Methven gets to his feet - Smith follows without any prompting.
Smith swinging wildly here.

Methven gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Smith is trying to break the clinch but Methven is controlling him.

Methven tightens his grip and picks Smith up, before dumping him to the ground. Smith manages to land in guard.
Smith wants to stand and escape but Methven is having none of it.
Smith keeping moving, preventing Methven from controlling successfully.
Smith is trying to keep Methven in close.
Smith can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Methven controls the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Smith working for submissions but it's allowed Methven to get to half guard.
Smith works his way to full guard. Good work.
Methven tries to free his leg and advance position but Smith is retaining full guard.
Smith avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Methven preventing the sweep.
Methven controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Methven trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four 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.
Methven is stalling in the full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Tom Methven was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Good exchange - Smith coming out on top.

Methven looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Smith!
Methven trying to control but Smith is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Methven looking to secure an arm triangle but Smith defends it well.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tom Methven comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Methven has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Suge Night scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tom Methven!