PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Happy Lucky (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Todd Straub (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Happy Lucky had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Lucky
vs
Straub

179 cm
29
188 lbs
4 - 6 - 1

185 cm
29
176 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Dangerous GnP
Great elbows
Cardio machine

Dangerous GnP
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Happy Lucky!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Todd Straub!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Paul Gruel and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lucky misses with the combination.
Straub tests Lucky's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Lucky throws a series of punches but Straub avoids them all with ease.
Lucky tries a head kick but it misses.
Lucky looks for the body kick but Straub saw that one coming.
Lucky will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Lucky fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Straub closes the distance and clinches.

Straub lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Straub is taking a breather. Lucky 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.
Straub not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Straub in particular looking to stall.
Straub 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.
Straub seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Straub has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Straub looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Straub throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Straub has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Lucky's face.
BOOM! Straub connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Straub lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Lucky is in a horrible position here. Straub smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Straub content just to control the position here.
Straub can't control as he wanted to and Lucky manages to get the fight back to his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Straub in particular looking to stall.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lucky is staying active underneath Straub, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Straub is pressing down on Lucky's thigh, looking to free his foot. Lucky is holding on for now.
Straub is nestled in close to Lucky, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Straub not doing much here.
Straub is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Straub trying to control the pace.
Straub not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Straub is controlling the pace.
Straub's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Todd Straub hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Lucky throws a right hand that Straub ducks under and follows up with a left that Straub also avoids with ease.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Todd Straub dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Lucky misses with a double jab

and Straub counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Lucky!
Straub takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Straub landing strikes from the mount and Lucky is in trouble!
Straub postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Lucky looks a forlorn figure.
Straub controlling from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Straub wants to control the pace but Lucky is squirming around nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Straub sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Lucky is in all sorts of trouble here.
Straub controlling his opponent.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Todd Straub hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Lucky looks to land a body kick but Straub moved away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lucky throws a series of punches but Straub moves out of range.
Straub blocks a low kick nicely.
Lucky throws a series of punches but Straub avoids them all with ease.
Lucky misses with a double jab
and Straub counters with a two punch combo.
Lucky throws a right and a left that Straub avoids nicely.
Lucky looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Lucky misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Straub clinches up against the cage.
Lucky throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Straub is trying to push Lucky away but Lucky has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Straub breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Lucky.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Straub looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Straub looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Straub 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.
Straub trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Straub wants to control from the top but Lucky keeps moving.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Todd Straub has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Straub connects with a crisp jab.

Straub clinches with his opponent.
Lucky is working for takedown but Straub is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lucky is trying to pull guard but Straub has him pressed against the cage.

Straub breaks the clinch.

Straub fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Lucky, pushing him back against the cage.
Straub looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Straub gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Lucky.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Happy Lucky. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Lucky escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Straub misses with a head kick.
Lucky misses with a combination
and Straub counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Lucky misses with a series of wild punches.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lucky throws a nice looking combination but Straub bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Lucky throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Lucky gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Straub to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Straub wants to pass the guard but Lucky is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Lucky misses with a head kick.
Lucky looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Straub has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Lucky lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Straub circles away quickly and effectively.

Straub feints and as Lucky raises his hands in defense, Straub changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Straub slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Straub stands up and waves to Lucky to follow him.
Lucky throws a lazy head kick
and Straub counters with a series of strikes. Lucky will be more careful next time no doubt.
Some wild striking there from Lucky.

Lucky gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Straub missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Straub controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Lucky is wriggling around but Straub manages to pass to half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Straub trying to control from half guard but Lucky is working away.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Todd Straub.

Straub clinches up with Lucky and pushes him back against the cage.
Lucky tries to score a body lock takedown but Straub shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Lucky changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Straub fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Lucky looks to land a combination but Straub avoids it well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Lucky drops his hands momentarily and Straub takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Straub dodges the punch combination from Lucky.
Straub cracks Lucky with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Todd Straub is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Straub.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Straub decides to stand back up. Straub steps back and let's Lucky get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lucky throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Straub.

Straub decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Straub thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lucky's head.
Straub performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Straub throwing shots but Lucky is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Straub sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Todd Straub has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Straub has taken the fight to the clinch.
Lucky wants a takedown but no success here.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Happy Lucky. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lucky tries to pull guard but Straub holds him up against the cage and eventually Lucky drops back down to his feet.
Straub fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Straub lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Well, if Straub 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.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Straub wants to control but Lucky is keeping him busy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Todd Straub comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Straub has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Todd Straub!