PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dog Hercules (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Robert Banner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Hercules
vs
Banner

210 cm
22
300 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

225 cm
24
300 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dog Hercules!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Robert Banner!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Daniel Cesar and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hercules tries to close the distance and clinch but Banner swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Banner fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Banner misses with a jab, cross combination.
Robert Banner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Banner looks to land a combination but Hercules avoids it well.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hercules looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Banner fails to land with a series of punches.
Banner defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Hercules.
Hercules shoots in and drives through. Banner sprawls well.
Hercules keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Banner.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hercules has Banner up against the cage in a clinch.
Hercules throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Hercules is stalling here.
Hercules lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Robert Banner has been cut.
Hercules just leaning against Banner, taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banner has had enough of the clinch but Hercules keeps him there for the moment.
A nice right hand lands inside from Hercules.
Banner is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Hercules presses Banner against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Hercules connects with a nasty looking knee right to Banner's face.
Hercules is working for takedown but Banner is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dog Hercules. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hercules drops down looking for an ankle pick but Banner pulls his leg out and moves away.
Banner thows a left - swing and a miss!

Hercules bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Hercules controls the position.
Banner gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Banner really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Hercules. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Hercules prevents Banner from getting the reversal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hercules with good strikes from the mount here!
The referee warns Banner that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
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!
Hercules controlling the pace for now.
Hercules throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Hercules takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Banner wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Hercules.
Banner squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hercules prevents Banner from getting the reversal.
Hercules avoids the attempt from Banner to control.
Hercules controlling from the full mount.
Hercules trying to control but Banner is having none of it.
Hercules lands a big shot there that rocks Banner but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hercules tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Banner is working to get back to half guard.
Hercules controlling his opponent.
Banner bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Hercules looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dog Hercules dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Robert Banner's cut.
That's time! Hercules's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Banner misses with a two punch combination.
Banner waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Hercules.
Hercules shoots for a takedown but Banner saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Hercules slips under a jab.

Hercules drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Hercules wants to control from the top but Banner keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hercules pushes down on Banner's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Hercules is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Dog Hercules.
Banner misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banner rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Hercules moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Hercules wants to clinch up but Banner keeps it at a distance.

Hercules pushes Banner up against the cage in a clinch.
Hercules manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Banner throws a punch but it's blocked by Hercules.
A frustrated look appears on Banner's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Hercules prevents Banner from breaking the clinch.
Hercules lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Hercules connects with a nasty looking knee right to Banner's face.
Hercules dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Hercules lands a knee to the head.
Banner is looking to break free of the clinch but Hercules has double underhooks.
Hercules has Banner pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Banner manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hercules unloads a knee to the mid-section. Banner lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Hercules misses with a knee to the head.
Hercules landing knees to the head.

That has opened up Robert Banner's cut even more.
Hercules controlling the action here for a moment.
Hercules lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Banner or not.
Banner looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Banner wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Hercules holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Banner stops a takedown attempt from Hercules.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dog Hercules. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hercules lands with a left to the head.
Hercules connects with a nasty looking knee right to Banner's face.
Banner is trying to break the clinch but Hercules is controlling him.
Hercules leaning against his opponent.
Banner is trying to force a seperation but Hercules has the dominant position.

Hercules gets a trip takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hercules working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Hercules with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Banner wants to get back to his feet.

Banner looking for submissions off his back.
Banner is breathing heavily.
Hercules slows the pace down in half guard.
Hercules thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Banner's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Hercules is keen to just control but Banner is a slippery customer.
Hercules content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Hercules is thwarting Banner's attempts to control the position.
Hercules passes the guard and advances to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dog Hercules dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Robert Banner's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Banner throws a nice looking combination but Hercules bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Hercules shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Banner keeping full guard, as Hercules tries to pass.
Hercules trying to control but Banner is working from the bottom.
Hercules trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Banner looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hercules trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banner can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Hercules controls the pace.

Banner is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Hercules lands a body shot.
Banner takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hercules holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Banner jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Hercules walks away with a smile on his face. Banner gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Hercules shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Banner manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Banner looking to control.
Hercules looking to pass the guard.
Hercules showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Dog Hercules overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Banner trying to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hercules is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Banner controls Hercules momentarily but Hercules frees himself.
Banner keeping moving, preventing Hercules from controlling successfully.
Hercules prevents Banner from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hercules avoids the body shot from Banner.
Banner is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Banner misses with a body shot.
Banner throws a series of punches but Hercules avoids them all with ease.
Dog Hercules is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Banner scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Hercules tries to clinch but Banner moves out of range.
Hercules wants to clinch.
Banner throws a right and a left that Hercules avoids nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Hercules scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Hercules is working for a submission of some sort.
Still in half guard, Hercules seems content to control.
Robert Banner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hercules passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Banner!
Hercules sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

And that's the end of the fight!
Dog Hercules showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Hercules, 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dog Hercules!