PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rich Wardle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gator Raid (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Raid has chosen Rio de Janeiro as his entrance music. The key to victory for Rich Wardle has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Wardle
vs
Raid

188 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

177 cm
22
211 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Experienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Rich Wardle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Gator Raid!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, William Gold and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wardle feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Raid looking for a sweep. Not yet Raid, not yet.
Raid trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Wardle passes into half guard.
Wardle wants to take a breather but Raid is having none of it.
Wardle will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Raid is looking to get back to full guard here but Wardle has managed to pass to side control instead.
Wardle tries to control but Raid wriggling away.
Wardle punching from mount but Raid doing a good job of avoiding damage.

Wardle is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Raid is surviving well by controlling Wardle's body position as best he can.
Wardle seems to be looking to move to his opponent's back but Raid is holding on tight.
Raid is trying to escape the mount.
Raid throws a strike from the bottom but Wardle uses the opportunity to take his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Raid tries to escape the position.
Raid should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Will Wardle go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Raid tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Raid tries to reverse the position but Wardle maintains control.
Raid manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Raid wants to improve his position but Wardle is controlling well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Raid missing with punches from the bottom.
Raid keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Raid throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Wardle trying to control the action but Raid is working from the bottom.
Raid works his way to full guard. Good work.
Wardle is breathing heavily.
Raid throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Raid feints and as Wardle raises his hands in defense, Raid changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Raid with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raid with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Raid is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Wardle looking to control.
Raid is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Raid scoring with punches to the head and body.
Raid chips away with some ground and pound.
Wardle is trying to keep Raid in close.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Raid's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Raid prevents Wardle from getting back to his feet.
Raid is in close to Wardle's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Raid stands up over Wardle, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Raid postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Raid 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.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Raid lands a couple of elbows.
Raid connects with a couple of short punches.
Raid lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Wardle working a defensive guard here.
Raid chips away with some ground and pound.

Wardle is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Raid is in close to Wardle's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Raid works over Wardle with some ground and pound from guard.
Raid looking to pass the guard.
Raid throwing strikes but missing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Raid closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Wardle looks like he's trying to stand up.
Raid lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Raid looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Wardle with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Raid thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Wardle's head.
Raid scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Raid working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Wardle tries to kick Raid off but Raid keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Raid scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Wardle is trying to control but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raid passes the guard and advances to mount!
A nice elbow there by Raid.
Raid unloading with bombs!
Wardle is in a horrible position here. Raid smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Raid lands with some strikes.
Raid cracks Wardle with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Raid lands a big elbow.
Raid raining down shots from the mount!
Raid with a couple of short strikes.
Raid avoids the attempt from Wardle to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Raid cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Raid landing strikes from the mount and Wardle is in trouble!
Raid pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Raid lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Wardle hang on?
Raid scores with a couple of good head shots there.
You get the feeling that Wardle really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Raid lands a heavy elbow.
Raid in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
A nice elbow there by Raid.
Raid with good strikes from the mount here!
Raid in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Raid lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Wardle hang on?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wardle is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Wardle taking shots to the head.
Wardle is looking to get to half guard.
Raid lands a big elbow.
Wardle working to try and regain half guard.
Raid scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Raid punishing his opponent with strikes.
Wardle is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Raid with shots to the head and body - Wardle looks very uncomfortable down there.
Wardle wants to hold on but Raid pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Raid with good strikes from the mount here!
Raid putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Wardle is trying to escape the mount.
Raid with a couple of short strikes.
Raid looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Raid unloading with bombs!
Raid is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Wardle can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Raid landing strikes, looking to finish!
Wardle in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
BOOM! Raid connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Raid lands a nice shot to the head.
Raid landing shots from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gator Raid showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Wardle stuns Raid with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Wardle tries to close the distance and clinch but Raid swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Raid shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Raid landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wardle keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Wardle trying to control but Raid postures up.
Raid tries to pass the half guard into mount. Wardle knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Raid scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Raid scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Raid working Wardle over with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raid is thwarting Wardle's attempts to control the position.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Raid fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Wardle sprawls well initially but Raid persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Raid passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Wardle!
Gator Raid has got the better of the ground game so far.
Wardle is desperately trying to improve his position but Raid has a good base and remains in mount.
Raid cracks Wardle with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Raid lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Wardle is in all sorts of trouble here.
Wardle wants to control but Raid is having none of it.
Raid lands a heavy elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wardle is bucking up trying to escape but Raid cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Wardle tries to lock up and control but Raid gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Raid with good strikes from the mount here!
Wardle is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Wardle is trying to escape the mount.
Raid landing shots from mount.
Raid fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Raid raining down shots from the mount!
Raid lands a nice shot to the head.
Wardle keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Raid working away from the top, dropping strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raid punishing his opponent with strikes.
Wardle is trying to escape the mount.
Raid looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Raid prevents Wardle from getting the reversal.
Wardle tries to hold on but Raid pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Raid working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Raid lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Raid lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Wardle hang on?
Wardle is trying to stand up.
Raid lands a big elbow.
Raid lands a nice shot to the head.
Raid raining down shots from the mount!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Raid looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Rich Wardle has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Raid fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

And that's the end of the fight!
Gator Raid comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Raid 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Gold scores the fight 27:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gator Raid!