PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Valdis Zatlers (ranked 7181 p4p, 6340 weight class) and Ben Bigelow (ranked 525 p4p, 500 weight class). Ben Bigelow looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Zatlers
vs
Bigelow

220 cm
25
265
0 - 1 - 0

197 cm
20
250
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Valdis Zatlers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ben Bigelow!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Anthony Taglia and Lou da Vinci.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zatlers misses with a takedown attempt - Bigelow sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Bigelow is looking for the big counter here.
Bigelow's coach down at Desert Fitness & Training -13 Elites/1 Exceptional was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Bigelow's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Bigelow lands with an overhand left.
Nice takedown defense from Bigelow. No joy for Zatlers on that attempt.

Bigelow closes the distance and clinches.
Bigelow prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Valdis Zatlers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zatlers drops down looking for an ankle pick but Bigelow pulls his leg out and moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bigelow throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Zatlers is looking to counter the offense by Bigelow and move into the clinch.
Bigelow throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Ben Bigelow seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bigelow tries to clinch but Zatlers is having none of it.
Zatlers showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Bigelow.
Zatlers wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bigelow swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Bigelow swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Zatlers swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Bigelow lands with a straight right. Zatlers didn't see that one coming.
Bigelow misses with a wild combination.
Bigelow throws a right and a left that both miss.

Bigelow moves into the clinch.
Zatlers has Bigelow pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Bigelow manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Bigelow letting Zatlers take a breather here.
Zatlers trying to land knees to the body.

Zatlers breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bigelow will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Zatlers shoots and misses
and Bigelow counters with a left and a right that stings Zatlers.
Ben Bigelow is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Bigelow throws a sloppy head kick and Zatlers moves out of range easily.
Bigelow looks winded!
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zatlers.
Zatlers dodges the punch combination from Bigelow.
Zatlers wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bigelow misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Bigelow throws a combination. Zatlers tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Zatlers.

Zatlers closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Zatlers pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zatlers gets in close and instigates a clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Bigelow throws an elbow but misses.
Bigelow prevents a body shot from Zatlers.

Zatlers pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Zatlers fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bigelow lands with a shot to the body.
Zatlers throws a jab when Bigelow was well out of range.

Zatlers moves into the clinch.
Zatlers holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bigelow fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Bigelow being controlled against the cage.
Bigelow blocks an elbow strike.
Zatlers is working for takedown but Bigelow is calmly controlling the position for now.
Bigelow working hard to break the clinch.
Bigelow has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Zatlers dives in and grabs Bigelow's left leg, looking for a takedown. Bigelow pushes down on Zatlers's head and hops out.
Bigelow throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Zatlers shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Bigelow as he jumps to the side.
Bigelow looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Bigelow wants to clinch up but Zatlers keeps it at a distance.
A right-left combo lands from Bigelow.
Bigelow tries to bum rush Zatlers with a series of wild strikes but Zatlers uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
No joy there for Bigelow, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
As Bigelow looks to move away, Zatlers throws a big counter combo but Bigelow just gets out of the way.
Bigelow lands with a nice combination. Zatlers backs away looking to recover.
Zatlers checks a low kick from Bigelow.
Zatlers looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Zatlers shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Bigelow as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Valdis Zatlers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bigelow fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Zatlers manages to avoid it.
Bigelow is breathing heavily.
Zatlers fails with the takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bigelow is looking to clinch.
Zatlers avoids a punch combination nicely.
Zatlers really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Zatlers closes the distance and clinches up with Bigelow, looking for a takedown. Zatlers pushes Bigelow against the cage but Bigelow circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Bigelow wants to counter with a clinch but Zatlers pushes him away.
Bigelow tries to clinch up but Zatlers circles away and keeps his distance.
Bigelow throws a body kick, spinning off balance

and Zatlers counters with a shoot takedown. Bigelow fights it but they end up in guard.
Zatlers passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Zatlers tries to move to mount but Bigelow blocks the move with his legs.

Zatlers stands up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zatlers fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Bigelow, pushing him back against the cage.

Zatlers breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Bigelow throws a right and a left that both miss.
Zatlers feinted with a counter takedown.

Zatlers takes the fight into the clinch.
Bigelow has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Bigelow tries to break the clinch but Zatlers is controlling the position.
Zatlers is working for takedown but Bigelow is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Zatlers takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Zatlers tries for a takedown. No joy.

Zatlers pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Bigelow avoids the head kick by Zatlers.
A cross from Bigelow lands.
Bigelow throws a series of punches but Zatlers avoids them all with ease.
Sloppy strikes from Bigelow. Those never looked like landing.

Zatlers shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Zatlers was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Bigelow is trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zatlers controls the position.
Zatlers will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
A control attempt from Bigelow but he's now mounted!
Zatlers dominating with strikes here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Ben Bigelow will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Nice takedown defense from Bigelow. No joy for Zatlers on that attempt.
Zatlers misses with a body shot.
Bigelow leaves Zatlers with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
A clash of legs there as Zatlers blocks the low kick.
Bigelow looks to land a combination but Zatlers avoids it well.
No joy there for Bigelow, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Zatlers takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Bigelow closes the distance and lands a one-two.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Bigelow moves into range and clinches up with Zatlers.

Zatlers breaks from the clinch.
Bigelow avoids the head kick by Zatlers.
Zatlers slips a jab and a cross from Bigelow.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bigelow misses with the combination.
Zatlers dives in for a single leg takedown but Bigelow sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Valdis Zatlers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bigelow will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Nice sprawl there from Bigelow as Zatlers shoots in.
Zatlers fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bigelow fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Zatlers checks it well.

Bigelow moves into the clinch.
Bigelow is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Zatlers to keep the fight standing.

Zatlers breaks the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zatlers closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Zatlers takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Bigelow tries to get to full guard but Zatlers has control of the leg.
Still in half guard, Zatlers seems content to control.
Zatlers works his way into full mount!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zatlers cracks Bigelow with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zatlers controlling from mount.
Bigelow is trying to escape the mount.
Bigelow taking shots to the head.
Bigelow really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zatlers. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Zatlers throws some shoulder strikes here and then postures up. Oh, he's gone for an armbar! Bigelow has his hands clasped together but Zatlers breaks the hold and Bigelow is forced to tap! This one is aaaaaaaaaaall over! That was lightning fast by Zatlers!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Valdis Zatlers!