PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Laverne Black (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sheldon Hayes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sheldon Hayes will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Black
vs
Hayes

174 cm
18
278 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

199 cm
25
260 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Laverne Black!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Sheldon Hayes!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Trevor Gratis and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Black on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Hayes connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

It looks like Laverne Black has been cut.
Black tries to clinch but Hayes is having none of it.
Hayes fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Hayes misses with a head kick.
Hayes dives in for a single leg takedown but Black sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Hayes blocks a body shot from Black.

Black manages to pull guard.

Hayes drops back looking for a leg! Black is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Black manages to kick Hayes off! Hayes jumps back into Black's guard.
Black looking for a sweep. Not yet Black, not yet.
Black utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Hayes decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Black shoots in but Hayes avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Black shoots in looking for a takedown. Hayes tries to sprawl out of it but Black keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Hayes manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Hayes.

Black bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Hayes being controlled for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Black tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Black has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Hayes is looking for a sweep.
Black working away.
Black really is a fat lump.
Hayes avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Black.
Black tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
The ground and pound from Black seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black wants to control but Hayes is keeping him busy.
Black controls the position.
Hayes is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Black has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Black looks up at the clock and then as Hayes takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Black smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Black working the head and body with strikes.
Black has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Black working the ground and pound but Hayes is defending the strikes.
Hayes looks winded!
Hayes looks to move to half guard but instead Black has passed into mount! Damn!
Black sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Black working for a guillotine from mount but Hayes is in no mood to give up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Black working for a submission but Hayes is keeping him at bay.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Black controlling his opponent.

Black goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Hayes turns into him and now he's in Black's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Laverne Black dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Laverne Black's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Hayes lands a head kick. Black smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Black shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hayes defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Black.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hayes looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Hayes, as that shot connected.

Hayes 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.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Black throws some shots to the body, keeping his opponent honest.
Hayes in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hayes must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Black lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Hayes!

Black has control of Hayes's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Hayes regains control of the situation pretty easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hayes really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Black can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Hayes is looking to escape.

Black goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Hayes is on top in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hayes scoring with punches to the head and body.
Black bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hayes's guard.
Black wants to control from the top but Hayes keeps moving.
Black missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Hayes looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Hayes is breathing heavily.
Black controls from within his opponent's guard.
Black preventing the sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hayes is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Black sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Black drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Hayes dives on top into guard.
Black might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Hayes is fighting to break Black's control of his arms but Black is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Hayes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Black controlling the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Laverne Black wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Black fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Hayes to the ground. Black is now in Hayes's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Black working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Black sitting in guard here, content to control.
Black makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Black stays in close to Hayes's body and controls the position.
Hayes is trying to control the position but Black postures up.
Hayes 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.
Black content to stall in guard here.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Laverne Black.
Black shoots in looking for a takedown but Hayes manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Black's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Laverne Black will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Laverne Black's cut.
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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Black is trying hard to land a takedown here. Hayes sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Black takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Hayes is looking to clinch.
Black on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Hayes lands with a nice body punch.
Black closes the distance and clinches up with Hayes, looking for a takedown. Black pushes Hayes against the cage but Hayes circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Sheldon Hayes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hayes getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Hayes lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hayes is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Hayes fails with the takedown.
Sheldon Hayes seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Black shoots for a takedown but Hayes saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Laverne Black. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hayes works Black's body with a nice hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hayes slaps away a takedown attempt from Black, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Hayes fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Black looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Hayes comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Black swats away the attempt to clinch by Hayes.
Hayes is looking to clinch.
Hayes scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Black sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Black takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

Hayes looking to score a takedown here. Black is defending well but Hayes drives through and ends up in Black's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hayes throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hayes wants to control from the top but Black keeps moving.
Black controlling the position.
Hayes in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Black trying to control the position here.
Black looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Black displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Hayes.
Black shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hayes defends it nicely.
Hayes lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Laverne Black is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hayes throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Black tries to score a power double leg takedown but Hayes sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Black somewhat.
Hayes misses with a two punch combination.
A head kick misses from Hayes.
Black dives in and grabs Hayes's left leg, looking for a takedown. Hayes pushes down on Black's head and hops out.
Hayes throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Black.
Hayes looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Black slips under a jab.
Hayes throws a head kick but Black moves out of range.
Black fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice combination there by Hayes.
Hayes wants to clinch

and Black counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Hayes!

Black swings around for an armbar but Hayes sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Black's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hayes stops Black from standing up.
Black throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Hayes trying to stand up but can't free himself from Black's guard.
Black is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Hayes is controlling him.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hayes wants to stand but Black is controlling his posture from full guard.
Hayes throws a big right hand that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sheldon Hayes comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Black 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 29:28
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Laverne Black!