PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Kurt King (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring eachother down here, as Eric Houston enters the cage!

King
vs
Houston

180 cm
22
165 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
22
155 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Kurt King!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Eric Houston!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Sam Margolis and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
King jabs Houston right on the nose. Houston blinks but takes it well.
Houston fails with the takedown.
King lands a really nice looking cross but Houston seems unphased.
King lands a slapping body shot.

Houston closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
King tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Houston wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
King is working hard here to advance position.
Houston landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Houston tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
You can see the frustration on King's face as Houston controls the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Houston throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Houston working the ground and pound but King is defending the strikes.
King gets back to half guard.
King is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's one minute gone in the round.

King looking for submissions off his back.
King wants to get back to full guard.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Houston feints and as King raises his hands in defense, Houston changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
King looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Houston looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
King utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Houston trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
King trying to strike off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Houston lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Houston forces his way into half guard.
King is looking for a sweep. Houston is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
King manages to get to full guard.

King has an active guard here but Houston has managed to pass into half guard.

Houston stands up out of the half guard.
Houston takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
King swinging wilding here.
King ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Houston takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Kurt King seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
King fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Nice uppercut there from King.
King dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
King lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Houston backs up against the cage.
King punishes Houston's body with a nice straight punch.
King ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
King jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Houston takes one to the side of the head.
Houston uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by King.
King lands a with a good body shot.
A shot to de liver by King. Beautiful body shot.
King lands with a shot to the body.
King throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Houston shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has King pinned against the cage. King gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Houston.
Houston looks gassed!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
King is trying to improve his position.
Houston lands an elbow.
Houston really doesn't want to stay on the ground with King. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
King is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Houston is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Houston tries to control but King wriggling away.
Houston working the ground and pound effectively.
Houston landing strikes from the mount and King is in trouble!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Houston dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

King scores with a body shot.
A jab from King does it's job there.

Houston has taken the fight to the clinch.

Houston manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Houston had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. King is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Houston Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take King's back instead.
King trying to get back to his feet but Houston is in full control for now.
Houston doesn't have the hooks in and King manages to turn into his guard.
King stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Houston swivels though and keeps the full guard.

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

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Houston takes a shot right to the bread basket.

King tries to keep at a distance but Houston has taken the fight into the clinch.
Houston prevents King from breaking the clinch.
King has had enough of the clinch but Houston keeps him there for the moment.
King tries to break the clinch but Houston is controlling the position.

Houston gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Houston is breathing heavily.
Houston throwing shots but King is blocking nicely.

King actively working from the bottom here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

King is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Houston pulls his head out easily.
King is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Houston drops an elbow to the side of King's head.
The fighters are battling for position here. King manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Houston avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

King looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Houston's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
King 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.

Houston stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Houston drives through with a takedown into guard.
Houston scoring with some ground and pound.

Houston drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Houston jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Houston wants to control from the top but King keeps moving.
King wants to sweep but no luck.
Houston must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

King looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

King throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Houston wants to control from the top but King keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Houston forces his way into half guard.
King moves into full guard.
King wants to get back to his feet but Houston is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Houston trying to control the position from guard on top but King is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Houston working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
King looking for a sweep. Not yet King, not yet.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now King is on top in guard.
King wants to stand but Houston is controlling his posture from full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Houston showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

King ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Houston gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
King scores with a body shot.
King stuffs the takedown attempt from Houston. Houston gets slowly back to his feet.
King lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
King digs a good body shot into Houston's ribs.
Nice body punch from King.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King scores with a sloppy right hand. Houston should have avoided that one.
King ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
King is looking to wear down Houston with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
King scores with a decent looking hook.
King changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Houston takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
King connects with a good right hand that stumbles Houston. Houston circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
King works Houston's body with a nice hook.
Jab from King.
Houston takes a jab right on the kisser.
King scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
The fighters circle momentarily. King darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
King lands a jab to Houston's midsection.
King lands a nice hook to Houston's body. Houston takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
King lands a jab to Houston's midsection.
King lands with a hook. Houston tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
King cracks a nice hook into Houston's ribs.
King ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
King stalks Houston and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Houston's face. Houston staggers backwards, shaken.
Nice shot lands for King.
Houston on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Houston takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
King wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Houston on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
King ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
King comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
King lands with a shot to the body.
King scores with a punch to the head.
Houston misses with a jab to the body
and King makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
King dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
King lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
King slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Houston has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Decent striking displayed by King there.

Houston drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
King is looking to reverse the position.
King taking punishment in the form of punches.

Houston tries for a kimura but King is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King regains half guard.
King makes his way to full guard. A much better position for King.

King looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
King manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Houston manages to get himself to full guard.
King would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Houston bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in King's guard.
King wants to sweep but no luck.

King has his foot on Houston's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Houston works his way back into a safe position though.
Kurt King has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Houston lands a couple of decent looking shots.
King wants to sweep but no luck.
Houston scoring with punches to the head and body.

Houston avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Houston wants to control from the top but King keeps moving.
King looking for a sweep. Not yet King, not yet.
Houston trying to control the position from guard on top but King is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

King is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Eric Houston is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
King looking to hit a scissor sweep but Houston is one step ahead there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kurt King showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Houston has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 James Glass scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eric Houston!