PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Dank (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Molton Hope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Dank might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to let the bodies hit the floor. Molton Hope has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Dank
vs
Hope

190 cm
32
278 lbs
9 - 18 - 0

189 cm
22
235 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

The Adrenaline Matrix

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, John Dank!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Molton Hope!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Colin Fray and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hope moves in looking to clinch but Dank pushes him off.
Hope avoids the head kick by Dank.
Dank will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Dank scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
A cross from Hope lands.

Hope fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Dank, pushing him back against the cage.
Hope pushes Dank back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hope effectively controlling the action here.
Hope creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Dank tries for a takedown. No joy.
Nice body punch from Hope - that landed with a thud.
Dank is looking for a takedown.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Hope is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Dank is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dank wants to break the clinch but can't.
Dank letting Hope take a breather here.
Dank is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Hope is defending well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Dank. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hope landing knees to the body.
Dank is breathing heavily.

Hope has hold of one of Dank's legs. Dank is fighting the takedown attempt but Hope gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Hope scoring with punches to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hope trying to control but Dank is working from the bottom.
Hope is pushing down on Dank's leg trying to pass to half guard. Dank is fighting to maintain full guard but Hope has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hope is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Hope not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Well, if Hope 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.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Hope working his ground and pound in the gym.
Hope's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

Hope is trying to work for a kimura but Dank is defending well.
Dank is staying active underneath Hope, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Hope lands a nice short elbow.
Hope looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Dank with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Hope controlling the action here.
Dank blocking the ground and pound attempt from Hope.

Hope is working for a kimura from half guard. He's really concentrating on the hold and it's allowed Dank to slip a leg under and get back to full guard.
Dank utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Dank wants to get back to his feet but Hope is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Hope has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Dank is proving hard to escape from.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hope controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hope trying to control but Dank is working from the bottom.
Dank is looking to stand up but Hope isn't so interested in that idea.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Molton Hope hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Hope rushes Dank and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Dank tries to score a body lock takedown but Hope shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Dank avoiding damage as Hope throws knees to the body.
Hope tries a knee to the head but Dank blocks it.
Hope tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dank avoids it.
Hope trying to land knees to the body.
Hope misses with a hook to the ribs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Molton Hope 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.

Dank looking to score a takedown here. Hope is defending well but Dank drives through and ends up in Hope's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hope keeping moving, preventing Dank from controlling successfully.
Dank throws a big right hand that misses.

Dank stands up from guard. Let's bang!
A shot to the liver by Dank. Beautiful body shot.
Some wild striking there from Dank.
John Dank is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Dank throws a sloppy head kick

and Hope counters with a shoot takedown. Dank fights it but they end up in guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hope stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Dank swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Hope postures up in Dank's guard and throws a big left but Dank blocks it.

Hope stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Hope takes a swing at Dank's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dank tries to work over Hope's front leg with a kick but Hope checks it.
Sloppy strikes from Dank. Those never looked like landing.
A head kick misses from Dank.
Hope scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Hope misses with a looping right.
Dank darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Dank pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Hope misses with the combination.
Dank circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hope lands a glancing blow to the side of Dank's head.

Hope gets caught napping as Dank dives in and scores a takedown. Hope manages to retain guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hope is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hope wants to hit a switch here but Dank passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Hope there!
Hope tries to hold on but Dank postures up.

Dank gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Hope. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Dank throws a leg kick but Hope sees it coming and checks it nicely.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hope. Dank does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hope takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Molton Hope is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Dank fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Some wild striking there from Dank.
Dank uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Hope.

Hope moves into the clinch.
Hope tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Hope looking to throw knees to the head but Dank is blocking nicely.
Hope misses with a punch to the body.
Hope connects with a knee to the head.
Dank is looking to take this one to the mat.

Hope successfully pulls guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Hope holds on and takes a little breather.
Dank preventing the sweep.
Dank prevents Hope from getting back to his feet.
Hope pulls Dank in to control the position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Hope looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hope keeping full guard, as Dank tries to pass.

Molton Hope has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Dank throws a sloppy head kick and Hope moves out of range easily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hope takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Hope swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Molton Hope showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Dank's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Dank throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Dank goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Dank dodges the punch combination from Hope.
Hope dodges the punch combination from Dank.
Dank misses with a wild body shot.
Hope feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Danks jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Sloppy strikes from Dank. Those never looked like landing.
Dank looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Dank shoots in for a double leg but Hope sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Hope stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Hope wants it to stay on the feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hope with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Molton Hope seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Hope scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice jab there from Hope.
Dank takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Dank is rocked!

Hope gets a clinch.
Oh Dank is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dank avoids it.
Dank blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Dank seems to have got his legs back now.
Hope lands an elbow just above Dank 's eye.
Hope tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Dank's elbow.

Hope escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hope has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Nice jab there from Hope.
Dank throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A head kick by Dank misses

and Hope counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hope throwing strikes from guard but Dank blocks nicely.
Hope wants to control from the top but Dank keeps moving.
Molton Hope is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dank being controlled here, momentarily.
Hope trying to control but Dank is working from the bottom.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Molton Hope has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Danga de danga de dang - Dank scores with a four punch combination!
John Dank has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Dank misses with a few strikes there.
Hope connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Hope throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A punch combination from Hope misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hope rushes Dank and presses him up against the cage.
Hope landing knees to the head.

It looks like John Dank has been cut.
Hope throws an elbow but it misses.

Hope breaks from the clinch.
Hope throws out a powerful jab.
Hope lunges at Dank with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Dank's hand.
Dank throws a sloppy head kick and Hope moves out of range easily.

Hope has Dank up against the cage in a clinch.
Dank has Hope pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Hope manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Dank. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hope landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Dank gets underhooks to prevent Hope's takedown attempt.
Hope misses with a knee strike.
Hope working Dank over with knees to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Dank is working for takedown but Hope is calmly controlling the position for now.
Hope connects with a nasty looking knee right to Dank's face.

Hope has clasped his hands together around Dank's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Hope is trying to get an arm triangle but Dank is defending well.
Hope is looking to take a break and control but Dank is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Molton Hope comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Hope 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight for Molton Hope!
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight for Molton Hope!
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight for Molton Hope!

Molton Hope wins by unanimous decision!