PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Joshua Blahyi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Curt Wooten (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Blahyi comes to the cage accompanied by All Hail Liberia Hail !!!!. Wooten has chosen Hall Of Fame as his entrance music. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Curt Wooten enters the cage!

Blahyi
vs
Wooten

173 cm
27
163 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

180 cm
25
157 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Knockout power

Machine Fight Gear
Conquer

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joshua Blahyi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Curt Wooten!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Jeff Smith and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wooten gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

Wooten working for a triangle but Blahyi defends it easily.
Blahyi wants to control from the top but Wooten keeps moving.
Blahyi tries to free his leg and advance position but Wooten is retaining full guard.
Blahyi is working hard here to advance position.

Wooten escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Blahyi gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Blahyi tries to free his leg and advance position but Wooten is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wooten keeping moving, preventing Blahyi from controlling successfully.
Wooten is trying to keep Blahyi in close.

Wooten is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Wooten working for a triangle but Blahyi defends it easily.
Wooten striking off his back but it's not causing Blahyi any problems.
Blahyi pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Wooten is keeping the position for now.
Blahyi with a flurry of punches that miss.
Blahyi controls from within his opponent's guard.
Blahyi slips nicely into half guard.
Blahyi wants to advance to full mount but Wooten doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Blahyi trying to control the position from guard on top but Wooten is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Blahyi looking to pass the guard.
Blahyi seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Wooten is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Blahyi trying to control but Wooten is working from the bottom.
Blahyi stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Wooten swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Wooten working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Blahyi doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Blahyi manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blahyi passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Blahyi tries to advance to mount but can't.
Blahyi staying calm.
Blahyi tries to move into full mount but can't pass Wooten's legs.
Blahyi is looking to take a break and control but Wooten is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Blahyi scoring with punches and elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blahyi is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Blahyi is trying to get an arm triangle but Wooten is defending well.
Blahyi trying to control the action but Wooten is working from the bottom.
Blahyi tries to move into full mount but can't pass Wooten's legs.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.

Blahyi is trying to get an arm triangle but Wooten is defending well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Blahyi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Blahyi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Blahyi wants to control but Wooten is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joshua Blahyi dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Blahyi closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Wooten looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Wooten has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Blahyi is working away from the top position though.
Blahyi works his foot free and advances to mount.
Wooten is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blahyi cracks Wooten with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Wooten tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Blahyi lands a big elbow.
Joshua Blahyi overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Blahyi working the ground and pound effectively.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Blahyi is looking to work his way around to Wooten's back. He needs to be careful though, as he's in danger of losing this dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wooten avoids a series of strikes thrown by Blahyi.
Blahyi controlling from the full mount.
Wooten is squirming around, avoiding Blahyi's attempts to control the action.
Blahyi is dominating on the ground here - he's now on his opponent's back, looking to sink in the hooks. Wooten is in real trouble.
Blahyi looking to soften up his opponent with punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blahyi has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Wooten's body.

Wooten defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Blahyi's arms.

Blahyi looking to break Wooten's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Wooten remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Blahyi will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

Blahyi is persistently looking for the submission but Wooten is defending it well.
Blahyi has good solid back control here.

Blahyi is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Blahyi is looking to control Wooten but Wooten is wriggling around and keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Blahyi patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?

Blahyi is working hard for the rear naked choke here.

Blahyi looking for the choke but no joy.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

Wooten defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Blahyi's arms.
Wooten is taking damage to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Wooten showing good submission defense here.
Wooten trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Blahyi doesn't have the hooks in and Wooten manages to turn into his guard.
Wooten trying to control the position from guard on top but Blahyi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Blahyi is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Wooten looking to sit in guard and control but Blahyi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Blahyi pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Wooten is keeping the position for now.
Blahyi wants to control from the top but Wooten keeps moving.
Wooten trying to keep a closed guard but Blahyi is proving a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joshua Blahyi dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Blahyi throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Wooten was covering up waiting for the punch and Blahyi finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Blahyi passes into half guard.

Wooten is defending against the submission attempts here by Blahyi.

Wooten is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Blahyi pulls his head out easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blahyi is pressing down on Wooten's thigh, looking to free his foot. Wooten is holding on for now.

Wooten with the active half guard here but Blahyi passes nicely into side control.
Blahyi just content to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wooten tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Blahyi advances to mount.
Blahyi looking to control but Wooten is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Wooten wants to hold on but Blahyi pushes him away.
Blahyi sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Blahyi lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Wooten takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooten stops Blahyi from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Wooten wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Blahyi.
Blahyi sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Blahyi prevents Wooten from getting the reversal.
Blahyi controlling from mount.
Blahyi has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blahyi wants to take Wooten's back but he can't do it this time.
Blahyi content just to control the position here.

Blahyi jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Wooten is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Wooten and Blahyi has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.

Blahyi wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Wooten, who protects the arm well.
Blahyi slows the pace down.
Blahyi trying to control the action but Wooten is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Wooten wants to control but Blahyi postures up.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Blahyi wants to control but Wooten is keeping him busy.
Blahyi moves into full mount!
Blahyi landing strikes from the mount and Wooten is in trouble!
Blahyi content just to control the position here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Blahyi with some aggressive grappling here, looking for the finish.
Curt Wooten has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Joshua Blahyi is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Blahyi takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joshua Blahyi showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Blahyi 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 30:26
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:26
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joshua Blahyi!
Joshua Blahyi very nearly forgot to thank Machine Fight Gear amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.