PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between DJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Al Wentworth (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Al Wentworth told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Penn
vs
Wentworth

175 cm
24
160 lbs
6 - 4 - 1

185 cm
20
165 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, DJ Penn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Al Wentworth!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Seu Braga and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wentworth lands a front kick.
Penn shoots in for a takedown but Wentworth shows good takedown defense.
Penn shoots in but no luck this time.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Penn crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Wentworth - the referee stops the clock and Penn gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Wentworth. Penn manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Penn throws a series of punches but Wentworth moves out of range.
Penn avoids the head kick by Wentworth.
Wentworth with a nice cross.
Wentworth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Wentworth throws a shot from downtown. Penn moves away and avoids it.
Wentworth misses with a wild body shot.
Wentworth pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Wentworth buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Wentworth throws out a loose jab but Penn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Penn bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Penn shoots in looking for a takedown. Wentworth tries to sprawl out of it but Penn keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Wentworth manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for DJ Penn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wentworth keeps Penn at a distance using the push kick.
Penn is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wentworth lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

It looks like DJ Penn has been cut.
Penn steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Wentworth. That one must have hurt.
Wentworth throws a front kick that sends Penn stumbling back into the cage.
Wentworth throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Penn's head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Wentworth lands a head kick that stumbles Penn and the fighters go to the mat.

Penn is rocked!
Wentworth really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Penn. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Penn looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Wentworth has picked Penn up and slammed him! Penn can't keep hold of the triangle and Wentworth manages to pass to side control!
Oh Penn is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Wentworth wants to stand but Penn has his arm trapped.
Penn seems to have got his legs back now.
Penn tries to improve position but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wentworth content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Penn tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Penn can't do much from the bottom here.
Penn keeps Wentworth under control for a moment.
Penn can't do much from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Penn is looking to reverse the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Wentworth throws a left and a right that both miss
and Penn counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A thudding body kick lands there by Wentworth!
Wentworth scores with a head kick.
Wentworth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Penn. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
Penn tries to clinch up but Wentworth circles away and keeps his distance.
Wentworth lands a head kick. Penn smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Penn swings for the body but Wentworth moves out of range.
Al Wentworth seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wentworth misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wentworth throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

so Penn counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Penn prevents Wentworth from getting back to his feet.
Wentworth avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Penn drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Wentworth manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Penn has Wentworth in his guard.

Penn is looking for a triangle but Wentworth pushes his legs off easily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Wentworth preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Al Wentworth dominated that round.
The cut man is working on DJ Penn's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Wentworth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Wentworth throws a head kick but Penn moves out of range.
Wentworth scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Wentworth misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Penn will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Penn walks forward, straight into a front kick from Wentworth.
Wentworth throws a head kick that misses.
Wentworth throws a looping overhand right but Penn ducks down to avoid it.
Penn slips a jab from Wentworth.
Wentworth throws a head kick but Penn moves out of range.
Penn moves out of range of the body kick.
Wentworth looks to throw the jab but Penn is out of range.
Penn tries for a takedown but Wentworth sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Wentworth throws a head kick that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Penn feints and as Wentworth raises his hands in defense, Penn changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Wentworth is breathing heavily.
Penn trying to control but Wentworth is working from the bottom.

Penn has gone for a leg lock! Wentworth slips out almost immediately though and dives into Penn's guard.
Penn is trying to hold Wentworth in close to prevent damage but Wentworth has managed to pass into half guard.
Penn is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Penn looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Penn with the active half guard here but Wentworth passes nicely into side control.
Penn wants to control but Wentworth postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Penn tries to contro but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Penn gets back to half guard.
Wentworth seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Penn does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Penn is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Penn looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Penn trying to control here.
Penn is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Wentworth is trying to control the action in half guard but Penn is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Penn wants to improve his position but Wentworth is controlling well.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Penn shoots in but Wentworth avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Penn avoids the head kick by Wentworth.
Penn uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Wentworth.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Al Wentworth showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on DJ Penn's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Penn blocks a head kick by Wentworth.
Penn changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Wentworth tries to avoid it but Penn manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Wentworth to the ground. Wentworth escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Penn avoids the head kick by Wentworth.
Wentworth lands with a kick to the temple. Penn shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Wentworth throws a head kick that half lands.
Wentworth goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Penn will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Wentworth pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Penn shoots in for a takedown but Wentworth shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for DJ Penn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wentworth scores with a three punch combo!
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Wentworth.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Wentworth throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Wentworth connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Wentworth. That's going to slow Penn down.
Al Wentworth is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Wentworth.
Wentworth dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Penn. That did some damage!
A shot to the body from Wentworth misses

and Penn counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Wentworth is pulling down on Penn's head to control his posture.
Wentworth working a defensive guard here.
Wentworth seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn trying to move into half guard but instead Wentworth has managed to sweep!
Wentworth controls from within his opponent's guard.
Wentworth trying to control but Penn is working from the bottom.

Penn working for a triangle but Wentworth defends it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Penn wants to sweep here but Wentworth controlling him for the moment.
Wentworth is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Penn trying to keep a closed guard but Wentworth is proving a slippery customer.

Penn looking for a guillotine here but Wentworth defends easily.

That's four 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.

Penn looking for subs off his back but Wentworth has passed one foot through into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wentworth trying to control the pace.

And that's the end of the fight!
Al Wentworth comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Wentworth winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 27:30
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 27:30
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Al Wentworth!