PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Matt Cave (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank The Tank (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Matt Cave has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cave
vs
The Tank

170 cm
19
142 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

150 cm
25
130 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Decent knees
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Matt Cave!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Frank The Tank!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The Tank throws a combination. Cave tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Cave fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cave tries to clinch up but The Tank circles away and keeps his distance.
Cave avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cave shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. The Tank defends it nicely.
Cave takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Cave tries to clinch but The Tank is having none of it.

The Tank instigates a clinch.
Cave can't find room to land a body shot as The Tank controls the action.
Cave misses with some punches.
The Tank scores with a knee to the head.

It looks like Matt Cave has been cut.
Cave has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Cave tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cave wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Cave takes a knee right on the jaw!

That's one minute gone in the round.

The Tank's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Cave looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

The Tank takes the fight into the clinch.
Cave fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cave. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The Tank misses with a knee strike.
The Tank lands a knee to the body.
Cave goes for a takedown in the clinch but The Tank prevents it.
The Tank content to slow the pace in the clinch.
A nice glancing elbow lands by The Tank.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cave wants to get back to striking at distance but The Tank won't allow it.
The Tank with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Cave is trying to maintain a safe position but The Tank gets an underhook and turns Cave into the cage.
The referee is keeping an eye on The Tank - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

The Tank breaks from the clinch.
Cave pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Cave fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

The Tank rushes Cave and presses him up against the cage.
The Tank lands a good knee to the midsection. Cave won't want to take too many of those.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cave has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. The Tank is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Cave is trying to maintain a safe position but The Tank gets an underhook and turns Cave into the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The Tank breaks the clinch.
No joy there for The Tank, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Cave swats away the attempt to clinch by The Tank.
Cave keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from The Tank.
Cave is looking to clinch.
Cave tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. The Tank manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
The Tank lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
The Tank throws a hook but Cave avoids it easily.
The Tank looks gassed!
A combination from The Tank does no damage.
The Tank tries to clinch there but Cave circles away.
Cave tries to clinch up but The Tank circles away and keeps his distance.

The Tank clinches.
Cave goes for a takedown attempt but The Tank pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The Tank wants to clinch up but Cave keeps it at a distance.
The Tank is looking to clinch.
Cave avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
The Tank wants to clinch up but Cave keeps it at a distance.

Cave shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Cave decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on The Tank, up you get!
The fight stays on the outside here - Cave looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The Tank wants to clinch up but Cave keeps it at a distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cave shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
The Tank avoids the head kick by Cave.
Cave swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cave fails with the takedown.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank The Tank dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Matt Cave's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

The Tank tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cave swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cave is looking to clinch.

Cave forces The Tank back against the cage and clinches.

The Tank breaks from the clinch.
Frank The Tank seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Cave gets the takedown into side control.
Cave wants to lay and pray for a moment but The Tank keeps working.
Cave just content to control the position.
Cave tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Cave trying to control the action but The Tank is working from the bottom.
Cave controls the position.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Matt Cave.
The Tank blocks a head kick by Cave.
Frank The Tank is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cave swats away the attempt to clinch by The Tank.
Frank The Tank seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Cave tries to clinch but The Tank is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The Tank lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by The Tank.
Cave tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. The Tank manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
The Tank misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Cave.
The Tank is breathing heavily.
Cave throws a leg kick but The Tank sees it coming and moves out of range.
The Tank wants to clinch.
Cave fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cave has a takedown stuffed.
Cave fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Cave shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches The Tank napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Cave happy to just control the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The Tank dodges the ground and pound from Cave.
Cave will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Cave stands up and we're back to a striking position.
A combination from The Tank does no damage.
Cave swats away the attempt to clinch by The Tank.
The Tank misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Cave.
The Tank keeps the fight on the outside.
The Tank avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cave swats away the attempt to clinch by The Tank.
Cave shoots in for a double leg but The Tank sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cave. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The Tank throws out a loose jab but Cave uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cave shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has The Tank pinned against the cage. The Tank gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
The Tank tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cave paws at him with a jab and circles away.
The Tank lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Cave circles away quickly and effectively.

Cave looking to score a takedown here. The Tank is defending well but Cave drives through and ends up in The Tank's guard.
Cave slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cave works a leg free and moves into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Cave dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Matt Cave's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Cave shoots in for a takedown but The Tank shows good takedown defense.
The Tank avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Cave gets a clinch.
The Tank with a knee to the head.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

The Tank manages to break the clinch.
The Tank is looking to clinch but Cave is avoiding it.
The Tank fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Cave manages to avoid it.
Matt Cave is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Some wild striking there from The Tank.
The Tank misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Cave shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Cave will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cave. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Cave darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Cave is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The Tank takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cave not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Cave seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

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.
The Tank is trying to stand up here but Cave is controlling him well.
Well, if Cave is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Cave seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down The Tank for as long as he can get away with.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

We're going to have a standup here because Matt Cave wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Cave shoots for a takedown but The Tank saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The Tank tries to close the distance and clinch but Cave swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cave lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Cave.
Cave closes the distance and clinches up with The Tank, looking for a takedown. Cave pushes The Tank against the cage but The Tank circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
The Tank tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cave paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Cave shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Cave is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Cave wants to control from the top but The Tank keeps moving.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Cave controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Matt Cave just wasn't active enough.
The Tank throws a shot from downtown. Cave moves away and avoids it.
Cave pulls out of a head kick attempt.
No luck for Cave with that takedown attempt.
The Tank tries to clinch up.
No joy there for The Tank, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cave shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as The Tank sprawls well. The Tank wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Cave gets slowly back to his feet.
The Tank slaps away a takedown attempt from Cave, before circling back to the center of the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matt Cave showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Cave 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matt Cave!