PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Taylor Made (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hank Link (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Made
vs
Link

182 cm
22
176 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

179 cm
20
165 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Taylor Made!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Hank Link!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, George Francis and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Made closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Made lands in his opponent's guard.
Link tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Link working a defensive guard but Made manages to pass into side control anyway.
Link tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Made tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Link is looking for a sweep.
Link regains half guard.
Made wants to control but Link is keeping him busy.
Made is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Link reverses the position - he's now on top in Made's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Made thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Made is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Made is working hard here to advance position.
Made striking off his back but it's not causing Link any problems.

Made manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Made throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Link's waist but Link gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Made off to one side.

Made shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Made was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Made wants to control the pace but Link is squirming around nicely.
Link tries to hold on but Made postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Made tries to control but Link wriggling away.
Made punishing his opponent with strikes.
Made looking to ground and pound but Link is blocking nicely.
Made breaks from Link's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Made is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Link can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Link is working to get back to half guard.
Made punishing his opponent with strikes.
Made with good strikes from the mount here!
Made prevents Link from getting the reversal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Link wants to control but Made is having none of it.
Link looks gassed!
Made raining down shots from the mount!
Made looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Made with the ground and pound from mount.
Made landing shots from mount.
Made fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Made has hold of Link's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Link manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Made landing strikes from the mount and Link is in trouble!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Link tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Made with good strikes from the mount here!
Link working to try and regain half guard.
Made tries to control but Link wriggling away.

Made is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Link has managed to escape the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Made tries to control but Link wriggling away.

Made goes for an armbar but Link turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Link.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Taylor Made dominated that round.
That's time! Made's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Made clinches with his opponent.
Link prevents the takedown attempt.

Made successfully pulls guard.

Made has his foot on Link's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Link works his way back into a safe position though.
Link stopping the sweep attempt from Made.
Link pushing down on Made's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

Made has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Link escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Link!
Made is being controlled here.
Link is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Made tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Made regains half guard.
Made is looking for a sweep. Link is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Made moves into full guard.
Made will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Link won't allow Made to sweep him here.
Link wants to control from the top but Made keeps moving.
Made looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Link puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Made moves into full guard.
Made is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Made lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Link!
Made landing shots from mount.
Made is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Link can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Made trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Link is bucking up trying to escape but Made cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Made controlling from mount.
Made throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Link avoids a series of strikes thrown by Made.
Made looking to control but Link is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Link is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Link regains half guard.
Link trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Made manages to pass to mount!
Link gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Made wants to stand but Link has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

Made is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Made is looking to pass Link's guard but actually Link recovers to full guard.

Link working for a triangle but Made defends it easily.

Link has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Made can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Taylor Made will probably get the nod.
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!

Link fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Taylor Made seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Made looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Still in half guard, Made seems content to control.
Made wants to take a breather but Link is having none of it.
Made throwing shots but Link is blocking nicely.
Made sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Link defending well though.

Made wants to work for an arm triangle but Link is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Link keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Made lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Link wants to control but Made is keeping busy.
Link takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

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

Made gets a takedown into half guard.
Made wants to stand up but Link is controlling the position.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Made lands a nice short elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Made not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Link tries to roll over but Made keeps him under control.
Made not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Link has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Made is working away from the top position though.
Made is nestled in close to Link, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Made uses his free foot to push down on Link's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Link.
Made working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Made with a couple of short strikes.
A nice elbow there by Made.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Made cracks Link with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Taylor Made overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Made working Link over with strikes here.
Link slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Link trying to control here.
Link looks like he's trying to stand up.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Made connects with a nice short shot to Link's temple.
Link is trying to control but can't.
Made throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Made prevents Link from improving his position.
Made seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Link does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Made is trying to work for a kimura but Link is defending well.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Made shoots in and drives through. Link sprawls well.
Link doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Made counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Link prevents the takedown attempt.
Link tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Made smiles and moves away.

Made closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Link to the mat! Link manages to get full guard.
Made pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Link is keeping the position for now.
Link trying to control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Taylor Made showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Made, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Taylor Made!