PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wu Tseng Yan (ranked 24474 p4p, 24805 weight class) and Pacho Herrera (ranked 707 p4p, 688 weight class). Pacho Herrera has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Yan
vs
Herrera

205 cm
20
204
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
26
206
1 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Good in bed

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Wu Tseng Yan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Pacho Herrera!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Ben Zyskovitsi and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Herrera rushes Yan and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Yan has Herrera pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Yan pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Herrera tumbling to the mat - Yan dives into Herrera's guard.
Yan postures up.
Herrera doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Herrera is trying to keep Yan in close.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Yan postures up in Herrera's guard and throws a big left but Herrera blocks it.
Herrera is trying to control the position but Yan postures up.
Herrera avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Yan is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yan throwing strikes from guard but Herrera blocks nicely.
Herrera trying to keep a closed guard but Yan is proving a slippery customer.
Yan seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herrera is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

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

Herrera closes the distance and clinches.
Yan drops down looking for an ankle pick but Herrera pulls his leg out and moves away.
Herrera shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Yan as he avoids it easily.

Herrera instigates a clinch.
Yan prevents a takedown attempt there.
Herrera is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Herrera gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Yan.

Yan turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Yan manages to end up in side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee asks Yan politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Yan prefers to stall for the moment though.
Herrera can't do much from the bottom here.
Herrera is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Yan landing a few strikes.
Yan takes a little break here. Herrera wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Herrera tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Yan wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yan scores with a couple of short elbows.
Herrera struggling a bit here.
Sloppy strikes there by Yan.
Herrera is letting Yan control him for a moment.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Herrera can do anything to dispel that myth.
Herrera taking punishment in the form of punches.
Yan looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Yan postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Yan working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Herrera is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Herrera is being controlled here.

Yan looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Yan is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Herrera knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Yan moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Yan working the ground and pound but Herrera is defending the strikes.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Wu Tseng Yan dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Herrera moves into the clinch.
Yan drops down looking for an ankle pick but Herrera pulls his leg out and moves away.
A head kick misses from Herrera.
Herrera pivots, looking for a leg kick but Yan is out of range and Herrera settles back down.

Herrera clinches up against the cage.
Yan wants a takedown but no success here.
Yan is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wu Tseng Yan. That's going to take a lot out of him.

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

Yan drives through with a takedown into guard.
Yan throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Herrera works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Herrera controls Yan momentarily but Yan frees himself.
Yan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Herrera can do to turn this around?
Yan stopping the sweep attempt from Herrera.
Herrera is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Yan is controlling him.
Yan stays in close to Herrera's body and controls the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yan lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Yan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Yan with a flurry of punches that miss.
Yan throws a big elbow that misses.
Yan stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Herrera swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Yan missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Yan looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Wu Tseng Yan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Herrera is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Yan really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's two 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.
Herrera is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Pacho Herrera seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Yan fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Herrera to the ground. Yan is now in Herrera's guard.
Yan missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Yan throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Yan throws a big right hand that misses.
Yan throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Yan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Yan passes Herrera's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Yan looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Yan has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yan looking to control and managing it successfully.
Herrera is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Herrera is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Yan content just to control the position here.
Yan avoids the attempt from Herrera to control.

Yan working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Yan is landing with some decent strikes but Herrera is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Herrera is working to get back to half guard.
Yan connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Yan lands a big elbow.
Yan unloading with bombs!
Yan looking to ground and pound but Herrera is blocking nicely.
Herrera wants to hold on but Yan pushes him away.
Herrera avoids a series of strikes thrown by Yan.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Yan working the ground and pound effectively.
Yan breaks from Herrera's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Yan controlling from mount.
Yan throwing strikes here but Herrera is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Wu Tseng Yan dominated that second round.
That's time! Yan's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Yan looking to score a takedown here. Herrera is defending well but Yan drives through and ends up in Herrera's guard.
Yan lands a couple of elbows.

Yan avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Yan slips nicely into half guard.
Yan seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Herrera trying to control here.
Herrera flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yan prevents Herrera from standing back up.
Yan performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Yan thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Herrera's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yan looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Yan wants to free his trapped foot but Herrera is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Yan is nestled in close to Herrera, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Yan not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Still in half guard, Yan seems content to control.
Yan missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Yan missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Herrera pushes Yan off looking to stand but Yan dives back in and keeps control.
Yan has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Yan misses with a head shot.
Yan controlling from mount.
Yan putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Herrera slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Yan is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Herrera takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Yan has control of Herrera's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Herrera regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Yan content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yan lands with some strikes.
Yan lands with some strikes.
Yan landing strikes, looking to finish!
Yan pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Yan jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Herrera manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Yan grinds an elbow into Herrera's temple.
Yan happy to just control the position for now.
Yan working the ground and pound but Herrera is defending the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yan prevents Herrera from escaping the position.
Herrera defending against the ground and pound.
Yan misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Yan taking a breather here.

Yan is trying to get an arm triangle but Herrera is defending well.
Yan 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.
Herrera is looking to reverse the position.
Wu Tseng Yan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Yan misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Pacho Herrera has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Herrera wings away with a couple of strikes but they don't land.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wu Tseng Yan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Yan, 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wu Tseng Yan!