PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Frank Lister (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tane Henderson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Frank Lister has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Lister
vs
Henderson

197 cm
21
215 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

180 cm
22
197 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Cyber Fighter Clothing

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Frank Lister!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tane Henderson!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Tarja Halkonen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A left lands for Lister.
Lister scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

Henderson is rocked!
Lister looks to land a right hand but Henderson moved out of range.
Henderson is still on wobbly legs! Can Lister finish him?
Lister looks to land a left hand but Henderson moved out of range nicely.
Henderson seems to have recovered his senses.
Henderson moves away from the strike by Lister.
Jab from Lister.

Henderson closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Henderson thows a huge punch but Lister dodges it nicely.
Lister wants to get back to full guard.
Henderson is tying to control. Lister wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Henderson tries to stand and escape but Lister is controlling the position.
Henderson is controlling the pace.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henderson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henderson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Henderson works his way into side control.
Lister is not content to let Henderson control the position.
Lister parries the strikes from Henderson easily there. Henderson is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Lister to escape.
Lister wants to get back to his feet but Henderson drags him back down.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Henderson throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Henderson shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Lister as he avoids it easily.
Henderson staying out of range there.
Lister tries for a takedown but Henderson circles away easily

and Henderson counters with a single leg into guard. Lister didn't expect that.
Lister is breathing heavily.
Henderson is looking to work some ground and pound but Lister has wrist control.
Henderson thows a big elbow that misses.
Henderson scoring with some ground and pound.
Henderson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Henderson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henderson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Lister swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Henderson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Henderson scoring with some ground and pound.
Henderson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Henderson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lister works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Henderson is looking to work some ground and pound but Lister has wrist control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Henderson moves away from the strike by Lister.
Lister misses with a looping right.

That's four 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.
Lister misses with a series of wild punches.
Lister fails to land with a series of punches.
Lister misses with a hook.
Henderson shoots in and drives through. Lister sprawls well.
Lister tries to clinch

and Henderson counters with a takedown into side control.
Henderson throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Henderson looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Lister is avoiding damage well.
Henderson tries to score with some ground and pound. Lister controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Henderson connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Lister some visible discomfort.
Henderson sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Lister is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Henderson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Henderson throwing strikes but missing.
Lister keeping moving, preventing Henderson from controlling successfully.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Henderson. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Henderson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lister wants to stand up but Henderson is controlling him.
Lister utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lister keeping full guard, as Henderson tries to pass.
Henderson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Lister tries to clinch but Henderson moves away

and Henderson counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Henderson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lister's head.
Henderson throwing shots but Lister is blocking nicely.
Henderson has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Lister slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Lister preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henderson with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Lister will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Lister wants to stand and escape but Henderson is having none of it.
Lister utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Henderson trying to control but Lister is working from the bottom.
Lister is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Henderson sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lister keeping moving, preventing Henderson from controlling successfully.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Lister throws the left hand but Henderson avoids the punch easily.
Henderson shoots for a takedown but Lister saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Henderson on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Lister. Lister obviously looking to wear him down.
Lister throws a series of punches but Henderson moves out of range.
Lister thows a left - swing and a miss!
Lister loads up on a big right hand but Henderson slips the punch.
Lister throws a shot from downtown. Henderson moves away and avoids it.

That's four 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.
Henderson misses with a takedown
and Lister counters with a straight right hand.
Frank Lister seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Henderson misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Frank Lister has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tane Henderson.

Lister darts in and clinches Henderson up against the cage.
Henderson tries for a takedown. No joy.
Henderson is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Lister pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Lister jumps guard.
Henderson thows a big elbow that misses.
Henderson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lister works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Lister is looking to stand up but Henderson isn't so interested in that idea.
Henderson with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tane Henderson 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!

Henderson defending well as Lister loads up on a big left hand.
Henderson defending well as Lister loads up on a big left hand.
Lister throws a shot from downtown. Henderson moves away and avoids it.
Lister misses with the combination.
Lister is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Lister tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Henderson tries to clinch up.
Lister throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Lister misses with the combination.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Henderson shoots in and bounces Lister off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Henderson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henderson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Henderson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lister works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Henderson works over Lister with some ground and pound from guard.
Lister can't keep his opponent in guard - Henderson advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Lister looks like he's trying to stand up.
Henderson is nestled in close to Lister, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Henderson takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Henderson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Lister keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Henderson sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Lister defending well though.
Henderson lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Lister blocking the ground and pound attempt from Henderson.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henderson is pressing down on Lister's thigh, looking to free his foot. Lister is holding on for now.
Henderson is looking to take a break and control but Lister is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Henderson is looking for a kimura but Lister is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Henderson to get the leverage.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Lister throws out a loose jab but Henderson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Henderson swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Lister gets a clinch.
Henderson is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Lister gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Lister breaks the clinch.
Henderson on the wrong end of a nice jab.

That's four 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.
Lister lands a two punch combo.
Henderson moves away from the strike by Lister.

Henderson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Henderson postures up and lands a big shot to Lister's brow.
Henderson trying to control but Lister is working from the bottom.
Frank Lister has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Henderson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Henderson looking to sit in guard and control but Lister gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Henderson looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Lister puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tane Henderson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Henderson 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tane Henderson!