PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Brandon Tate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Zimmerman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tate's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Diamonds Aren't Forever. Zimmerman has chosen Linkin Park-- What Ive Done as his entrance music. 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.

Tate
vs
Zimmerman

182 cm
28
153 lbs
11 - 5 - 0

177 cm
28
152 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Brandon Tate!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Eric Zimmerman!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Gwen Towbar and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zimmerman moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Tate misses with the body kick
and Zimmerman counters with a straight right hand.
Tate connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Tate tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Zimmerman counters with a nice body kick.
Tate is looking to clinch.
Zimmerman tries a head kick but it misses.
Brandon Tate seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
That kick from Tate tenderised Zimmerman's leg. Zimmerman is trying to keep his angry face on.
Tate tries to clinch up but Zimmerman circles away and keeps his distance.
Zimmerman throws a lazy body kick
and Tate counters with a nice body kick.
Zimmerman thows a body shot but no joy.
A low kick from Tate misses
and Zimmerman counters with a nice uppercut.
Tate tries to close the distance and clinch but Zimmerman swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Decent striking displayed by Zimmerman there.

Tate fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Zimmerman, pushing him back against the cage.
Tate connects with a knee to the head.
Tate putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Zimmerman in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tate is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Zimmerman throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Tate blocks it with crossed arms.
Zimmerman blocks a body shot from Tate.
Tate lands a body shot in the clinch.
Tate unloads a knee to the mid-section. Zimmerman lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Nice elbow from Zimmerman.
Stalling in the clinch from Tate.
Tate seems to have come into the fight with the intention of avoiding any damage in the clinch, rather than actually showing any aggression.
Zimmerman tries to land a knee to the head but Tate blocks with his arms.
Zimmerman looking to throw knees to the head but Tate is blocking nicely.
Tate lands a left hand that snaps the head of Zimmerman backwards.
Tate with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tate blocks an elbow strike.
Tate is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Zimmerman managing to block the knees to the body from Tate.
Tate taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Tate throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tate scores a nice knee to the body.
Tate is struggling to control the position.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Brandon Tate.
Tate takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Tate tries to close the distance and clinch up but Zimmerman swats him away and circles back towards the center.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tate looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Zimmerman counters with a left to the body.
Zimmerman ducks under a wild hook from Tate.
Zimmerman misses the body punch
and Tate makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Tate lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Tate tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Zimmerman decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Tate works his way to full guard. Good work.
Zimmerman with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Tate keeping moving, preventing Zimmerman from controlling successfully.
Zimmerman throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tate keeping moving, preventing Zimmerman from controlling successfully.

Zimmerman decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Tate, up you get!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Tate fails in his attempt to clinch.

Zimmerman shoots in and bounces Tate off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Tate holds on and takes a little breather.
Zimmerman trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zimmerman trying to control the position from guard on top but Tate is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zimmerman throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Tate works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Zimmerman has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Zimmerman working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Tate is pulling down on Zimmerman's head. It's preventing any offense from Zimmerman, at least for the moment.
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 Brandon Tate will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Tate throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Zimmerman counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Tate thinking.
Zimmerman throws a poor cross that misses
and Tate counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Zimmerman shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Tate but Tate pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Tate tries to score with a low kick but Zimmerman moves his leg out of the way.
Zimmerman takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Tate is looking to clinch but Zimmerman is avoiding it.
Zimmerman has his takedown stuffed
and Tate counters with a leg kick.
Tate closes the distance looking to clinch

and Zimmerman counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Zimmerman.
Zimmerman throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Tate works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Zimmerman trying to control but Tate is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zimmerman throwing strikes from guard but Tate blocks nicely.
Tate managing to control the position.
Zimmerman throws a strike but Tate rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Tate gets to his feet - Zimmerman follows without any prompting.

