PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Xavier Rawlins (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Charles Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Rawlins
vs
Smith

185 cm
18
172 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

5th Round Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Xavier Rawlins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Charles Smith!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Steve Montenegro and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smith circles away from the clinch attempt
and Smith makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Rawlins throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Smith throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rawlins tries to clinch but Smith is having none of it.

Smith gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Rawlins looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Rawlins's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Xavier Rawlins wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Rawlins shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Smith pinned against the cage. Smith gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Smith stuffs the takedown.
Rawlins is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Rawlins clinches up against the cage.
Rawlins tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Smith just stands there and leans against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xavier Rawlins. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rawlins misses with a short punch on the inside.
Rawlins is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Smith fails to pull guard.
Rawlins wants to break the clinch but can't.
Smith drops down looking for an ankle pick but Rawlins pulls his leg out and moves away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A nice inside leg kick there by Rawlins. That's going to slow Smith down.
Smith will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Smith throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rawlins counters with a one-two to the body.

Rawlins takes the fight into the clinch.
Smith lands a right hand that snaps the head of Rawlins backwards.
Rawlins has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Rawlins wants to break the clinch but can't.

Rawlins escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rawlins swings widly with a right hand
and Smith counters with a straight right hand.
Smith stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Smith wants it to stay on the feet.
Rawlins tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Smith counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Rawlins shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rawlins misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Rawlins is breathing heavily.
Smith throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Smith swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Rawlins throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Smith cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Smith connects with the punch.
Smith throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Rawlins counters with a shoot takedown. Smith fights it but they end up in guard.
Rawlins's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Smith wants to get back to his feet but Rawlins is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Rawlins stands and throws Smith's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Smith is trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rawlins lands some shots froms side control.
Smith is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Smith is being controlled here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rawlins scores with punches from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Rawlins 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.

Rawlins closes the distance and clinches up with Smith, looking for a takedown. Rawlins pushes Smith against the cage but Smith circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Smith misses with a wild body shot.
Smith connects with a single shot there.
Rawlins lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Smith circles away quickly and effectively.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rawlins tries to clinch up
and Smith counters with a two punch combo.

Rawlins closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Smith did well to prevent Rawlins getting side control.
Smith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rawlins. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rawlins is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Rawlins seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Smith for as long as he can get away with.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rawlins gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Smith lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Rawlins fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Smith feints a jab promting Rawlins to slip. Smith then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Rawlins slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

Rawlins shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Smith manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Smith wants to sweep here but Rawlins controlling him for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Rawlins is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Smith looking to control.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Smith can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Rawlins controls the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Xavier Rawlins just wasn't active enough.
Rawlins tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Smith manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Smith leaves Rawlins with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xavier Rawlins. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smith will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith looks to score with a jab to the body but Rawlins is just out of range.
Rawlins shoots in for a takedown but Smith shows good takedown defense.
Rawlins misses with a takedown
and Smith counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Xavier Rawlins seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Some wild striking there from Smith.
Smith connects with the punch.
Smith scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Smith connects with a body shot.
Rawlins doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Xavier Rawlins is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Jab by Smith.
Smith scores with a jab. Rawlins acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Nice body punch from Smith.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Smith throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Smith pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Rawlins back to the cage. Smith follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rawlins drops his hands momentarily and Smith takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Smith feints a jab promting Rawlins to slip. Smith then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Rawlins slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Rawlins takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Smith cracks a nice hook into Rawlins's ribs.
Smith throws a right and a left that both miss.
Rawlins throws a nice head kick!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Smith misses with a double jab.
Smith throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Charles Smith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rawlins slips a jab and a cross from Smith.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charles Smith showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Smith connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

Rawlins fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Smith, pushing him back against the cage.
Smith jumps guard but Rawlins stands there with Smith around his waist. Smith gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Smith takes a knee right on the jaw!
Rawlins is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Smith pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Rawlins breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rawlins fails with a takedown attempt.
Smith throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Rawlins counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Smith punching from the bottom.
Rawlins prevents Smith from improving his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rawlins is looking to stall here but Smith recovers full guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rawlins wants to control from the top but Smith keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rawlins slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Xavier Rawlins has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Rawlins looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Rawlins trying to control but Smith is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rawlins is looking to work some ground and pound but Smith has wrist control.
Rawlins is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Xavier Rawlins.
No luck for Rawlins with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xavier Rawlins. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smith lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Smith fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Smith fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Rawlins on the side of the head.
Rawlins tries to clinch but Smith moves out of range.
Rawlins looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Smith lands a really nice looking cross but Rawlins seems unphased.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Smith misses.
Smith throws a series of punches but Rawlins moves out of range.
Rawlins tries to clinch but Smith is having none of it.
Smith throws a right and a left that both miss.
Rawlins is looking to clinch.
Smith lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rawlins circles away quickly and effectively.
Rawlins shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Smith pinned against the cage. Smith gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Smith misses with a jab, cross combination.
Rawlins takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Smith swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Smith lands a jab-cross combination.
Smith misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Rawlins.

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.
Rawlins is trying hard to land a takedown here. Smith sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
A right-left combo lands from Smith.
Smith misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Rawlins.

Rawlins scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Rawlins lands a nice short elbow.
Rawlins is controlling the pace.
Smith is trying to maintain the position but Rawlins is very close to passing his half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xavier Rawlins showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Rawlins 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 Franklyn Lucas scores the fight for Xavier Rawlins!
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight as a draw!
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight for Xavier Rawlins!

Xavier Rawlins wins by majority decision!