PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joe Vatali (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Billy Shears (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Shears's choice of entrance music: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 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.

Vatali
vs
Shears

188 cm
29
210 lbs
25 - 8 - 0

185 cm
27
221 lbs
18 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Good knees
Very quick

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 25 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joe Vatali!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Billy Shears!
The judges for this bout are , Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice defenses there by Shears.
Shears lunges at Vatali with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Vatali's hand.

It looks like Joe Vatali has been cut.
Shears takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Vatali fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Shears manages to avoid it.
A shot to the liver by Shears. Beautiful body shot.
A punch lands to the side of Shears 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Shears blocks a jab.
Vatali throws a front kick aimed at Shears's knee but Shears avoids it well.
Joe Vatali seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Vatali misses with a looping left.
Vatali throws a hook but Shears avoids it easily.
Vatali tries to clinch up.
Shears uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Vatali.
Shears misses with the combination.
Vatali throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Shears.
Shears keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Shears swats away the attempt to clinch by Vatali.
Vatali misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shears takes a swing at Vatali's ribcage but misses.
Shears avoids a punch combination nicely.
Vatali dodges the punch combination from Shears.
Vatali doesn't manage to clinch there - Shears circles away.
Some wild striking there from Vatali.
Vatali connects with the punch.
Vatali throws a right hand that misses
and Shears makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Nice body punch from Vatali.
Vatali uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Shears.
Sloppy strikes from Shears. Those never looked like landing.
Shears keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shears throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Shears misses with a wild combination.
Vatali avoids the head kick by Shears.
A shot to the body from Shears misses
and Vatali counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Vatali lands a head shot.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vatali thows a body shot but no joy.
Vatali keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Shears is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Vatali rather than just go for the knockout.
Shears shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
A right-left combo lands from Vatali.
Shears throws out a loose jab but Vatali uses good head movement to avoid it.
Joe Vatali is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Vatali moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Vatali missing with a left hand there. Shears was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Vatali misses with the combination.
Vatali comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatali misses with a hook. Shears ducked under it nicely.
Shears throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Vatali takes one on the button.
Shears on the wrong end of a nice jab.

Vatali closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Shears scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Shears scores with a shoulder strike.
Shears wants to break the clinch but can't.
Shears goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Vatali tries a knee to the head but Shears blocks it.
Vatali misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Shears.
Shears has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Vatali after a bit of a struggle.
Nice body punch from Shears.
Vatali throws a knee to the head but misses.
Shears tries to circle away but Vatali has him pinned against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shears is leaning against Vatali and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Shears.
Vatali tries a knee to the head but Shears blocks it.
Shears displaying some good clinch control by pressing Vatali up against the cage.
Vatali with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Shears works on Vatali's body with a couple of short punches.
Shears is trying to push Vatali away but Vatali has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Shears is struggling to control the position.
Shears tries to throw a body punch but Vatali avoids it by throwing Shears back against the cage.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Vatali lands an elbow just above Shears 's eye.

Shears has clasped his hands together around Vatali's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Vatali is looking for a sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Billy Shears will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Joe Vatali's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

The fighters circling - Vatali throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

Vatali moves into the clinch.
Vatali landing knees to the head.
A left hand lands to the body for Shears.
Shears misses with a punch to the body.
Vatali prevents a body shot from Shears.
Shears is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Vatali is keeping busy.
Vatali misses with a knee to the head.
Shears cracks Vatali with a nice body shot.
Vatali tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Shears misses with a body punch.
Shears is looking to break free of the clinch but Vatali has double underhooks.
Shears is trying to maintain a safe position but Vatali gets an underhook and turns Shears into the cage.
Shears looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Shears throws a head punch that misses.
Vatali tries to land a knee to the head but Shears blocks with his arms.
Vatali looking to throw knees to the head but Shears is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Shears gets control of Vatali's arms and successfully pulls guard. Shears will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Shears looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Vatali prevents Shears from getting back to his feet.

Shears looking for a guillotine here but Vatali defends easily.

Vatali avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Shears is breathing heavily.
Shears trying to keep a closed guard but Vatali is proving a slippery customer.
Shears working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Vatali.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vatali makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Shears had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Vatali defends it easily.
Vatali landing some decent shots from guard.
Vatali in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Vatali controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Shears looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Vatali has picked Shears up and slammed him! Shears can't keep hold of the triangle and Vatali manages to pass to side control!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shears manages to work his way to half guard, despite Vatali's best efforts.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Vatali connects with a nice short shot to Shears's temple.
Shears avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Vatali.
Shears wants to get back to full guard.
Shears trying to hold on to Vatali's head to control him but Vatali postures up.

Shears looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Vatali throwing shots but Shears is blocking nicely.
Shears is looking for a sweep. Vatali is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Vatali scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vatali working over Shears with some ground and pound. Shears looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Vatali seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Shears does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Billy Shears has got the better of the ground game so far.
Shears is trying to get back to full guard.
Vatali missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Vatali looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Shears with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Shears tries to roll over but Vatali keeps him under control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shears on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vatali throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The fighters are battling for position here. Shears manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Joe Vatali will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Joe Vatali's cut.
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. And we move into the final round!

Vatali stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Vatali misses with a wild body shot.
Shears misses with a looping left.
Vatali throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Shears throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Vatali stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Shears fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Vatali throws a series of punches but Shears avoids them all with ease.
Vatali digs a good body shot into Shears's ribs.
Vatali pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Vatali throws an off balance right hand

and Shears counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Vatali!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shears lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Vatali is looking to get to half guard.

Shears working for a submission but Vatali is keeping him at bay.
Shears takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shears looking to ground and pound but Vatali is blocking nicely.
Shears looking to finish Vatali with some ground and pound. This is bad for Vatali!

Shears goes for an armbar but Vatali turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Vatali.

Shears has his foot on Vatali's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Vatali works his way back into a safe position though.
Vatali postures up and lands a big shot to Shears's brow.
Vatali wants to control from the top but Shears keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Vatali accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Shears is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Vatali defends well.

Shears is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Vatali defends well.
Vatali distracts Shears with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Vatali wants to get up but he can't break Shears's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Shears avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Vatali wants to control from the top but Shears keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Shears looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Shears keeping moving, preventing Vatali from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Shears is looking for a triangle but Vatali pushes his legs off easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Shears escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Vatali gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Vatali is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Shears keeping moving, preventing Vatali from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vatali 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.

Shears escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Vatali gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Shears is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Vatali defends well.
Vatali landing some decent shots from guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vatali trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Billy Shears comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Shears has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Billy Shears!