PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Raphael Matthews (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Austin Houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Houston comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Born of a Broken Man kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Matthews
vs
Houston

184 cm
21
193 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

190 cm
28
190 lbs
16 - 10 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Lethal high kicks
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Raphael Matthews!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Austin Houston!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Daniel Franklin and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Houston falls off balance throwing a combination
and Matthews counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Austin Houston seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Houston throws a lazy head kick
letting Matthews counter with a right hand.
Matthews throws a lazy body kick
and Houston counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Houston tries to clinch up but Matthews circles away and keeps his distance.
Houston throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Matthews sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Houston shoots in looking for a takedown but Matthews manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Houston's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Matthews throws an off balance right hand
and Houston counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Matthews scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Houston slips under a jab from Matthews.
Houston swings widly with a right hand
and Matthews counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Matthews walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Houston checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Houston tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Matthews was well out of range. Poor timing from Houston.
Matthews swings widly with a right hand
and Houston connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donk. Matthews catches Houston right on the button with a cross.
Houston misses with a hook
letting Matthews counter with a right hand.
Houston scores with a decent looking hook.
Matthews throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Houston makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Houston looks to land a combination. Matthews sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Houston shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Houston prevents Matthews from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Matthews wants to sweep here but Houston controlling him for the moment.
Houston trying to control the position from guard on top but Matthews is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Matthews looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Houston with a flurry of punches that miss.
Matthews is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Houston trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Matthews can't keep his opponent in guard - Houston advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Houston trying to control the action but Matthews is working from the bottom.

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.
Matthews blocking the ground and pound attempt from Houston.
Houston thows a huge punch but Matthews dodges it nicely.
Houston is looking to take a break and control but Matthews is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Houston is looking to stall here but Matthews recovers full guard.
Houston throws and elbow that misses. Matthews uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Houston's guard. Nice move by Matthews!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Raphael Matthews will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A swing and a miss from Matthews.
Matthews misses with a leg kick
and Houston counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Houston shoots in for a takedown but Matthews shows good takedown defense.
Houston with a poor takedown
and Matthews counters with a big head kick but Houston shrugs it off.
Horrible takedown by Houston or perhaps it was just good defense by Matthews which made him look bad.
Raphael Matthews has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Austin Houston.
Houston swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews feints and then cracks Houston's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Houston down.
Matthews misses with an attempted mid kick.
Matthews lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Houston moves out of range as Matthews throws a body kick.
Matthews throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Matthews throws a lazy head kick
and Houston counters with a low kick, right behind Matthews 's knee.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matthews ducks under a wild hook from Houston.
Houston shoots in looking for a takedown but Matthews manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Houston's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Houston darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Matthews keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Houston seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Matthews does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Matthews is trying to stand.
Houston with the ground and pound but Matthews uses the opportunity to regain guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston prevents Matthews from getting back to his feet.
Houston trying to control but Matthews is working from the bottom.
Houston passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Houston throws a strike aimed at the side of Matthews's head but Matthews avoids it well.
Matthews parries the strikes from Houston easily there. Houston is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Matthews to escape.
Houston throwing strikes but Matthews manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Houston struggling a bit here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Matthews stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Houston tries for a takedown but Matthews sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Houston tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Houston misses with an uppercut.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Matthews 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!

Houston throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Matthews counters with a nice kick to the body.
Matthews misses with the body kick
and Houston counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Houston misses with an uppercut
and Matthews counters with a two punch combo.
Houston thows a body shot but no joy.
Matthews thuds his right hand into Houston's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Matthews throws out a loose jab but Houston uses good head movement to avoid it.
Matthews swings away with a leg kick that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Matthews throws a looping overhand right but Houston ducks down to avoid it.
Houston on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
A telegraphed right hand from Matthews misses the target.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Matthews takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Houston on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Matthews goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A low kick from Matthews misses
and Houston counters with a three punch combo that has Matthews backing up. Matthews nods at Houston to acknowledge the strikes.
Houston scores with a push kick.
Matthews just misses with a punch to the body.
Houston misses with a jab, cross combination.
Matthews throws a jab when Houston was well out of range.
Matthews throws a front kick aimed at Houston's knee but Houston avoids it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston misses with a body punch
and Matthews counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Houston is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Houston takes one to the chin there.
Matthews uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Houston.
Houston misses with a lunging right hand
and Matthews counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Matthews misses with a lunging right hand
and Houston counters with a nice uppercut.
Jab, jab by Houston - just one landing.
Houston throws a right hand that misses
and Matthews counters with a right hand to the body.
Austin Houston has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matthews walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Houston checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Matthews thows a leg kick but Houston checks it
and Houston counters with a solid body kick.
A head kick by Houston misses
and Matthews makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
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!
Matthews misses the jab.
Houston misses the body punch
and Matthews counters with a lovely straight right hand!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Houston tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Matthews paws at him with a jab and circles away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raphael Matthews showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Matthews, 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:28
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raphael Matthews!