That's two 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.
Tate misses with a leg kick.
Tate tries to clinch up but Zimmerman circles away and keeps his distance.
Tate closes the distance looking to clinch
enabling Zimmerman to counter with a crisp jab.
Tate tries to close the distance and clinch but Zimmerman swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Zimmerman shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Tate pinned against the cage. Tate gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Brandon Tate has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eric Zimmerman.
Tate wants to land a leg kick but Zimmerman is out of range.
Tate looks to throw a body kick
and Zimmerman counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Zimmerman connects with a leg kick. Tate looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Zimmerman connects with a jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate thows a leg kick but Zimmerman checks it
and Zimmerman counters with a leg kick.
Zimmerman avoids the head kick by Tate.
Zimmerman blocks a head kick by Tate.
Zimmerman moves out of range of the leg kick from Tate.
Tate throws a solid leg kick but Zimmerman takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Tate.
Brandon Tate is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Tate tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zimmerman uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tate.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tate. Zimmerman does a little dance to reset his feet.
Zimmerman slips a straight right by Tate.
Tate digs a good body shot into Zimmerman's ribs.
Tate tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Zimmerman manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tate looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
A low kick from Tate misses

and Zimmerman decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Tate's guard.
Tate seems keen to control Zimmerman's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate wants to sweep here but Zimmerman controlling him for the moment.
Tate wants to get back to his feet but Zimmerman is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Tate seems keen to control Zimmerman's posture.
Tate preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Tate wants to get back to his feet but Zimmerman is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Tate controlling the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Brandon Tate wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Tate pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.

Zimmerman shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Tate tries to roll over but Zimmerman keeps him under control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Zimmerman showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Zimmerman connects with a nice looking jab.
Tate thumps Zimmerman with a low kick.
Tate tries a head kick but it misses.
Tate is looking to clinch but Zimmerman is avoiding it.
Some bone on bone action there as Zimmerman checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Zimmerman thows a leg kick but Tate checks it
and Tate counters with an inside leg kick.
Tate fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Zimmerman.
Zimmerman misses with a left hand
and Tate counters with a leg kick.
Zimmerman checks a leg kick nicely.
Tate scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

Tate closes the distance and clinches.
Tate is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Zimmerman is defending well for now.
Tate avoids a wild elbow strike from Zimmerman.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zimmerman jumps guard but Tate stands there with Zimmerman around his waist. Zimmerman gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Tate misses with a knee strike.
Tate doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Tate tries to land knees in the clinch but Zimmerman avoids the damage to the body.
Tate throws a knee to the head but misses.
Zimmerman misses with a knee to the head.
Zimmerman on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Tate dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Zimmerman looking to throw knees to the head but Tate is blocking nicely.
Tate using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Zimmerman has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Tate.
A knee to the head by Tate.
Zimmerman using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Tate has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's two 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.
Tate throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tate throws a head punch that misses.
Tate misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zimmerman.
Zimmerman on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Zimmerman on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Tate tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Zimmerman misses with a knee strike.
Tate misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zimmerman.
Nice elbow from Tate.
Tate trying to land knees to the body.
Tate just leaning against Zimmerman, taking a breather.
Tate with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Tate tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Zimmerman avoids it.
Zimmerman tries to land a knee to the head but Tate blocks with his arms.
Zimmerman throws a knee to the head but misses.
Zimmerman blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman managing to block the knees to the body from Tate.
Tate trying to land knees to the body.
Tate with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Nice elbow from Tate.
Zimmerman avoiding damage as Tate throws knees to the body.
Tate with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Zimmerman lands with a left to the head.
Zimmerman with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Tate misses with a knee strike.
Tate misses with a knee to the head.
Tate landing knees to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Zimmerman swings wildly with an uppercut but Tate uses good head movement to avoid it.
Tate missing with knees to the body.
Tate with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Tate avoiding damage as Zimmerman throws knees to the body.

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.
Tate tries a knee to the head but Zimmerman blocks it.
Tate tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Zimmerman managing to block the knees to the body from Tate.
Tate looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Tate's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Tate swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Tate misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zimmerman.
Tate is looking to control Zimmerman's arms but Zimmerman gets an underhook and turns him. Now Tate has his back to the cage.
Tate slowing the pace effectively.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tate gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
Zimmerman avoiding damage as Tate throws knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brandon Tate showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Tate has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 George Francis scores the fight for Brandon Tate!
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight as a draw!
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight for Brandon Tate!

Brandon Tate wins by majority decision!