|
|
PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Neal Pitts (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Duke Hightower (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Duke Hightower has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Neal Pitts's chin.
 |
|
 |
| 196 cm
18
193 lbs
0 - 1 - 0 |
|
178 cm
18
182 lbs
4 - 3 - 0 |
BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily |
|
Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Determined |
|
| |
|
Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of
0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Neal Pitts!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Duke Hightower!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, John Roberts and Lou da Vinci.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pitts shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hightower defends it nicely.
Hightower has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Pitts is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Hightower looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Hightower throws a lazy body kick
and Pitts finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Hightower misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
No luck for Pitts with that takedown attempt.
Pitts dives in and grabs Hightower's left leg, looking for a takedown. Hightower pushes down on Pitts's head and hops out.
Hightower steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Pitts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Neal Pitts. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pitts is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pitts tries for a takedown but Hightower circles away easily
and Hightower counters by clinching up.
Hightower tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Hightower misses with a short punch on the inside.
Pitts jumps guard but Hightower turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Hightower.
Hightower struggles to land a body shot inside as Pitts controls his hands.
Hightower looking to throw knees to the head but Pitts is blocking nicely.
Hightower trying to land knees to the body.
Pitts is looking for a takedown.
Hightower looking to throw knees to the head but Pitts is blocking nicely.
Pitts wants a takedown.
Pitts has Hightower pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Hightower manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Hightower can't find room to land a body shot as Pitts controls the action.
Pitts wants a takedown but no success here.
Pitts drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Hightower gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Hightower looking to throw knees to the head but Pitts is blocking nicely.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pitts tries for a takedown but Hightower manages to get underhooks.
Pitts manages to pull guard.
Pitts is looking for a triangle but Hightower pushes his legs off easily.
Hightower avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Hightower lands a couple of decent looking shots.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pitts bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hightower's guard.
Pitts missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Pitts wants to control from the top but Hightower keeps moving.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pitts loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pitts accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Pitts trying to control the position from guard on top but Hightower is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Pitts is looking to work some ground and pound but Hightower has wrist control.
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.
Pitts decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Pitts will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Pitts pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Hightower has Pitts up against the cage in a clinch.
Hightower lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
It looks like Neal Pitts has been cut.
Hightower with a knee to the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pitts is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Hightower to keep the fight standing.
Hightower tries to land a knee to the head but Pitts blocks with his arms.
Hightower tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Duke Hightower dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Neal Pitts's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.
Hightower slaps away a takedown attempt from Pitts, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Hightower steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Pitts.
Pitts fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Good work by Pitts as he checks the leg kick.
Pitts appears to be looking for a big counter.
Pitts tries to score a power double leg takedown but Hightower sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Pitts somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Neal Pitts. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pitts throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Hightower's waist but Hightower gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Pitts off to one side.
Pitts with a poor takedown
and Hightower moves into the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hightower misses with a body punch.
That's one minute gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Hightower.
Hightower using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Pitts has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Duke Hightower seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Pitts manages to pull guard.
Pitts is trying to keep Hightower in close.
Hightower postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Pitts keeping moving, preventing Hightower from controlling successfully.
Hightower prevents Pitts from getting back to his feet.
Pitts tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Pitts will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Pitts working a defensive guard here.
The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hightower lands with a thumping leg kick.
Hightower darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Hightower wants to take a breather but Pitts is having none of it.
Hightower thows a huge punch but Pitts dodges it nicely.
Hightower really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Pitts. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The fighters are battling for position here. Pitts manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
The fighters are working up against the cage. Pitts manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A knee to the head by Hightower.
Hightower landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Pitts is trying to pull guard but Hightower turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pitts blocks an uppercut.
Hightower with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Hightower misses with a hook from the clinch.
Pitts drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hightower looking to throw knees to the head but Pitts is blocking nicely.
Hightower softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Pitts is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Hightower to keep the fight standing.
Hightower misses with a knee strike.
Hightower throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Pitts blocks it with crossed arms.
Pitts tries to pull guard but Hightower forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pitts blocking some punches.
Hightower is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Hightower lands a knee to the head.
Hightower tries to land a knee to the head but Pitts blocks with his arms.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Hightower obliges.
Hightower misses with a punch to the body.
Hightower gets underhooks to prevent Pitts's takedown attempt.
Hightower working aggressively here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hightower tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hightower has a couple of punches blocked by Pitts.
Pitts is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Hightower is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Duke Hightower showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Neal Pitts'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. And we move into the final round!
Pitts closes the distance and clinches up with Hightower, looking for a takedown. Pitts pushes Hightower against the cage but Hightower circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Hightower wants to counter with a clinch but Pitts pushes him away.
Hightower clinches.
Hightower throws a knee to the head but misses.
Pitts jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Hightower walks away with a smile on his face. Pitts gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Pitts shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Neal Pitts. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hightower stuffs the takedown attempt from Pitts. Pitts gets slowly back to his feet.
Hightower stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Hightower wants it to stay on the feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pitts tries to close the distance and clinch but Hightower swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pitts ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hightower misses with a kick to the body
and Pitts counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Pitts trying to control the pace.
Pitts missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Pitts is trying to control the action in half guard but Hightower is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Pitts tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Hightower.
Pitts missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Pitts wants to stand up but Hightower is controlling the position.
Pitts wants to take a breather but Hightower is having none of it.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Pitts shoots for a double leg takedown but Hightower sprawls well. He's pushed Pitts's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Pitts fails with the takedown.
Pitts avoids a kick to the body.
Hightower just manages to avoid a counter high kick fromPitts.
Hightower drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hightower tries to score with some ground and pound. Pitts controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Pitts gets back to half guard.
Pitts actively working from the bottom here.
Pitts is looking to escape.
Pitts trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Hightower working the head and body with strikes.
Hightower prevents Pitts from standing back up.
Pitts trying to control here.
Pitts makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Pitts.
Neal Pitts overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Pitts controls Hightower momentarily but Hightower frees himself.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pitts is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hightower showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Pitts bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hightower's guard.
Pitts missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Pitts wants to stand but Hightower has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Pitts stays in close to Hightower's body and controls the position.
Duke Hightower is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pitts drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Hightower manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Pitts has Hightower in his guard.
And that's the end of the fight!
Duke Hightower comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Hightower 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 27:30
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 27:30
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Duke Hightower!
A victorious Duke Hightower thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
|
S |
C |
G |
|
energy
A | B |
|
hype
A | B |
|
pop
A | B |
|
mgr
A | B |
|
FIGHT
RATING
34% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
