PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eddie Armstrong (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Starker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Starker is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Under Milk Wood. Paul Starker has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Eddie Armstrong's chin.

Armstrong
vs
Starker

185 cm
42
248 lbs
24 - 17 - 1

190 cm
31
265 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Great elbows
Granite chin

RAGS of a RONIN

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 24 - 17 - 1, fighting out of London, Eddie Armstrong!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Paul Starker!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Franklyn Lucas and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Armstrong shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Starker but Starker pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Starker wants to counter with a clinch but Armstrong pushes him away.
Starker misses with a looping right.
Armstrong is looking to counter the offense by Starker and move into the clinch.
Starker tries to close the distance and clinch up but Armstrong swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Armstrong is looking to counter the offense by Starker and move into the clinch.
Starker takes one to the side of the head.
Starker on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Armstrong scores with the left hand. Starker knows he should have avoided that one.

Armstrong changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Starker looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Armstrong working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Armstrong throwing strikes but Starker manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Armstrong manages to get back to half guard.
Armstrong tries to get to full guard but Starker has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Armstrong is working hard here to advance position.
Starker wants to stand up but Armstrong has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Armstrong manages to get to full guard.
Armstrong controls Starker momentarily but Starker frees himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Starker stopping the sweep attempt from Armstrong.
Starker slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Armstrong.
Armstrong makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Armstrong.
Armstrong lands a couple of decent looking body shots there.
Armstrong wants to control but Starker passes easily into half guard.
Armstrong wants to improve his position but Starker is controlling well.
Armstrong 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Armstrong works his way to full guard. Good work.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Armstrong is on top in guard.

Armstrong works over Starker with some ground and pound from guard.
Armstrong scoring with punches to the head and body.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Armstrong accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Armstrong loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Armstrong trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Armstrong cracks Starker with a solid left hand.
Armstrong is in close to Starker's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Starker keeping moving, preventing Armstrong from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Armstrong postures up in Starker's guard and throws a big left but Starker blocks it.
Armstrong throwing strikes from guard but Starker blocks nicely.
Armstrong is looking to work some ground and pound but Starker has wrist control.
Armstrong postures up and lands a big shot to Starker's brow.
Armstrong working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Armstrong loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Armstrong postures up.
Starker told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Armstrong postures up in Starker's guard and throws a big left but Starker blocks it.
Armstrong working some strikes from top position.
Armstrong with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eddie Armstrong dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Armstrong shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Armstrong was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Armstrong working the ground and pound.
An elbow from Armstrong crashes against the mat.
Starker parries the strikes from Armstrong easily there. Armstrong is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Starker to escape.
Armstrong in side control, throwing shots but Starker defends.
Armstrong working away.
The ground and pound from Armstrong seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Armstrong working the head and body with strikes.
The ground and pound from Armstrong seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Armstrong postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
An elbow from Armstrong crashes against the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Armstrong throws a strike aimed at the side of Starker's head but Starker avoids it well.
Starker tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Armstrong wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sloppy strikes there by Armstrong.
Starker wants to control but Armstrong postures up.
Starker defending against the ground and pound.
Armstrong lands a decent elbow from side control.
Starker can't do much from the bottom here.
Armstrong lands some shots froms side control.
Starker taking a bit of punishment here - Armstrong scoring with strikes.
Armstrong is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Starker can do to turn this around?
Armstrong lands a few punches from side control.
Starker regains half guard there - taking advantage of Armstrong's attempt to lay and pray for a moment.
Armstrong thows a huge punch but Starker dodges it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Armstrong controlling the action here.
Armstrong not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Armstrong thows a huge punch but Starker dodges it nicely.
Armstrong is stalling here. Starker is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Armstrong seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Starker has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Armstrong is looking for a sweep.
Armstrong is trying to control Starker's posture but Starker avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Armstrong is looking to reverse the position.
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.
Armstrong is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Starker's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Starker in particular looking to stall.
Armstrong is looking for a sweep. Starker is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Armstrong is pressing down on Starker's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Starker won't allow Armstrong to sweep him here.

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.
Armstrong tries to strike from the bottom.
Starker won't allow Armstrong to sweep him here.
Armstrong bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Starker's guard.

Armstrong missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Armstrong throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Armstrong with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Armstrong throwing strikes but missing.
Armstrong throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Starker keeping moving, preventing Armstrong from controlling successfully.
Starker preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eddie Armstrong dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Armstrong fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Starker needs to keep his hands up - Armstrong had a free shot at his head there.
Armstrong shoots for a double leg takedown but Starker sprawls well. He's pushed Armstrong's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Starker tries to counter by closing the distance.
Armstrong ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Armstrong gets tackled into the cage by Starker. Starker maintains the clinch.
Starker throws a head punch that misses.
Armstrong tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Still in the clinch, Armstrong scores with a nice short uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Starker is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Armstrong misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Armstrong is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Starker gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eddie Armstrong. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Starker trying to stall but Armstrong improves his position.

Armstrong has picked Starker up - he's going for a ride! Armstrong dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Starker trying to control from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Starker takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Armstrong lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Starker tries to roll over but Armstrong keeps him under control.
Starker has hold of Armstrong's hands but Armstrong slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Armstrong sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Starker defending well though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Armstrong drops an elbow to the side of Starker's head.
Starker has hold of Armstrong's hands but Armstrong slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Armstrong looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Armstrong looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Starker with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Paul Starker has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Eddie Armstrong is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Armstrong wants to control but Starker is keeping him busy.
Armstrong scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Armstrong is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Armstrong putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Armstrong looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Starker is rocked!
Armstrong postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Starker in real trouble here! The ref calls for Starker to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:52 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eddie Armstrong!
A very excited looking Eddie Armstrong 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.