PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Calahan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Ventura (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Calahan
vs
Ventura

183 cm
18
200 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

192 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mark Calahan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, James Ventura!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Franklyn Lucas and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

A momentary lapse in concentration from Ventura enables Calahan to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Ventura manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Ventura wants to sweep but no luck.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ventura will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Ventura looks gassed!
Calahan is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Calahan has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Ventura thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Calahan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Calahan stands up over Ventura, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Calahan chips away with some ground and pound.
Calahan scoring with some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Calahan is working Ventura over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Calahan chips away with some ground and pound.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Calahan trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ventura looking to hit a scissor sweep but Calahan is one step ahead there.
Ventura keeping moving, preventing Calahan from controlling successfully.
Calahan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Calahan distracts Ventura with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Calahan is working Ventura over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Calahan lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Calahan is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Calahan knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Ventura on the ground.
Calahan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Calahan wants to control from the top but Ventura keeps moving.
Calahan tries to free his leg and advance position but Ventura is retaining full guard.
Calahan 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.
Ventura keeping moving, preventing Calahan from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Calahan scoring with punches to the head and body.
Calahan is working Ventura over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Calahan working some strikes from top position.
Calahan landing with the ground and pound.
Calahan postures up and lands a big shot to Ventura's brow.
Calahan connects with a couple of short punches.
Calahan chips away with some ground and pound.
Calahan lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Calahan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Calahan's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Calahan won't allow Ventura to sweep him here.
Calahan is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Calahan scoring with punches to the head and body.
Ventura tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Calahan postures up and lands a big shot to Ventura's brow.
Calahan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Calahan lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Calahan with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Ventura had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Calahan defends it easily.
Calahan with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Calahan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Calahan is in close to Ventura's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Calahan wants to pass the guard but Ventura is keeping the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Calahan makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Ventura has momentary wrist control but Calahan slips an elbow through the middle.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Calahan landing some decent shots from guard.

Calahan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Calahan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Calahan postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ventura can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Calahan controls the pace.
Calahan connects with a couple of short punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Calahan dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Calahan shoots for a takedown but Ventura saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Ventura slaps away a takedown attempt from Calahan, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Calahan looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Ventura is fending him off so far but Calahan persists. Nope, Ventura circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Calahan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nice sprawl there from Calahan as Ventura shoots in.
Horrible takedown by Calahan or perhaps it was just good defense by Ventura which made him look bad.

Calahan drives through with a takedown into Ventura's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Calahan works over Ventura with some ground and pound from guard.
Calahan postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Calahan landing some decent shots from guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Calahan landing some decent shots from guard.
Calahan lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Calahan scoring with some ground and pound.
Ventura looking for a sweep. Not yet Ventura, not yet.
Calahan distracts Ventura with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Ventura wants to sweep but no luck.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Mark Calahan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Ventura had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Calahan defends it easily.
Ventura throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Calahan stands up over Ventura, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Calahan working some strikes from top position.
Calahan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Calahan landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Calahan with a nice head shot there.
Calahan is stalling in the full guard.
Calahan postures up and lands a big shot to Ventura's brow.

Ventura has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Calahan can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
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!
Calahan scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Calahan content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Calahan stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ventura swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Calahan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Calahan keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan connects with a couple of short punches.
Calahan postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Calahan connects with a couple of short punches.
Calahan content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan is in close to Ventura's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Calahan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ventura can do to turn this around?
Calahan trying to control the position from guard on top but Ventura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Calahan is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Ventura is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Calahan avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Ventura striking off his back but it's not causing Calahan any problems.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Calahan is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Calahan trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ventura keeping moving, preventing Calahan from controlling successfully.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ventura is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Calahan postures up and lands a big shot to Ventura's brow.
Calahan keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Ventura's head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Calahan seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Calahan lands a couple of digs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Calahan dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Calahan feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Calahan landing with the ground and pound.
Calahan chips away with some ground and pound.
Calahan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Calahan scoring with punches to the head and body.
Calahan lands a couple of elbows.
Calahan trying to control but Ventura is working from the bottom.
Calahan working some strikes from top position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Calahan postures up and lands a big shot to Ventura's brow.
Calahan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Ventura takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Calahan working some strikes from top position.
Calahan is in close to Ventura's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Ventura doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Calahan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Calahan lands a couple of digs.
Calahan working some strikes from top position.
Calahan looking to pass the guard.
Calahan working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ventura's head.
Calahan lands a couple of digs.
Calahan trying to control the position from guard on top but Ventura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Calahan lands a couple of digs.
Mark Calahan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Calahan controls from within his opponent's guard.
Calahan has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

We're going to have a standup here because Mark Calahan wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Calahan closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Calahan lands in his opponent's guard.
Ventura wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ventura tries to strike from the bottom.
Calahan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Ventura looking to control.

Ventura has his foot on Calahan's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Calahan works his way back into a safe position though.
Ventura looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Calahan distracts Ventura with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Calahan connects with a couple of short punches.
Calahan's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Calahan with a nice head shot there.
Calahan looking to pass the guard.
Calahan controls from within his opponent's guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Mark Calahan just wasn't active enough.

Calahan scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ventura is looking for a sweep.
Calahan moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
James Ventura has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Calahan lands a nice forearm strike.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Calahan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Calahan has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:26
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 30:26
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Calahan!
Mark Calahan decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.