PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Neil Samuelson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Shamrock (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steve Shamrock is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Samuelson
vs
Shamrock

172 cm
22
200 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

189 cm
22
200 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

2KMMA Ultimate Nutrition 144 Quality

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Neil Samuelson!
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, Steve Shamrock!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Samuelson blocks a leg kick.
Shamrock looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Samuelson is fending him off so far but Shamrock persists. Nope, Samuelson circles away and we're back to standing.
Samuelson has his takedown stuffed

and Shamrock counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Shamrock sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Shamrock trying to control the action but Samuelson is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Samuelson is trying to get back to full guard.
Samuelson regains full guard. Nicely done.
Samuelson pulls Shamrock in close to prevent any damage.
Samuelson working a defensive guard here.
Samuelson wants to stand but Shamrock is controlling the position.
Shamrock wants to control from the top but Samuelson keeps moving.
Samuelson might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shamrock seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Shamrock slips nicely into half guard.
Samuelson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Shamrock is working away from the top position though.
Shamrock prevents Samuelson from standing back up.
Samuelson wants to improve his position but Shamrock is controlling well.
Samuelson works his way to full guard. Good work.
Shamrock trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Shamrock 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.
Shamrock trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two 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.
Shamrock is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Shamrock forces his way into half guard.
Samuelson tries to get to full guard but Shamrock has control of the leg.
Shamrock winds up and cracks Samuelson with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Samuelson is looking to improve his position.

Shamrock is trying to work for a kimura but Samuelson is defending well.
Samuelson trying to hold on to Shamrock's head to control him but Shamrock postures up.
Samuelson is breathing heavily.

Samuelson manages to escape and get back to his feet!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Shamrock working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Samuelson doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Samuelson manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Shamrock wants to sweep here but Samuelson controlling him for the moment.
Shamrock has his hands on Samuelson's head, controlling the position.

Shamrock looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Shamrock escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Samuelson gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Samuelson is stalling in the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shamrock looking for a sweep. Not yet Shamrock, not yet.
Samuelson controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Samuelson looking to pass the guard.
Shamrock lands a good elbow from the bottom.
Shamrock wants to sweep but no luck.
Shamrock pulls Samuelson in close to prevent any damage.

Shamrock throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Shamrock dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Samuelson darts in and clinches Shamrock up against the cage.
Samuelson stalling against the cage.

Samuelson gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Shamrock gets back to full guard.
Samuelson wants to get up but he can't break Shamrock's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Samuelson trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Shamrock looking for a sweep. Not yet Shamrock, not yet.
Shamrock keeping full guard, as Samuelson tries to pass.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samuelson wanted to stand there but Shamrock had control of the position.
Shamrock is trying to control the position from the bottom.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Shamrock misses with a takedown attempt - Samuelson sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Samuelson swats away the attempt to clinch by Shamrock.
Samuelson throws a sloppy head kick and Shamrock moves out of range easily.
Samuelson shoots in and drives through. Shamrock sprawls well.
Samuelson wants to clinch up but Shamrock keeps it at a distance.
Shamrock closes the distance and clinches up with Samuelson, looking for a takedown. Shamrock pushes Samuelson against the cage but Samuelson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Shamrock looking to land some kicks to the body here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Shamrock blocks a head kick by Samuelson.

Shamrock shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Shamrock preventing the sweep.
Shamrock slips nicely into half guard.
Steve Shamrock has got the better of the ground game so far.
Samuelson is looking to escape.
Shamrock not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Shamrock decides to return to a standing position.
Shamrock throws a nice inside leg kick.
Shamrock throws a sloppy head kick and Samuelson moves out of range easily.
Samuelson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Samuelson keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Neil Samuelson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Steve Shamrock.
Shamrock tries to close the distance and clinch up but Samuelson swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shamrock throws a head kick but Samuelson moves out of range.
Shamrock throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Samuelson swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Shamrock counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Samuelson!
Samuelson is working to get back to half guard.
Shamrock trying to control but Samuelson is having none of it.
You get the feeling that Samuelson really doesn't like being in this position too much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shamrock fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Samuelson wants to hold on but Shamrock pushes him away.
The referee warns Samuelson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Samuelson takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Shamrock landing strikes from the mount.

Shamrock has hold of Samuelson's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Samuelson manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Samuelson is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Shamrock landing strikes from the mount.
Samuelson is trying to escape the mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Shamrock showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Shamrock thows a left - swing and a miss!
Shamrock circles away from the clinch attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Samuelson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Samuelson fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Shamrock sprawls well initially but Samuelson persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Shamrock works his way to full guard. Good work.

Shamrock escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Samuelson gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Shamrock working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Samuelson doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Samuelson manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Samuelson lands a couple of digs.
Samuelson controls from within his opponent's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Shamrock is looking for a triangle but Samuelson pushes his legs off easily.
Shamrock wants to sweep but no luck.

Samuelson decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Shamrock, up you get!
Samuelson throws a head kick that misses.

Samuelson forces Shamrock back against the cage and clinches.
Shamrock blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Samuelson keeps control of Shamrock as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Shamrock wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Samuelson has him pressed against the cage.
Shamrock wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Samuelson has him pressed against the cage.
Shamrock tries to pull guard but Samuelson won't allow it.
Samuelson has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Shamrock avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samuelson is trying to break the clinch but Shamrock has him pressed against the cage.
Shamrock is trying to break free.
Shamrock wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Samuelson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Shamrock shoots in and bounces Samuelson off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Shamrock pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Samuelson is keeping the position for now.
Shamrock is working Samuelson over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Samuelson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Shamrock passes Samuelson's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Samuelson is defending against the submission attempts here by Shamrock.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samuelson trying to hold on to Shamrock's head to control him but Shamrock postures up.
Samuelson wants to improve his position but Shamrock is controlling well.
Samuelson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Shamrock on the ground.
Samuelson wants to control but Shamrock is keeping busy.
Shamrock looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Samuelson wants to get back to full guard.
Shamrock wants to take a breather but Samuelson is having none of it.

Samuelson is defending against the submission attempts here by Shamrock.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Shamrock not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Samuelson falls off balance throwing a combination

and Shamrock counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Samuelson!
Samuelson working to try and regain half guard.
Samuelson is trying to stand up.
Neil Samuelson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Shamrock with good strikes from the mount here!
Samuelson working to try and regain half guard.
Shamrock tries to control but Samuelson wriggling away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Shamrock comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Shamrock 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Shamrock!