PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Apollo Weathers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jack Swagger (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Weathers
vs
Swagger

178 cm
23
230 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

198 cm
21
250 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Solid chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Apollo Weathers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jack Swagger!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Weathers displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Swagger.

Swagger gets the takedown into side control.
Swagger trying to control the position but Weathers is working away.
Weathers is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Swagger's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

Weathers looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Weathers looking for submissions off his back.

Swagger is trying to work for a kimura but Weathers is defending well.
Weathers wants to stand back up but Swagger manages to pass into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Swagger working away.
Weathers pushes Swagger away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Swagger gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Swagger creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Weathers sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Weathers is trying to get back to half guard.
Weathers is trying to buck Swagger off.
Swagger lands a few punches from side control.
Swagger creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Weathers sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Swagger creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Weathers sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Weathers is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Swagger misses with the ground and pound.

Swagger looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Swagger lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Weathers tries to bench press Swagger off him but Swagger keeps the position.
Weathers avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Swagger.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Weathers is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

Swagger stands up.
Weathers shoots in and drives through. Swagger sprawls well.
Weathers is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weathers tries to work over Swagger's front leg with a kick but Swagger checks it.
Swagger keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Weathers fails with the takedown

and Swagger counters with a shoot takedown. Weathers fights it but they end up in guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Apollo Weathers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Swagger distracts Weathers with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Swagger stands up over Weathers, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Swagger cracks Weathers with a solid left hand.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Weathers keeping moving, preventing Swagger from controlling successfully.
Swagger scoring with some ground and pound.
Swagger is in close to Weathers's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Weathers looking to hit a scissor sweep but Swagger is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Swagger pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Weathers is keeping the position for now.
Swagger throwing strikes from guard but Weathers blocks nicely.
Swagger keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Weathers's head.
Swagger is looking to stand up but Weathers won't let him.
Swagger trying to control but Weathers is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Swagger lands a couple of digs.
Swagger's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Weathers utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jack Swagger dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Swagger shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Swagger stays in close to Weathers's body and controls the position.
Weathers bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Swagger's guard.
Swagger pulls Weathers in close to prevent any damage.
Weathers wants to control from the top but Swagger keeps moving.
Weathers postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Swagger misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Weathers fails with the takedown.
Weathers displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Swagger.

Weathers gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Swagger to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Swagger postures up.
Swagger is looking to work some ground and pound but Weathers has wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Swagger wants to control from the top but Weathers keeps moving.
Swagger looking to pass the guard.
Weathers is pulling down on Swagger's head to control his posture.
Weathers being controlled here, momentarily.

We're going to have a standup here because Apollo Weathers wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Weathers changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Swagger tries to avoid it but Weathers manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Swagger to the ground. Swagger escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Apollo Weathers is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Weathers shoots for a double leg takedown but Swagger sprawls well. He's pushed Weathers's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Apollo Weathers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Swagger fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Weathers avoids it really well and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weathers misses with a wild combination.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Swagger is defended easily by Weathers.

Swagger closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Swagger taking a breather here.
Weathers dodges the ground and pound from Swagger.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Weathers's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Swagger looks up at the clock and then as Weathers takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Swagger smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Swagger wants to take a breather but Weathers manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Swagger.
Swagger trying to control but Weathers is working from the bottom.
Weathers tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Swagger distracts Weathers with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Swagger working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Swagger stays in close to Weathers's body and controls the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jack Swagger showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Weathers pushes Swagger up against the cage in a clinch.
Swagger avoiding damage as Weathers throws knees to the body.
Weathers tries to pull guard but Swagger holds him up against the cage and eventually Weathers drops back down to his feet.
Weathers avoiding damage as Swagger throws knees to the body.
Swagger is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Swagger is working for takedown but Weathers is calmly controlling the position for now.
Weathers changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Swagger fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Swagger circles away from the clinch attempt.
Swagger tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Weathers swivels and escapes.
Apollo Weathers has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jack Swagger.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Weathers has managed to clinch.
Swagger landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Swagger has Weathers pressed against the cage, preventing Weathers from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Swagger looking for a takedown.
Swagger goes for a takedown attempt but Weathers pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Jack Swagger seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Swagger takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Weathers gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Weathers has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Swagger avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

Swagger has hold of one of Weathers's legs. Weathers is fighting the takedown attempt but Swagger gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Swagger working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Swagger throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Weathers holds on and takes a little breather.
Swagger loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Swagger throwing strikes but missing.
Swagger trying to control but Weathers is working from the bottom.

Swagger is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Swagger is pushing down on Weathers's leg trying to pass to half guard. Weathers is fighting to maintain full guard but Swagger has managed to sneak the leg through.
Jack Swagger has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weathers missing with punches from the bottom.

Swagger is trying to work for a kimura but Weathers is defending well.
Weathers is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Swagger scores with a couple of nice shots.
Jack Swagger is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Swagger trying to control from half guard but Weathers is working away.
Swagger 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.
Weathers is looking to control Swagger's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Weathers avoid being mounted?
Swagger is trying to control the action in half guard but Weathers is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Weathers tries to get to full guard but Swagger has control of the leg.
Swagger controlling the action here.
Weathers works his way to full guard. Good work.
Swagger stays in close to Weathers's body and controls the position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Jack Swagger wasn't active enough on the ground.

Swagger shoots in and gets a takedown into Weathers's guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Weathers keeping full guard, as Swagger tries to pass.
Swagger really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Weathers. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Swagger sitting in guard here, content to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jack Swagger comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Swagger winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight for Jack Swagger!
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight for Jack Swagger!
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight for Jack Swagger!

Jack Swagger wins by unanimous decision!