PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tony Twist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Soloman Payne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Payne has chosen "Du Hast" - Rammstein as his entrance music. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Twist
vs
Payne

195 cm
22
255 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

195 cm
19
226 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Improved boxing
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Fight 4 America
MMA Elite Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tony Twist!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Soloman Payne!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Robert Twigg and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Twist goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

It looks like Soloman Payne has been cut.

Twist scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Payne tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Twist working the ground and pound but Payne is defending the strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Twist decides to stand up, so the ref orders Payne to his feet.

Twist closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Twist lands in his opponent's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Twist is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Twist seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Payne for as long as he can get away with.

Payne is working an open guard so Twist takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Payne misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Payne looks gassed!
Payne takes one to the chin there.
Twist fails to land the takedown.

Twist closes the distance and clinches.

Payne escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Twist shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Twist passes Payne's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Twist trying to control the pace.
Twist missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Twist takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Twist landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Twist looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Twist escapes and gets back to his feet.

Twist looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Twist in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Twist missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Payne not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Payne is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Twist is controlling him.
Twist sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Payne's guard.
Twist is taking a breather. Payne says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Twist trying to mount his opponent but Payne defends it.
Twist winds up and cracks Payne with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Payne blocking the ground and pound attempt from Twist.
Twist working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Twist seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Twist keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Twist looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Twist is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Twist passes the guard and advances to mount!
Twist landing punches.
Twist looking to control and managing it successfully.
Payne wants to get back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Twist controlling the position easily from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tony Twist dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Soloman Payne's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Twist darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Twist is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Twist looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Payne with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Twist 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.
Twist winds up and cracks Payne with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Twist postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Payne to stand up.
Tony Twist is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Twist lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Payne is breathing heavily.
Twist works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Twist stalling the fight.

Twist breaks from the clinch.
Twist misses with a takedown attempt - Payne sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Twist shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Payne as he avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Twist shoots in looking for a takedown. Payne tries to sprawl out of it but Twist keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Payne manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Twist. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Twist swings for the body but Payne moves out of range.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Twist ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Twist no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Twist holds on and takes a little breather.
Twist manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Payne is in a horrible position here. Twist smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Twist looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Twist jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Payne manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Payne is working to avoid the ground and pound but Twist connects with a decent elbow.

Twist tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Twist is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Payne can do to turn this around?
Payne is being controlled here.
Twist scoring with punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Payne is being controlled here.
Payne on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Twist scores with a couple of short elbows.
Twist working away.
Twist wants to lay and pray for a moment but Payne keeps working.
Payne prevents Twist from improving position.
Twist scores with a couple of short elbows.
Payne is trying to get back to his feet.
Payne manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Twist prevents Payne from improving his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.

Twist gets the takedown into side control.
You can see the frustration on Payne's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Twist in side control lands a decent elbow.
Twist trying to control the position but Payne is working away.

Twist decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Twist keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Twist looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Payne!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Twist punishing his opponent with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tony Twist dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Soloman Payne'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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Twist looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Payne!
Twist is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Twist breaks from Payne's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Payne really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Twist landing strikes, looking to finish!
Twist sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Twist punishing his opponent with strikes.
Twist sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Twist landing strikes from the mount.
Payne takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Twist punishing his opponent with strikes.
Twist with a couple of short strikes.
Twist lands a nice shot to the head.
Twist with the ground and pound from mount.

Twist working for a guillotine from mount but Payne is in no mood to give up.
Payne working to try and regain half guard.
Twist lands a heavy elbow.
Twist controlling from the full mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Twist landing punches.
Payne is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Twist controlling his opponent.
Twist wants to control but instead Payne manages to regain half guard.
Payne is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Payne trying to control but Twist postures up.
Twist content to control rather than advance.
Twist lands with a punch from half guard.
Twist wants to lay and pray for a moment but Payne keeps working.
Payne is trying to stand.

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

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Twist throws a series of strikes that have Payne backpedaling.
Payne is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Payne throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Payne throws a right hand that Twist ducks under and follows up with a left that Twist also avoids with ease.
Payne throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A chopping leg kick lands by Payne.
Payne falls off balance throwing a combination

and Twist counters with a nice double leg into side control. Payne won't be happy with that.
Payne tries to bench press Twist off him but Twist keeps the position.

Twist decides to stand back up.

Twist rushes Payne and presses him up against the cage.
Twist has had enough of the clinch but Payne keeps him there for the moment.

Twist escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Twist scores with a takedown into Payne's guard.
Twist scoring with some ground and pound.
Soloman Payne has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Twist is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tony Twist showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Twist 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 George Francis scores the fight 30:25
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:25
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tony Twist!