PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between James Tyson (ranked 4739 p4p, 4743 weight class) and Eric Grant (ranked 544 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Tyson
vs
Grant

185 cm
18
170
0 - 0 - 0

165 cm
25
175
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, James Tyson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Eric Grant!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Chris Edwards and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Grant tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Tyson was well out of range. Poor timing from Grant.

Tyson forces Grant back against the cage and clinches.
Tyson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Grant is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Tyson goes for a takedown attempt but Grant pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Tyson is defended easily by Grant.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Tyson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Tyson dives in for a single leg takedown but Grant sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Tyson misses with a takedown

and Grant counters by clinching up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tyson lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Grant or not.
Grant avoiding damage.
Tyson trying to stall but Grant improves his position.
Tyson avoiding damage as Grant throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grant is leaning against Tyson and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

Grant's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Tyson throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Grant scoring well with a low kick there.
Grant fails with a takedown attempt.
Tyson is looking to counter the offense by Grant and move into the clinch.

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

Tyson has hold of one of Grant's legs. Grant is fighting the takedown attempt but Tyson gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

Grant has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Tyson off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Grant shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Tyson napping and manages to drive through into side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The strikes coming from Grant are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tyson taking punishment in the form of punches.

Grant wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Tyson, who protects the arm well.

Grant thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Tyson tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Grant wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

Grant has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Grant shoots in and gets a takedown into Tyson's guard.
Tyson is breathing heavily.
Grant controlling from the top position.
Grant lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Grant has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Grant controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

Grant gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Grant scores with a three punch combo!

Tyson shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Grant is trying to defend but Tyson finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Grant makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Grant lands the left hand.
Tyson goes for a double leg but Grant avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Grant continues to drive forward.
Grant lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Tyson circles away quickly and effectively.

Tyson gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Grant's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Grant gets to his feet - Tyson follows without any prompting.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Grant misses with a head kick.

Grant clinches up against the cage.

Grant is trying to trip Tyson. He has hold of a leg but Tyson is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Grant persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Grant trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Tyson looking to control.
Grant content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Grant has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Tyson can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Grant controls the pace.
Eric Grant has got the better of the ground game so far.
Tyson trying to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Grant in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grant sitting in guard, not really doing much.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Tyson closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Grant to the mat! Grant manages to get full guard.

Grant manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Grant fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Tyson to the ground. Grant is now in Tyson's guard.
Grant slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Tyson will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tyson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Grant content to stall in guard here.
Grant stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Tyson swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Grant preventing the sweep.
Grant is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Tyson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grant stopping the sweep attempt from Tyson.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Grant gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Tyson is trying to break free.

Tyson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Tyson stuffs the takedown.

Grant closes the distance and pushes Tyson back into the cage.

Grant breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nice uppercut lands for Grant. That snapped Tyson's head back.
Tyson closes this distance looking for a takedown but Grant circles away.
Tyson displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Grant darts in and clinches Tyson up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Tyson tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Grant is trying to pull guard but Tyson has him pressed against the cage.
Tyson taking a breather.

Grant gets control of Tyson's arms and successfully pulls guard. Grant will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tyson looking to sit in guard and control but Grant gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Grant is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Grant showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Grant manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Tyson on his heels. He'll look to pass Tyson's guard now, I'm sure.
Grant is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Tyson trying to keep a closed guard but Grant is proving a slippery customer.
Tyson is trying to hold Grant in close to prevent damage but Grant has managed to pass into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Grant is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Tyson is looking to control Grant's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Tyson avoid being mounted?
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grant keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Tyson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Grant is taking a breather. Tyson says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Grant's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

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.

Grant wants to work for an arm triangle but Tyson is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Grant sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Let's hope that Grant has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Grant prevents Tyson from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grant sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Grant should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Tyson trying to control from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Tyson throws a head kick that misses.
Tyson shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Grant pinned against the cage. Grant gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Grant clinches up against the cage.

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.
Tyson takes an elbow to the temple.

Grant breaks from the clinch.
Grant fails with the takedown.

Grant moves into the clinch.
Grant tries to pull guard but Tyson won't allow it.
Tyson tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Grant just stands there and leans against the cage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Grant.
Tyson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Grant is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
James Tyson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Eric Grant is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Tyson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Grant stalls.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eric Grant comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Grant has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 William Gold scores the fight for Eric Grant!
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight for Eric Grant!
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight for Eric Grant!

Eric Grant wins by unanimous decision!
Eric Grant made sure to give a little speech post fight, saying 'Thank you for showing me your love and respect the past couple of days. Hard works pays off. Love you all'.