PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Joel Bates (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juan Vasquez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Vasquez is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Battery. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Bates
vs
Vasquez

180 cm
25
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
25
192 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ace of Spades Clothing
Transform Supplements

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Joel Bates!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Juan Vasquez!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Sandra Marshall and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bates tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Vasquez was well out of range. Poor timing from Bates.
Joel Bates seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bates lands a jab to the nose.
Bates throws a leg kick which misses Vasquez's front leg but catches the back leg as Vasquez tries to avoid it.
Vasquez feints a jab promting Bates to slip. Vasquez then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Bates slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Vasquez swinging wildly here.
Bates wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Bates throws an overhand right that lands on Vasquez's shoulder, as Vasquez tries to avoid the shot.
Vasquez wants to counter with a clinch but Bates pushes him away.
Vasquez misses with a wild body shot.
Bates fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Vasquez on the side of the head.
Bates scores with a leg kick.
Bates is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Vasquez.
Bates avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A good leg kick by Bates.
Bates throws a nice outside leg kick.
Bates tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Vasquez manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Bates fails with an attempt to clinch.
Vasquez moves out of range as Bates strikes.
Vasquez tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.

Bates closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Bates misses with the head strike.
Bates lands a right hand that snaps the head of Vasquez backwards.
Bates misses with a hook from the clinch.
Bates scores with a nice hook to the head.
Vasquez tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasquez lands a left hand.
Bates working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Vasquez tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Bates.
Bates lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vasquez blocks an uppercut.
Nice body punch from Bates.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Bates.
Bates misses with a body punch.
Vasquez tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Bates creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Bates.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vasquez is trying to break free.
A head punch on the inside from Bates fails to land.
A nice left hand lands by Bates.
Vasquez wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Vasquez's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Vasquez blocking some punches.
Vasquez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A head punch on the inside from Bates fails to land.
Vasquez tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.
Vasquez tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.
Vasquez blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates misses with a hook from the clinch.
Bates misses with a hook from the clinch.

Vasquez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vasquez jabs Bates to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Bates scores with a nice head shot.
Bates dodges the punch combination from Vasquez.
Bates misses the body punch
and Vasquez counters with a three punch combo that has Bates backing up. Bates nods at Vasquez to acknowledge the strikes.
Bates lands a nice hook to Vasquez's body. Vasquez takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bates fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Vasquez manages to avoid it.
Vasquez throws a counter combo.
Bates lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Bates connects with a solid leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Vasquez keeps the fight on the outside.
Vasquez swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Bates is looking to slow Vasquez down with leg kicks.
Vasquez moves out of range as Bates strikes.
Vasquez changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Vasquez fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Vasquez checks a low kick from Bates.
Juan Vasquez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bates scoring well with a low kick there.
Vasquez throws a series of punches but Bates avoids them all with ease.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Vasquez's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Vasquez keeps the fight on the outside.
Vasquez throws a nice looking combination but Bates bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Bates tries to counter by clinching up but Vasquez breaks away and moves out of range.
Bates tries to clinch but Vasquez is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Bates. That's going to slow Vasquez down.
Vasquez throws a nice looking combination but Bates bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Bates missing with a left hand there. Vasquez was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Bates wants to clinch up but Vasquez keeps it at a distance.
Bates is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Vasquez lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Bates circles away quickly and effectively.
Bates looks to clinch
and Vasquez counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Sloppy strikes from Vasquez. Those never looked like landing.
Bates is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Vasquez.
Bates tries to clinch but Vasquez moves away
and Vasquez cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Vasquez misses with a double jab.

Bates pushes Vasquez up against the cage in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasquez is trying to break free.
Bates pushes Vasquez back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Bates throws a punch but it's blocked by Vasquez.
Vasquez is trying to push Bates away but Bates has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Vasquez blocks a body shot from Bates.
Joel Bates has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Bates misses with a punch on the inside.
Bates throws a punch but it's blocked by Vasquez.
Vasquez goes for a takedown attempt but Bates pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Danga de danga de dang - Vasquez scores with a four punch combination!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates fails with an attempt to clinch.
As Bates backs off Vasquez throws a huge counter combo but Bates manages to avoid it all.
Vasquez ducks under a wild hook from Bates.
Bates's corner calls for a 1-2. Bates obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Vasquez fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Bates turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Vasquez defending well as Bates loads up on a big left hand.
Vasquez misses with a jab, cross combination.
Vasquez staying out of range there.
A slapping leg kick lands for Bates.
Bates scoring well with a low kick there.
Bates throws a leg kick which misses Vasquez's front leg but catches the back leg as Vasquez tries to avoid it.
Vasquez swinging wildly here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Vasquez, as that shot connected.
Vasquez avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
As Bates backs off Vasquez throws a huge counter combo but Bates manages to avoid it all.

Bates moves into range and clinches up with Vasquez.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bates lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Bates throws a head punch that misses.
Vasquez has had enough of the clinch but Bates keeps him there for the moment.
Vasquez has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Bates is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Bates throws a head punch that misses.
Bates tries to work over Vasquez's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
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 Joel Bates will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

A punch combination from Vasquez misses.
Vasquez walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
A jab from Bates does it's job there.
Bates tries to clinch but Vasquez moves out of range.
Vasquez closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Bates cracks Vasquez with a right hand to the side of the head.
Bates tries to clinch up but Vasquez circles away and keeps his distance.

Bates gets a clinch.
Vasquez lands a body punch in the clinch.
Bates swings wildly with an uppercut but Vasquez uses good head movement to avoid it.
Vasquez blocking some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasquez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Bates.
A head punch on the inside from Bates fails to land.
Vasquez tries to break the clinch but Bates is controlling the position.
Bates throws a punch but it's blocked by Vasquez.
Vasquez is trying to break the clinch but Bates is controlling him.
Vasquez blocking some punches.
Vasquez wants to take the fight to the mat but Bates manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Bates misses with the head strike.
Bates scores with a hook to the body.
Bates prevents a body shot from Vasquez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bates lands a left hand.
Bates working aggressively here.
Vasquez swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Bates tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Vasquez's elbow.
Bates is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vasquez can do to turn this around?
Vasquez changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Bates fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Joel Bates has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Juan Vasquez.
Bates scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Bates tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Vasquez manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Vasquez misses with the combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates misses the jab.
Bates tries to clinch up but Vasquez circles away and keeps his distance.
Bates keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Juan Vasquez seems to be getting the better of the standup.
No joy there for Vasquez, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Vasquez uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Bates.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Bates, right into the meat.
Bates lands with a cross.
Vasquez works the jab nicely.
Bates tries to clinch up.
Bates connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Bates tries to clinch up but Vasquez circles away and keeps his distance.

Bates has closed the distance and engaged Vasquez in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates misses with a punch on the inside.
Bates misses with a hook from the clinch.
Vasquez wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Bates fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Bates.
Bates pushes Vasquez back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bates lands a right hand.
Vasquez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Joel Bates is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Bates swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Juan Vasquez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bates lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joel Bates showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Bates, 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 Santiago Holmes scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joel Bates!
Joel Bates very nearly forgot to thank Quark's 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.