PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joesph Conner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gilbert Burns (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gilbert Burns is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Conner
vs
Burns

225 cm
25
300 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

193 cm
23
290 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joesph Conner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gilbert Burns!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Frank Dennis and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Conner.
Conner is looking to take a break and control but Burns is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Conner fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Burns wants to control but Conner postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns is looking for a sweep.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Conner is looking to take a break and control but Burns is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Conner rushes Burns and presses him up against the cage.

Conner gets control of Burns's arms and successfully pulls guard. Conner will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Conner controls Burns momentarily but Burns frees himself.
Burns won't allow Conner to sweep him here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Conner looking for subs off his back but Burns has passed one foot through into half guard.
Conner is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Conner trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Burns controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Conner can't escape the position.
Conner wants to hold on but Burns pushes him away.
Burns prevents Conner from getting the reversal.
Burns wants to control the pace but Conner is squirming around nicely.
Conner tries to hold on but Burns postures up.

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.
Conner is looking to get to half guard.
Conner on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Conner tries to get out of the position.
Burns wants to control the pace but Conner is squirming around nicely.
Burns is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Burns controlling his opponent.
Conner tries to lock up and control but Burns gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Conner has closed the distance and engaged Burns in a clinch.
Burns wants to break free but Conner has control.
Conner is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Burns can do to turn this around?

Conner has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Burns uses from the top position.
Conner controls Burns momentarily but Burns frees himself.
Conner looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Conner keeping moving, preventing Burns from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Conner has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Conner wants to sweep but no luck.
Conner will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns is fighting to break Conner's control of his arms but Conner is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Conner working a defensive guard but Burns passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Conner is controlling Burns's trapped leg to prevent Burns from advancing to side control.
Burns passes into side control, despite Conner's attempt to control the position.
The referee asks Burns politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Burns prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Burns is looking to take a break and control but Conner is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Conner is trying to get back to half guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Conner misses with a few strikes there.
Burns now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

Conner gets a clinch.
Burns looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Burns has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Conner gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Burns is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Conner scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Burns has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Conner is working away from the top position though.
Conner is controlling the pace.
Burns is looking to control Conner's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Burns avoid being mounted?

That's four 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.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Conner looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Conner is trying to work for a kimura but Burns is defending well.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Conner looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Conner is looking to clinch but Burns is avoiding it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Conner rushes Burns and presses him up against the cage.
Burns wants to break the clinch but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joesph Conner dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Conner fails with an attempt to clinch.
Conner throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.

Conner pushes Burns up against the cage in a clinch.

Conner has picked Burns up - he's going for a ride! Conner dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Conner lands a nice short elbow.
Conner wants to lay and pray for a moment but Burns keeps working.
Burns won't allow Conner to pass to mount.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Conner is looking to stall here but Burns recovers full guard.
Conner postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burns is trying to control the position but Conner postures up.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Burns keeping moving, preventing Conner from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Conner throws a head kick that misses.
A nice side step and Burns releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.

Conner moves into the clinch.

Conner jumps guard and drags Burns to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Conner working a defensive guard here.
Conner wants to control the position but Burns says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Conner is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Burns's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Burns's back!
Conner is striking from the back but Burns escapes and manages to recover to half guard.
Burns trying to control but Conner postures up.
Conner trying to mount his opponent but Burns defends it.
Conner stalling away here and it's allowed Burns to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burns seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Joesph Conner overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Conner throws a strike but Burns rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Conner isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Burns stacks Conner on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Burns!
Conner tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Burns wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Conner is letting Burns control him for a moment.
Burns is looking to take a break and control but Conner is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Conner tries to control but Burns manages to take his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joesph Conner showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Conner has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joesph Conner!
After winning the bout, Joesph Conner thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.