PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Carson Duke (ranked 24801 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Pickren (ranked 5582 p4p, 0 weight class). Joe Pickren will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Duke
vs
Pickren

189 cm
19
214 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

195 cm
22
204 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Carson Duke!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Joe Pickren!
The judges for this bout are Summer Carpenter, Topper Green and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pickren looks to clinch

and Duke counters with a shoot takedown. Pickren fights it but they end up in guard.

Pickren looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Duke passes into half guard.
Duke takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Pickren is trying to get back to full guard.
Duke trying to control the pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pickren makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Pickren.
Duke sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pickren looking for a sweep. Not yet Pickren, not yet.
Pickren trying to keep a closed guard but Duke is proving a slippery customer.
Pickren wants to get back to his feet but Duke is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

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.
Duke throws a sloppy head kick and Pickren moves out of range easily.
Pickren buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

Pickren shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Pickren showed some decent athleticism there.
The fighters are battling for position here. Duke manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Duke is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Duke bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Pickren's guard.

Duke sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duke seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Pickren for as long as he can get away with.
Pickren is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Duke is controlling him.
Duke postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Pickren bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Duke's guard.

Duke manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Pickren manages to get himself to full guard.

Pickren 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.
Duke sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pickren looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Pickren is trying to control the position but Duke postures up.
Duke controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Duke has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Pickren closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Pickren missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Duke keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Pickren postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Duke to stand up.

Duke closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Duke scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Pickren wants to improve his position but Duke is controlling well.
Pickren has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Duke is working away from the top position though.
Carson Duke overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pickren tries to roll over but Duke keeps him under control.
Pickren trying to control but Duke postures up.
Duke keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Pickren is looking to escape.
Pickren tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Duke has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
You get the feeling that Pickren really doesn't like being in this position too much.

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.
Pickren is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Duke lands with some strikes.
Pickren tries to reverse the position but Duke maintains control.
A nice elbow there by Duke.
Duke working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Duke controlling the pace for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duke putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Duke pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Duke working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Duke controlling the position easily from mount.
Duke with the ground and pound from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Duke lands a couple of good shots and Pickren has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Pickren is trying to break free.
Duke biding his time, looking for the opening.
Pickren tries to roll but Duke sticks to his back.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Duke loading up with punches from the back mount - how long can Pickren hold on?
Duke biding his time, controlling Pickren.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carson Duke dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Pickren looking to score a takedown here. Duke is defending well but Pickren drives through and ends up in Duke's guard.
Pickren pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Duke is keeping the position for now.
Duke bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Pickren's guard.

Pickren wants to stand up but Duke is controlling him.

Pickren is looking for a triangle here but Duke uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pickren is letting Duke control him for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duke'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.

Duke looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Duke lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Pickren down.
Duke works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Pickren tries to buck Duke off but Duke is having none of it.

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.
Pickren is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Duke has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Duke is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Pickren can do to turn this around?
Pickren seems a little lost for a moment, as Duke dominates the positioning.
Pickren taking a bit of punishment here - Duke scoring with strikes.
Duke controlling the position from side mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duke scoring with punches from side control.
Duke working away.
Pickren is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Duke's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Pickren trying to hold on to Duke's head to control him but Duke postures up.
Duke controlling the action here.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Pickren decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Duke is trying to control but can't.
Duke wants to get back to full guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Duke keeping control of the position.
Joe Pickren has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Carson Duke is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Duke is pressing down on Pickren's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

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 Carson Duke.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Duke, 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 Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:27
Judge Topper Green scores the fight 30:27
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Carson Duke!