PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Lou Gotch (ranked 1064 p4p, 800 weight class) and Koos Van Asch (ranked 60 p4p, 43 weight class). Koos Van Asch will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Gotch
vs
Van Asch

165 cm
27
145
11 - 2 - 0

167 cm
27
143
11 - 6 - 1

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Heavy handed

Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Lou Gotch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 1, fighting out of New York, Koos Van Asch!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Phil Schofield and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gotch tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Van Asch swivels and escapes.
Gotch is looking to clinch but Van Asch is avoiding it.
Nice body punch from Van Asch.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Gotch is defended easily by Van Asch.
Van Asch works the jab nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Asch connects with a good right hand that stumbles Gotch. Gotch circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Gotch shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Van Asch as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lou Gotch. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gotch moves away from the strike by Van Asch.
A big right from Van Asch misses.
Van Asch punishes Gotch's body with a nice straight punch.
Gotch has a takedown stuffed.
Van Asch is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Gotch with a body shot.
Gotch fails to land the takedown.
Van Asch tests Gotch's chin there with a solid looking shot.

Gotch fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Van Asch to the ground. Gotch is now in Van Asch's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gotch trying to control but Van Asch is working from the bottom.
Van Asch has control of Gotch's left arm, preventing Gotch from doing any damage.
Gotch pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Van Asch is keeping the position for now.
Gotch is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gotch trying to control but Van Asch is working from the bottom.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Van Asch being controlled here, momentarily.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A low kick lands for Van Asch.
Nice jab there from Van Asch.
Decent striking displayed by Van Asch there.
Van Asch waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Gotch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gotch scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Gotch passes to full mount!
Van Asch is trying to escape the mount.
Gotch wants to control but Van Asch has made it back to half guard. Nice work.
Gotch is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Van Asch!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Gotch looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

Gotch jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Van Asch manages to avoid the submission attempt.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Van Asch throws a solid leg kick but Gotch takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Van Asch.
Van Asch looks to land a left hand but Gotch moved out of range nicely.
Gotch with a poor takedown
and Van Asch connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Nice uppercut there from Van Asch.
Gotch will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Gotch dives in and scores a takedown into Van Asch's guard.
Van Asch seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Gotch is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Asch not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Van Asch holds on and takes a little breather.
Gotch wants to control from the top but Van Asch keeps moving.
Lou Gotch overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gotch drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Gotch jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Gotch trying to control the position from guard on top but Van Asch is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Van Asch with a jab.

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.
Gotch changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Van Asch tries to avoid it but Gotch manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Van Asch to the ground. Van Asch escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lou Gotch. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gotch takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Lou Gotch is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Van Asch misses with a looping right.
Van Asch tried to score with a low kick but Gotch checks it.
Van Asch throws a body punch but Gotch moves out of range.
Van Asch looks to land a left hand but Gotch moved out of range nicely.
Koos Van Asch seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gotch dives in and grabs Van Asch's left leg, looking for a takedown. Van Asch pushes down on Gotch's head and hops out.
A solid leg kick lands there for Van Asch.
Van Asch swings for the body but Gotch moves out of range.
Van Asch swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Asch scores with the left hand. Gotch knows he should have avoided that one.
Gotch looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Van Asch is fending him off so far but Gotch persists. Nope, Van Asch circles away and we're back to standing.
Van Asch has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Gotch keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Van Asch.
Van Asch misses with an uppercut. Gotch saw that one coming.
Van Asch feints and then cracks Gotch's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Gotch down.
Van Asch fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Gotch looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Gotch checks a low kick from Van Asch.
Gotch shoots in looking for a takedown but Van Asch manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gotch's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Van Asch flicks out a counter leg kick but Gotch steps away.
Koos Van Asch is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Van Asch throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

so Gotch counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Gotch wants to pass the guard but Van Asch is keeping the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Asch looking for a sweep. Not yet Van Asch, not yet.
Gotch controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Van Asch keeping moving, preventing Gotch from controlling successfully.
Van Asch wants to sweep but no luck.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Gotch drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Gotch jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Van Asch can't keep his opponent in guard - Gotch advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Koos Van Asch 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. This is the final round!

Van Asch lands with a thumping leg kick.
Van Asch just misses with a punch to the body.
Van Asch jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Van Asch lands a nice leg kick that just misses Gotch's sensitive parts.
Gotch shoots in but Van Asch avoids the takedown attempt easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Asch defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Gotch.
Van Asch connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Gotch momentarily.
Van Asch throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
A telegraphed right hand from Van Asch misses the target.
Gotch attempts a counter takedown but Van Asch avoids it well and moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A leg kick checked by Gotch.
Gotch takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.

Gotch is rocked!
Gotch will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Oh Gotch is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lou Gotch. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Van Asch defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Gotch.
Gotch seems to have got his legs back now.
Van Asch misses with a body shot.
Gotch changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Van Asch misses with a hook. Gotch ducked under it nicely.
Van Asch stuffs the takedown.

Gotch scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Van Asch is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gotch advances to mount.
Van Asch wants to control but Gotch is having none of it.
Gotch wants to control the pace but Van Asch is squirming around nicely.
Van Asch regains half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Gotch prevents Van Asch from standing back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gotch is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Van Asch doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Gotch.
Gotch is trying to control. Van Asch wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Gotch prevents Van Asch from improving his position.
Gotch trying to control the action but Van Asch is working from the bottom.
Van Asch is looking to get back to full guard here but Gotch has managed to pass to side control instead.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Van Asch is looking to regain half guard here but Gotch keeps moving and retains side control.

Gotch is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Van Asch knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Koos Van Asch is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Van Asch is looking to regain half guard here but Gotch keeps moving and retains side control.
Lou Gotch has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Who's going to make the next move?

And that's the end of the fight!
Koos Van Asch comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Van Asch 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Koos Van Asch!
Koos Van Asch seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.