PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Barney Phife (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Martin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Phife kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Fernandinho - Mais Alto. Michael Martin has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Barney Phife's chin.

Phife
vs
Martin

189 cm
22
215 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

196 cm
20
217 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Good low kicks
Powerful

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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Barney Phife!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Michael Martin!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, John Kavanagh and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Martin misses with a head kick.
Michael Martin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Phife throws a right and a left that Martin avoids nicely.
Martin tries a head kick but it misses.
Phife defending well as Martin loads up on a big left hand.
Martin misses with a head kick.
Phife shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Martin but Martin pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Phife slips a jab and a cross from Martin.
Phife lands with an overhand left.
Phife fails with a takedown attempt.
Martin falls off balance throwing a combination

and Phife counters with a nice double leg into side control. Martin won't be happy with that.
Martin looks to move to half guard but instead Phife has passed into mount! Damn!
Martin really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Martin in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Phife connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Phife putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Phife sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Martin is trying desperately to improve position.
Phife fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
A nice elbow there by Phife.
Phife landing strikes, looking to finish!
Martin is wriggling around trying to escape.
Phife tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Phife dominating with strikes here.
Phife controlling from the full mount.
Phife cracks Martin with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Phife looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Phife controlling from the full mount.
Martin tries to lock up and control but Phife gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Martin in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Phife scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Martin?
Phife dominating with strikes here.
Martin really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Phife lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Phife lands a big elbow.
Phife has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Martin's face.
Martin tries to hold on but Phife postures up.
Martin bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Phife trying to control the position.
Phife looking to hit a scissor sweep but Martin is one step ahead there.
Martin stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Phife swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Phife lands a decent punch to the body there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Phife doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Phife preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Martin throws a strike but Phife rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Phife controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Martin throws a left and a right that both miss
and Phife makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Phife dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Martin throws a sloppy head kick

and Phife counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Martin looks gassed!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Phife trying to control the position from guard on top but Martin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Martin being controlled here, momentarily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Phife trying to control the position from guard on top but Martin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barney Phife dominated that round.
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.

A combination from Martin does no damage.

Phife darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Martin is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Nice strikes from Phife there.
Martin taking some punishment here, with Phife in his half guard.
Martin throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Phife in particular looking to stall.
Phife has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Martin trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Phife sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Martin defending well though.
Phife looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Barney Phife overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Martin moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Phife trying to control but Martin is working from the bottom.
Phife scoring with some ground and pound.
Martin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Phife's guard.
Phife keeping moving, preventing Martin from controlling successfully.
Phife seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Martin must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Barney Phife just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Martin misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Martin.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Phife.
Phife is working Martin over with some ground and pound from side control.
Phife creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Martin can't do much from the bottom here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A lull in the action here.
Martin is looking for a sweep.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Phife lands a few punches from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Phife wants to lay and pray for a moment but Martin keeps working.
Phife 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Phife landing a few strikes.
Martin is trying to get back to half guard.
Phife lands an elbow.
Phife is looking to take a break and control but Martin is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Phife working away.
Phife working the head and body with strikes.
A lull in the action here.
Phife cracks Martin with a big right hand but Martin just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
A lull in the action here.
Phife working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Phife landing a few strikes.
Martin is looking for a sweep.
Phife postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Phife working away.
Phife in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
You can see the frustration on Martin's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Phife tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Phife has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Phife passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Martin!
Martin manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Phife wants to control but Martin is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barney Phife dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Phife misses with a takedown attempt - Martin sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Phife throws a combination. Martin tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Phife cracks Martin with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Phife avoids the head kick by Martin.
Martin throws a big shot that misses.
Martin misses with a double jab

and Phife counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Phife connects with a nice short shot to Martin's temple.
Martin is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Phife's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Phife's back!
Martin controlling well, preventing Phife from escaping the position.
Martin doesn't have the hooks in and Phife manages to turn into his guard.
Martin wants to sweep but no luck.
Martin keeping moving, preventing Phife from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martin is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Phife controlling from the top position.
Phife advances to half guard.
Phife throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Martin is pressing down on Phife's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Phife passes Martin's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Phife is looking to take a break and control but Martin is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Phife is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Martin can do to turn this around?
Martin is trying to get back to full guard.
Martin missing with punches from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Phife takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Martin is looking for a sweep. Phife is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Martin is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Martin takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Phife keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Martin has hold of Phife's hands but Phife slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Martin wants to get back to full guard.
Phife thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Martin is trying to get back to full guard.
Phife tries to pass the half guard into mount. Martin knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Phife has a takedown stuffed.
Phife swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martin throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Phife.
Phife showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Martin.
Barney Phife is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Martin falls off balance throwing a combination

and Phife counters with a shoot takedown. Martin fights it but they end up in guard.
Phife wants to pass the guard but Martin is keeping the position.
Martin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Phife is one step ahead there.
Martin looking to control.
Phife in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Martin looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Phife accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Martin looking to control.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Martin misses with a combination
and Phife counters with a lovely shot to the body.

Phife looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Martin!
Martin is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Phife scoring with strikes but Martin is staying in there.
Phife with a couple of short strikes.
Phife takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Phife cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Michael Martin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Barney Phife is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Martin tries to reverse the position but Phife maintains control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Barney Phife showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Phife has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Barney Phife!