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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Les Willis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Merritt Barlow (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barlow has chosen Intro - DMX as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The key to victory for Les Willis has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.
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| 182 cm
24
193 lbs
0 - 6 - 0 |
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190 cm
25
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0 |
BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced |
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Good takedowns
Brawler
Determined |
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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 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Les Willis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Merritt Barlow!
The judges for this bout are Ben Hemmingworth, Donatello Bradman and Ben Watson.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barlow lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Willis is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Barlow's half guard.
Willis is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Barlow sees it coming and defends easily.
Willis prevents Barlow from improving his position.
Willis looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barlow tries to roll over but Willis keeps him under control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Willis missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Barlow is defending against the submission attempts here by Willis.
Willis tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Barlow.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Barlow is trying to stand up here but Willis is controlling him well.
Willis thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Barlow's head.
Willis misses with a head shot. Barlow uses the momentum to regain guard.
Willis is looking to stand up but Barlow won't let him.
Willis stopping the sweep attempt from Barlow.
Willis throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Barlow works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Willis content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Willis throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Barlow works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Barlow looks winded!
Barlow is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Willis is looking to stand up but Barlow won't let him.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Willis stands and steps away. Barlow gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Willis blocks a head kick by Barlow.
As Barlow backs away, Willis returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Willis fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Barlow manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Willis on his heels. He'll look to pass Willis's guard now, I'm sure.
Willis keeping moving, preventing Barlow from controlling successfully.
Barlow wants to stand but Willis has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Willis not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Barlow is looking to stand up but Willis won't let him.
Barlow postures up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Barlow throwing strikes but missing.
The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Willis stuns Barlow with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Horrible takedown attempt by Willis or perhaps it was just good defense by Barlow, which made it look bad.
Willis looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willis gets the takedown into side control.
Barlow takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Willis misses with the ground and pound.
Willis wants to stand but Barlow is controlling his arm.
Barlow tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Willis wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Willis lands some shots froms side control.
Barlow is looking to regain half guard here but Willis keeps moving and retains side control.
Willis throws an elbow but Barlow slips to the side and avoids it well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Willis is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Barlow has escaped the position, nice work there.
Barlow is trying to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close round but I would say that Les Willis will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.
Barlow slaps away a takedown attempt from Willis, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Les Willis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Barlow misses with a combination
and Willis counters with a three punch combo that has Barlow backing up. Barlow nods at Willis to acknowledge the strikes.
Willis moves into the clinch.
Barlow has hold of one of Willis's legs. Willis is fighting the takedown attempt but Barlow gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Barlow wants to get up but he can't break Willis's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Willis knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Barlow on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Willis tries to strike from the bottom.
Willis avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Barlow postures up.
Barlow trying to control but Willis is working from the bottom.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Barlow is breathing heavily.
Willis trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Willis lands a two punch combo.
Willis misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Barlow shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Barlow showed some decent athleticism there.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Willis trying to hold on to Barlow's head to control him but Barlow postures up.
Barlow wants to control but Willis is keeping him busy.
Willis tries to get to full guard but Barlow has control of the leg.
Barlow is thwarting Willis's attempts to control the position.
Barlow prevents Willis from improving his position.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barlow trying to control from half guard but Willis is working away.
Barlow throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Willis throws a right and a left that both miss.
Barlow shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Connects with an elbow from the bottom, proving to the judges that he's still active off his back.
Barlow trying to control but Willis is working from the bottom.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willis preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
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!
Willis wants to sweep but no luck.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Willis closes the distance and clinches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
A close second round but Merritt Barlow will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!
Willis bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Willis in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Willis is looking to take a break and control but Barlow is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Barlow is looking for a sweep.
Barlow manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Barlow is looking to improve his position.
Willis seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Willis wants to work for an arm triangle but Barlow is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
The fighters are battling for position here. Barlow manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Willis would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Willis throwing strikes but missing.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Willis throwing strikes but missing.
Barlow striking off his back but it's not causing Willis any problems.
Willis wants to stand but Barlow has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Merritt Barlow has got the better of the ground game so far.
The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Horrible takedown attempt by Willis or perhaps it was just good defense by Barlow, which made it look bad.
Willis shoots in but Barlow avoids the takedown attempt easily.
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.
Barlow shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Willis's guard.
Barlow is looking to pass into half guard but Willis pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Willis is in guard.
Barlow has his foot on Willis's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Willis works his way back into a safe position though.
Willis throwing strikes but missing.
Willis wants to get up but he can't break Barlow's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Barlow is pulling down on Willis's head to control his posture.
Willis preventing the sweep.
Willis gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Willis scores with a body shot.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barlow gets tackled into the cage by Willis. Willis maintains the clinch.
Willis is stalling here.
Willis breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Willis misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Barlow looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Barlow wants to free his trapped foot but Willis is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Barlow tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barlow with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Barlow throwing shots but Willis is blocking nicely.
Willis is trying to get back to full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barlow performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Merritt Barlow.
I think Barlow has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 28:29
In favor of your winner, by split decision... Merritt Barlow!
A very excited looking Merritt Barlow made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
29% |
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