PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Josh Matson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Trent Lawrence (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Trent Lawrence was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Matson
vs
Lawrence

190 cm
20
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
19
205 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Josh Matson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Trent Lawrence!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Summer Carpenter and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Matson gets a clinch.

Lawrence has picked Matson up - he's going for a ride! Lawrence dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Matson tries to get to full guard but Lawrence has control of the leg.
Lawrence lands with a punch from half guard.
Lawrence not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Matson wants to get back to full guard.
Lawrence not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Matson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Lawrence on the ground.
Matson has hold of Lawrence's hands but Lawrence slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Lawrence has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Lawrence fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawrence landing strikes, looking to finish!
Lawrence scoring with strikes but Matson is staying in there.
Matson on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Matson tries to get out of the position.
Matson wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Lawrence.
Lawrence trying to control but Matson is having none of it.
Lawrence looking to finish Matson with some ground and pound. This is bad for Matson!
Lawrence putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Lawrence throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matson is squirming around, avoiding Lawrence's attempts to control the action.
Lawrence pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lawrence with a couple of short strikes.
Lawrence misses with a head shot.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Lawrence cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Lawrence unloads with some shots from mount but Matson bucks and avoids them well.
Matson is breathing heavily.
Matson takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Lawrence with the ground and pound from mount.
Lawrence controlling the pace for now.
Matson wants to control but Lawrence is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lawrence working Matson over with strikes here.
Lawrence tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Lawrence with a couple of short strikes.
Lawrence tries to control but Matson wriggling away.
Lawrence in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lawrence breaks from Matson's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Lawrence wants to control the pace but Matson is squirming around nicely.
Matson is in a horrible position here. Lawrence smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Lawrence dominating with strikes here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Lawrence in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Lawrence lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Lawrence looking to control but Matson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Lawrence postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Matson looks a forlorn figure.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Trent Lawrence dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Lawrence fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Matson throws a right and a left that both miss.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Lawrence.
Lawrence looks to land a combination but Matson avoids it well.
Lawrence shoots in but Matson avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Josh Matson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Trent Lawrence.
Lawrence tries to clinch
and Matson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Matson lands a nice looking body shot.
Matson swinging wilding here.
Matson misses with a double jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lawrence is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Lawrence tries to clinch there but Matson circles away.
Lawrence looks for a takedown but Matson sprawls well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Matson with a nice cross.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawrence closes the distance and clinches up with Matson, looking for a takedown. Lawrence pushes Matson against the cage but Matson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Lawrence lands with a nice body kick.
Lawrence shoots for a takedown but Matson saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Lawrence shoots in but no luck this time.
Lawrence looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Matson is fending him off so far but Lawrence persists. Nope, Matson circles away and we're back to standing.
Lawrence checks a leg kick nicely.
Lawrence fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Matson is out of range.
Lawrence with a lazy takedown attempt
enabling Matson to counter with a crisp jab.
Matson throws a series of punches but Lawrence avoids them all with ease.
Matson shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.

Lawrence shoots in and bounces Matson off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Lawrence passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Lawrence.
Lawrence cracks Matson with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Lawrence lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Matson down.
Lawrence scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Matson to see if he's OK.

Lawrence has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Lawrence shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Matson as he jumps to the side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lawrence shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Matson pinned against the cage. Matson gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Lawrence shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Matson counters with a one-two to the body.
Lawrence shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Matson as he jumps to the side.
Lawrence doesn't manage to clinch there - Matson circles away.
A nice combination there by Matson.
Josh Matson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lawrence misses with a takedown attempt
enabling Matson to counter with a crisp jab.
Matson looks for the body kick but Lawrence saw that one coming.
Matson throws a right and a left that Lawrence avoids nicely.
Lawrence throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Matson's waist but Matson gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Lawrence off to one side.
Matson swats away the attempt to clinch by Lawrence.
Matson connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Lawrence throws a looping overhand right but Matson ducks down to avoid it.
Matson misses with a double jab

and Lawrence holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Lawrence looking for a takedown.
Matson is trying to break the clinch but Lawrence has him pressed against the cage.

Lawrence tightens his grip and picks Matson up, before dumping him to the ground. Matson manages to land in guard.
Lawrence slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Lawrence wants to control from the top but Matson keeps moving.
Lawrence working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Trent Lawrence showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Lawrence shoots in for a double leg but Matson sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Matson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Lawrence shoots for a takedown but Matson saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Matson throws a nice looking combination but Lawrence bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Matson with a hook.
Lawrence shoots in for a takedown but Matson shows good takedown defense.
Josh Matson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Trent Lawrence.
Matson works over Lawrence's head and body with a nice combination.
Matson misses with a leg kick

and Lawrence counters by moving into the clinch.
Matson can't break the clinch.

Matson pulls Lawrence into guard.
Matson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lawrence accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Lawrence postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawrence working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Lawrence distracts Matson with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lawrence scoring with some ground and pound.
Matson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Lawrence trying to control the position from guard on top but Matson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Lawrence is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Matson looking to control.
Lawrence has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Matson looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lawrence is one step ahead there.

Lawrence stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Matson.

Lawrence closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Lawrence looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Matson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Trent Lawrence has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lawrence thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lawrence seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Lawrence escapes and gets back to his feet.
Lawrence swats away the attempt to clinch by Matson.
Lawrence looks for a takedown but Matson sprawls well.
Matson avoids the head kick by Lawrence.
Lawrence shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Matson pinned against the cage. Matson gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Trent Lawrence is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
No luck for Lawrence with that takedown attempt.
Lawrence has a takedown stuffed.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Matson misses.
Lawrence shoots in but no luck this time.
Matson scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Lawrence tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Matson swivels and escapes.
Lawrence closes the distance and clinches up with Matson, looking for a takedown. Lawrence pushes Matson against the cage but Matson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Lawrence takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

Lawrence pushes Matson up against the cage in a clinch.
Matson is trying to break free.
Lawrence is trying to drag Matson to the mat but Matson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Matson trying to stall but Lawrence improves his position.
Lawrence is trying to drag Matson to the mat but Matson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Matson pressing his opponent against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Trent Lawrence comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Lawrence 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 26:30
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 26:30
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Trent Lawrence!