PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Earl Hickey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brondan Vera (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hickey comes to the ring accompanied by I Get Mad. Vera is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Bebot. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hickey
vs
Vera

190 cm
24
201 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

185 cm
24
210 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Decent elbows
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

[CBK] AJFC Smashwear clothing
[CBK] AJFC Smashwear clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Earl Hickey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Brondan Vera!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Ren Mimura and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Some bone on bone action there as Vera checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Hickey connects with a crisp jab.
Hickey shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Vera pinned against the cage. Vera gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Hickey shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Vera pushes Hickey off and gets back to his feet.
Hickey connects with a good right hand that stumbles Vera. Vera circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Vera checks the leg kick.
Hickey looks to land a combination but Vera avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hickey tries to clinch up.
Hickey smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Hickey shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Vera sprawls well. Vera wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Hickey gets slowly back to his feet.

Hickey closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Vera looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Hickey stops Vera from getting back to his feet.
Hickey not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Vera keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hickey thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Vera's head.
Vera wants to get back to his feet.
Vera gets back to full guard.
Vera preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hickey prevents Vera from getting back to his feet.
Hickey trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Vera wants to stand and escape but Hickey is having none of it.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Hickey working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Vera wants to get back to his feet but Hickey is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Hickey in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hickey pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Vera is keeping the position for now.

Vera pushes Hickey off and gets back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hickey is looking to clinch but Vera is avoiding it.
Good exchange - Hickey coming out on top.
Hickey motions for Vera to come forward. Hickey throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Hickey slips a jab and a cross from Vera.
Hickey shoots in for a takedown but Vera shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Earl Hickey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hickey thows a body shot but no joy.
Hickey fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Hickey fails to land with a series of punches.
Hickey misses with a low kick.
Hickey scores with the left hand. Vera knows he should have avoided that one.
Hickey throws a left and a right that both miss
and Vera makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Hickey really felt that one!
Hickey throws a left and a right that both miss
and Vera counters with a nice body kick.
Hickey throws a leg kick
and Vera counters with a nice body kick.
Hickey looks to clinch
and Vera counters with a body kick that stops Hickey in his tracks momentarily.
Hickey shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Vera defends it nicely.
Earl Hickey seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Hickey throws a jab but it's blocked by Vera.

Vera rushes Hickey and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Hickey is trying to break the clinch but Vera is controlling him.

Vera breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
A low kick from Hickey is predictable there

and Vera counters with a nice double leg into side control. Hickey won't be happy with that.
Vera has control of an arm but Hickey manages to advance to Vera's back!
Vera is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
Vera turns into Hickey and is now in his guard.
Vera pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hickey is keeping the position for now.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Vera slips nicely into half guard.
Vera is thwarting Hickey's attempts to control the position.
Vera wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hickey keeps working.
Vera passes the guard and advances to mount!
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Vera get's back to his feet.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Hickey tries to clinch up but Vera circles away and keeps his distance.
Hickey throws a leg kick that is checked

and Vera counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Vera is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Vera trying to mount his opponent but Hickey defends it.
Hickey wants to control but Vera is keeping busy.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.

Vera is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Hickey keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Vera tries to pass the half guard into mount. Hickey knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Vera is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Vera is looking to advance position but Hickey won't allow it.

Vera is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Hickey is controlling Vera's trapped leg to prevent Vera from advancing to side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brondan Vera dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Vera will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hickey dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hickey lands a jab-cross combination.
Hickey wants to clinch but Vera slips to the side

and Vera counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Vera.
A frustrated look appears on Hickey's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Vera landing knees to the body.

Vera breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vera misses with a combination

and Hickey counters with a nice double leg into side control. Vera won't be happy with that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vera is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the ropes but Hickey has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Vera defending against the ground and pound.
Hickey throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Hickey wants to lay and pray for a moment but Vera keeps working.
Vera is pushing Hickey's head away, looking to escape. Hickey manages to hold on to the position though.
Brondan Vera has got the better of the ground game so far.
Hickey working the ground and pound but Vera is defending the strikes.
Hickey working the strikes but Vera uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Hickey is just content to waste time from the top position. Vera takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Vera is on top in guard.
Vera stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hickey swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Hickey holds on and takes a little breather.
Hickey keeping full guard, as Vera tries to pass.
Hickey is pulling down on Vera's head. It's preventing any offense from Vera, at least for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Earl Hickey wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Vera misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A combination from Hickey does no damage.
A low kick from Hickey misses
and Vera counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hickey is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Vera ducks under a wild hook from Hickey.
Nice sprawl there from Vera as Hickey shoots in.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hickey. Vera does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vera takes one to the side of the head.

That's four 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.
Vera throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Hickey stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Earl Hickey is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Vera gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Vera pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Hickey misses with a combination
and Vera counters with a head kick. That will keep Hickey thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Vera tries to clinch there but Hickey circles away.
Hickey throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Vera counters with a head kick.
Vera throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Hickey.
Hickey dodges the punch combination from Vera.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Hickey changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Vera tries to avoid it but Hickey manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Vera to the ground. Vera escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Vera stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Earl Hickey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hickey clinches but Vera breaks the clinch
and Vera counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Hickey throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Vera counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Hickey is trying to break the clinch but Vera is controlling him.

Vera breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
No joy there for Hickey, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Hickey throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Vera's waist but Vera gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Hickey off to one side.
Hickey throws a left and a right that both miss
and Vera counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hickey is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Hickey misses with a leg kick

and Vera moves into the clinch.

Vera breaks the clinch.
Hickey shoots for a double leg takedown but Vera sprawls well. He's pushed Hickey's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Vera misses with a series of wild punches.
Hickey fails with a takedown attempt.
Hickey fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Hickey throws a series of strikes that have Vera backpedaling.
Vera is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Hickey.
Vera explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Hickey is defended easily by Vera.
Hickey misses with a wild body shot.
No joy there for Hickey, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Hickey swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Nice defenses there by Vera.
Vera is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A slapping body kick lands there for Vera.
A low kick from Hickey misses
and Vera counters with a series of strikes. Hickey will be more careful next time no doubt.
Hickey tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Vera counters with a solid body kick.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Hickey has a takedown stuffed.
Vera with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Hickey throws a right and a left that Vera avoids nicely.
Vera is looking to clinch.
Hickey misses with a jab to the body
and Vera finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Hickey shoots in for a takedown but Vera shows good takedown defense.
Hickey misses with a combination
and Vera counters with a flying knee. Nice.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brondan Vera comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Vera has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.

Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight for Brondan Vera!
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight for Brondan Vera!
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight for Brondan Vera!

Brondan Vera wins by unanimous decision!