PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Zackary Leblanc (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lyoto Destroyer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Leblanc
vs
Destroyer

156 cm
18
193 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

187 cm
25
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Zackary Leblanc!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Lyoto Destroyer!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Gwen Towbar and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
That kick from Destroyer tenderised Leblanc's leg. Leblanc is trying to keep his angry face on.
Destroyer throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Lyoto Destroyer seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Destroyer shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Leblanc preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Destroyer must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Leblanc is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Destroyer preventing the sweep.
Destroyer content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Destroyer cracks Leblanc with a solid left hand.
Destroyer throws a strike but Leblanc rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Destroyer escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Leblanc gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Leblanc cracks Destroyer with a solid left hand.
Leblanc sitting in guard here, content to control.

Destroyer has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Leblanc is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Destroyer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leblanc takes a little break here. Destroyer wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Leblanc could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Destroyer wants to control but Leblanc postures up.
Destroyer tries to bench press Leblanc off him but Leblanc keeps the position.
A lull in the action here.
Leblanc cracks Destroyer with a big elbow.

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.
Destroyer sneaks back into half guard.
Destroyer is trying to get back to full guard.
Destroyer trying to control but Leblanc postures up.
Ground and pound from Leblanc.
Destroyer trying to control here.
Leblanc content to control rather than advance.
Destroyer is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Destroyer looking for submissions off his back.

Destroyer is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Leblanc pulls his head out easily.
Destroyer looks winded!
Leblanc takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Leblanc looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Destroyer with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Leblanc uses his free foot to push down on Destroyer's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Destroyer.
Leblanc controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Destroyer can't escape the position.
Leblanc punishing his opponent with strikes.
Leblanc looking to control and managing it successfully.
Destroyer tries to hold on but Leblanc postures up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Leblanc cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Leblanc lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Destroyer hang on?
Leblanc is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Destroyer can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zackary Leblanc dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Destroyer misses with a series of wild punches.
Destroyer connects with a looping right hand.
Leblanc shoots in for a takedown but Destroyer shows good takedown defense.
Destroyer swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Destroyer looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Destroyer swinging wildly here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Destroyer looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Leblanc appears to be looking for a big counter.
Leblanc dodges the punch combination from Destroyer.
Leblanc tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Destroyer manages to circle out of the way.
Destroyer is breathing heavily.

Leblanc shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Leblanc showed some decent athleticism there.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Destroyer looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Leblanc perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Leblanc has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Leblanc lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Leblanc perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Destroyer wants to control but Leblanc passes into side.
Leblanc controlling the position.
Leblanc's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Destroyer on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Leblanc trying to control the position but Destroyer is working away.
Leblanc scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Destroyer to see if he's OK.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Leblanc stalls from top position.

Destroyer throws Leblanc to one side and escapes!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Destroyer.
Leblanc parries the strikes from Destroyer easily there. Destroyer is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Leblanc to escape.
Leblanc gets back to half guard.
Leblanc moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Leblanc seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leblanc working a defensive guard here.
Destroyer scoring with some ground and pound.
Zackary Leblanc overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Destroyer landing with the ground and pound.

Leblanc looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Destroyer working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Destroyer throws a strike but Leblanc rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Leblanc might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Destroyer looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Leblanc passes into half guard.
Leblanc controlling the action here.
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 Zackary Leblanc will probably get the nod.
That's time! Leblanc's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Destroyer throws a right hand that Leblanc ducks under and follows up with a left that Leblanc also avoids with ease.
Destroyer buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Destroyer connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Leblanc ducks under a wild hook from Destroyer.
Leblanc fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Destroyer avoids it really well and circles away.
A jab from Destroyer finds it's way through Leblanc's defenses.

It looks like Zackary Leblanc has been cut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Leblanc showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Destroyer.
Destroyer misses with the combination.
Leblanc seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leblanc takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Destroyer takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
No joy there for Destroyer, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Destroyer lands a glancing blow to the side of Leblanc's head.

Leblanc gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Destroyer throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Leblanc works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Leblanc 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.
Leblanc doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Leblanc bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Destroyer's guard.

Leblanc landing some decent shots from guard.
Leblanc content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leblanc seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Destroyer for as long as he can get away with.
Destroyer wants to hit a switch here but Leblanc passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Destroyer there!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Leblanc controlling from mount.
Leblanc punishing his opponent with strikes.
Leblanc controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Destroyer is desperately trying to improve his position but Leblanc has a good base and remains in mount.
Leblanc controlling from mount.
Leblanc cracks Destroyer with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Leblanc cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Leblanc controlling from mount.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Leblanc.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leblanc landing punches.
Leblanc landing strikes from the mount and Destroyer is in trouble!
Destroyer wants to control but Leblanc is having none of it.
Leblanc punishing his opponent with strikes.
Leblanc sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Leblanc working away from the top, dropping strikes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Destroyer is in a horrible position here. Leblanc smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Leblanc avoids the attempt from Destroyer to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Zackary Leblanc.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Leblanc, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:28
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zackary Leblanc!