PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stan Van Gundy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabriel Salwa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Van Gundy
vs
Salwa

183 cm
29
194 lbs
19 - 6 - 1

184 cm
25
198 lbs
17 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Hellbent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 6 - 1, fighting out of New York, Stan Van Gundy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Gabriel Salwa!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Daniel Franklin and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Van Gundy misses with a head kick.
Some bone on bone action there as Van Gundy checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Van Gundy swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Salwa.
Van Gundy lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Van Gundy throws a body punch but Salwa moves out of range.
Van Gundy lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
A solid leg kick lands there for Salwa.
Van Gundy tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Salwa was well out of range. Poor timing from Van Gundy.
Salwa shoots for a takedown but Van Gundy saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Van Gundy scores with a sloppy right hand. Salwa should have avoided that one.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Van Gundy fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
A nice inside leg kick there by Van Gundy. That's going to slow Salwa down.
Salwa throws a leg kick but Van Gundy sees it coming and moves out of range.
Van Gundy thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Salwa if he has to take too many more of those.
Nice body kick from Salwa.

Salwa closes the distance and clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gundy misses with a knee to the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Salwa.
Stalling in the clinch from Salwa.
Salwa tries for a takedown but Van Gundy manages to get underhooks.
Salwa is looking to control Van Gundy's arms but Van Gundy gets an underhook and turns him. Now Salwa has his back to the cage.
Van Gundy struggles to land a body shot inside as Salwa controls his hands.
Van Gundy misses with a hook from the clinch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Van Gundy misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Salwa.
Salwa goes for a takedown in the clinch but Van Gundy prevents it.
Stan Van Gundy has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gabriel Salwa.
Van Gundy stalling the fight.
Salwa throws a head punch that misses.
Salwa is trying to break the clinch but Van Gundy is controlling him.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Van Gundy.
Salwa has Van Gundy pushed against the cage.
A right handed body shot lands from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy lands an elbow inside that Salwa shrugs off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Salwa tightens his grip and picks Van Gundy up, before dumping him to the ground. Van Gundy manages to land in guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Gundy trying to control the position.
Van Gundy is controlling Salwa's posture.
Van Gundy trying to keep a closed guard but Salwa is proving a slippery customer.
Salwa trying to control but Van Gundy is working from the bottom.
Van Gundy being controlled here, momentarily.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Stan Van Gundy wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Van Gundy takes a head kick and keeps coming.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salwa slips a straight right by Van Gundy.
Van Gundy connects with a single shot there.
Van Gundy misses with a low kick.
Van Gundy throws a lazy right hand but Salwa sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Salwa misses with a body kick.
Van Gundy throws a shot to the body.
Salwa blocks a head kick by Van Gundy.
Salwa misses the shot to the body.
Salwa throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Van Gundy counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
A big left from Van Gundy misses.
Salwa tries a low kick but Van Gundy avoids it.
Salwa lands a leg kick that knocks Van Gundy off balance momentarily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salwa keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Salwa moves out of range of the body kick from Van Gundy.
Salwa keeps the fight on the outside.
A big left from Van Gundy misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Van Gundy ducks under a wild hook from Salwa.
Salwa throws a poor cross that misses
and Salwa takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Van Gundy is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Van Gundy goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Nice body kick from Van Gundy.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Salwa takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Van Gundy throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Van Gundy throws out a loose jab but Salwa uses good head movement to avoid it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stan Van Gundy dominated that round.
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.

Van Gundy misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Salwa.
Stan Van Gundy is winning the standup battle so far.
Sloppy strikes from Van Gundy. Those never looked like landing.
Van Gundy with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Salwa gets a takedown into half guard.
Van Gundy is pressing down on Salwa's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Salwa trying to control the position from guard on top but Van Gundy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Van Gundy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Salwa throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Van Gundy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gundy looking to control but Salwa passes into half guard.

Salwa is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Salwa trying to control from Van Gundy's half guard. Van Gundy has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Van Gundy is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Van Gundy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Salwa is one step ahead there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salwa passes Van Gundy's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Salwa not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Van Gundy is trying to maintain the position but Salwa is very close to passing his half guard.
Salwa trying to control from half guard but Van Gundy is working away.
Salwa works his way into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Gundy regains half guard.
Salwa is pressing down on Van Gundy's thigh, looking to free his foot. Van Gundy is holding on for now.
Salwa is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Salwa trying to control the action but Van Gundy is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salwa controlling the action here.
Van Gundy tries to roll over but Salwa keeps him under control.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Salwa is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Salwa wants to pass to mount but Van Gundy is defending the position.
Van Gundy keeping hold of Salwa's head, controlling as best he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Salwa showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Van Gundy slips a straight right by Salwa.
Van Gundy throws a body kick that misses.
Salwa looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Salwa avoids a kick to the body.
Salwa checks a leg kick nicely.
Salwa throws a body kick that misses.
Salwa tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Van Gundy was well out of range. Poor timing from Salwa.
Van Gundy throws a leg kick but Salwa moved away.
A looping hook to the body misses from Salwa. Van Gundy does a little dance to reset his feet.
Van Gundy pivots, looking for a leg kick but Salwa is out of range and Van Gundy settles back down.

Salwa shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Van Gundy manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Salwa is fighting to break Van Gundy's control of his arms but Van Gundy is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salwa sitting in guard here, content to control.
Van Gundy wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Van Gundy controls Salwa momentarily but Salwa frees himself.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Stan Van Gundy.
Van Gundy dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Salwa rushes Van Gundy and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Salwa wants to stall.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Van Gundy obliges.
Still in the clinch, Van Gundy scores with a nice short uppercut.
Van Gundy misses with a punch to the body.
Salwa lands an uppercut.
Van Gundy goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Salwa is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Van Gundy lands an elbow just above Salwa 's eye.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nice body punch from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Van Gundy with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Salwa pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Van Gundy throws a hook to the side of Salwa's head but Salwa sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A head kick misses from Van Gundy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salwa connects with a body shot.
Salwa throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Van Gundy's waist but Van Gundy gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Salwa off to one side.
Salwa takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Van Gundy throws a front kick that sends Salwa stumbling back into the cage.
Salwa takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Salwa closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Salwa tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Knees to the body from Van Gundy.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Van Gundy is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Salwa is defending well for now.
Van Gundy misses with a body punch.
Van Gundy throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salwa blocks it with crossed arms.
Van Gundy throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Van Gundy crunches a lovely knee into Salwa's ribcage.
Salwa on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A body shot lands from Van Gundy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Gundy blocks an uppercut.
Van Gundy tries to land a knee to the head but Salwa blocks with his arms.
Van Gundy working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Van Gundy blocks an uppercut.
Salwa lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Salwa is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Van Gundy misses with a hook to the ribs.
Van Gundy lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Salwa backwards.
Salwa tries to break free but Van Gundy pushes him back against the cage.
A short right from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy lands a nice uppercut.
Van Gundy lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Salwa backwards.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Van Gundy displaying some good clinch control by pressing Salwa up against the cage.
Salwa misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Salwa blocks a body shot from Van Gundy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stan Van Gundy showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Van Gundy 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28
Judge George Francis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stan Van Gundy!
An out of breath Stan Van Gundy thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.