PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wesley Templar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Puppy Love (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Love comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Otherside by Mackemore X Ryan Lewis kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Templar
vs
Love

191 cm
30
209 lbs
17 - 9 - 0

187 cm
35
217 lbs
26 - 17 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

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 17 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Wesley Templar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Puppy Love!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Sosuke Kotani and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Templar tests Love's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Templar scores with a nice head shot.
Templar swings for the body but Love moves out of range.
Templar lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

Templar gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Templar looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Love throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Templar working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Love.
Templar pulls Love in to control the position.

Love got a little sloppy there for a moment and Templar has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Love has managed to get both his arms back between Templar's legs - danger averted.
Templar being controlled here, momentarily.
Love in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Love throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Templar works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Templar manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Love manages to get himself to full guard.
Love avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Templar is looking to work some ground and pound but Love has wrist control.
Templar throws a strike but Love rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Templar escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Love gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Love wants to control from the top but Templar keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Templar has control of Love's left arm, preventing Love from doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Love accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Templar is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Love defends well.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Templar trying to control the position.
Love throwing strikes from guard but Templar blocks nicely.
Love landing some decent shots from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love wants to control from the top but Templar keeps moving.
Love stopping the sweep attempt from Templar.
Templar trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

Templar is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Love looking to pass the guard.
Love is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Love wants to control from the top but Templar keeps moving.
Love passes into half guard under a barage of strikes.
Love with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Love thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Templar's head.

Templar looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Templar is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Bricktop's House of Hard Knocks, so we'll see if he gets out of it.
Templar trying to control from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Love trying to control from half guard but Templar is working away.
Love lands strikes from half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Love scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Templar doesn't seem bothered though.
A swing and a miss from Love.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Templar.
Love misses with a few strikes there.
Templar cracks Love with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Love throws a hook but Templar blocks it.
Templar throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Templar lands a nice looking body shot.
Templar swings for the body but Love moves out of range.
Templar misses with a left hand
and Love counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

It looks like Wesley Templar has been cut.
Templar dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Love misses the jab.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Templar throws a body punch but Love moves out of range.
Templar uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Love.
Templar ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Love moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Templar throws an overhand right that lands on Love's shoulder, as Love tries to avoid the shot.
Templar fails in his attempt to clinch.
Templar steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Love.
Love moves out of range as Templar strikes.
Templar throws a jab when Love was well out of range.
Templar fails to land with a series of punches.
A telegraphed right hand from Love misses the target.
Templar pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Love cracks Templar with a good jab.
Templar swings for the body but Love moves out of range.
Love waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Templar.
Love changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Love lands an overhand right.
A looping hook to the body misses from Love. Templar does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Love misses with a looping left.
Templar tries to bum rush Love with a series of wild strikes but Love uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Love ducks under a wild hook from Templar.
Love throws a hook but Templar avoids it easily.
Templar misses the jab.
Templar takes a swing at Love's ribcage but misses.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Templar.
Love is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Templar's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Love is trying to control but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love tries to get to full guard but Templar has control of the leg.
Templar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Love trying to control here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Templar prevents Love from improving his position.
Templar seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Templar throwing shots but Love is blocking nicely.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Love regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Love is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Templar trying to control the position from guard on top but Love is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Love looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Love is on top in guard.
Love postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Puppy Love will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Wesley Templar's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Templar lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
A jab from Love misses.
Templar ducks under a wild hook from Love.
Good exchange - Templar coming out on top.
Templar defending well as Love loads up on a big left hand.
Templar tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Love paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Wesley Templar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Love drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Love scoring with punches and elbows.
Love scores with a couple of short elbows.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Templar is trying to get back to half guard.
Love misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Templar managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Love.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Love misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Love lands a nice forearm strike.
Templar is looking to regain half guard here but Love keeps moving and retains side control.
Love lands a few punches from side control.
Puppy Love has got the better of the ground game so far.
Love wants to control but Templar is keeping him busy.
Love grinds an elbow into Templar's temple.
Templar is looking for a sweep.
Love cracks Templar with a big elbow.
Love grinds an elbow into Templar's temple.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Love fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Love throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Love taking a break here but Templar is having none of it and regains half guard.
Love throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Templar wants to get back to full guard.
Love landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Love looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Templar keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Love lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Love throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love wants to lay and pray for a moment but Templar keeps working.
Templar is trying to control but Love passes into side control!
Templar can't do much from the bottom here.
Sloppy strikes there by Love.
Love scoring with punches from side control.
Love throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Templar is trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Templar taking punishment in the form of punches.
Love working the head and body with strikes.
Love working the head and body with strikes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
What's Templar going to do here then? He's in a bit of a pickle.
Templar is looking to regain half guard here but Love keeps moving and retains side control.
Templar avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Love.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Love trying to control the position but Templar is working away.
Templar is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Love's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

And that's the end of the fight!
Puppy Love comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Love has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:29
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Puppy Love!
Puppy Love thanked the fans post fight for their support.