PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Travis Reed (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Staal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Reed comes to the cage accompanied by Bitkit - Explode. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Reed
vs
Staal

195 cm
27
273 lbs
15 - 4 - 0

195 cm
26
230 lbs
13 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Travis Reed!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Staal!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Mauricio Rocha and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Reed throws a jab but it's blocked by Staal.
Reed throws a low kick but Staal avoids it.
Reed uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Nice defenses there by Staal.

Staal throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Reed tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Staal is in Reed's guard.
Reed utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Reed knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Staal on the ground.
Reed managing to control the position.
Staal throwing strikes but missing.
Staal is fighting to break Reed's control of his arms but Reed is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Staal trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Reed is trying to keep Staal in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Staal throwing strikes but missing.
Staal trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Staal with a flurry of punches that miss.
Staal controlling from the top position.
Staal stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Reed swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Staal wants to control from the top but Reed keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Staal swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Reed gets caught napping as Staal dives in and scores a takedown. Reed manages to retain guard.
Staal is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Reed has control of Staal's left arm, preventing Staal from doing any damage.
Staal trying to control the position from guard on top but Reed is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Reed has momentary wrist control but Staal slips an elbow through the middle.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Staal is looking to work some ground and pound but Reed has wrist control.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Reed wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reed keeping full guard, as Staal tries to pass.
Staal advances position into side control!
Staal throws an elbow but Reed slips to the side and avoids it well.
Staal landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Staal lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Reed down.
Reed avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Staal.
Reed dodges the ground and pound from Staal.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
An elbow from Staal crashes against the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reed prevents Staal from improving position.

Staal decides to stand back up. Staal steps back and let's Reed get back to his feet.
Reed throws a combination that misses
and Staal counters with a two punch combo.
Reed misses with a few strikes there.
Staal throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Reed catches Staal with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Reed throws a leg kick
and Staal cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Reed ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Staal moves away.
Staal throws a series of strikes that have Reed backpedaling.
Reed throws a shot from downtown. Staal moves away and avoids it.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Staal steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Reed.
Reed throws a hook but Staal blocks it.
An inside leg kick lands from Staal.
Staal cracks Reed with a right hand to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Staal dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Staal stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

Reed is rocked!
Staal dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Staal uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Reed.
Reed ducks right into an uppercut from Staal.
Oh Reed is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Reed throws a hook but Staal avoids it easily.
Staal tries to clinch up.
Reed seems to have got his legs back now.
Reed lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
A good leg kick by Reed.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Reed lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Staal. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Staal drops his hands momentarily and Reed takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Staal misses with an attempted mid kick.
Staal fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Travis Reed seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Reed waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Staal.
Reed throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Staal sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Reed smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Staal lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Staal blocks a low kick nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reed throws a combination that misses
and Staal counters with a nice kick to the body.
Reed just misses with a punch to the body.
Reed lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Staal circles away quickly and effectively.
Staal uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Reed.
Staal scores with a jab to the jaw.
Staal swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Reed throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Staal tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Staal moves away from the strike by Reed.
Staal scores with a jab to the head.
Travis Reed is winning the standup battle so far.
Staal throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Reed tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Staal slips a straight right by Reed.
Reed catches Staal with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Reed takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The fight stays on the outside here - Staal looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staal scores with a shot to the body.
Staal punishes Reed's body with a nice straight punch.
Reed misses the body punch
and Staal counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

Staal clinches up against the cage.
Staal displaying some good clinch control by pressing Reed up against the cage.
Staal lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Staal stalls.
Reed working aggressively here.
Staal is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Reed is defending well for now.

Staal escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Staal scoring well with a low kick there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staal blocks a jab.
Reed takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Reed misses with a body punch
and Staal counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Staal dips to his left and cracks Reed with an uppercut!
A jab lands there for Staal.
Nice body kick there by Staal.
Staal throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Staal misses with a wild combination.
Staal lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Staal drops Reed with a right and a left! Staal comes rushing in but Reed regains his composure and manages to keep Staal in guard.
Staal sitting in guard here, content to control.
Reed working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Staal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reed utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Staal throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Staal works over Reed with some ground and pound from guard.
Staal wants to control from the top but Reed keeps moving.
John Staal has got the better of the ground game so far.
Reed wants to sweep here but Staal controlling him for the moment.
Staal looking to pass the guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Staal throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Reed keeping full guard, as Staal tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Staal showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Staal uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Reed has time to react.
Reed throws a lazy right hand but Staal sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Staal ducks under a wild hook from Reed.
Staal lands with a straight right. Reed didn't see that one coming.
Staal throws a nice outside leg kick.

Staal drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Staal wants to pass the guard but Reed is keeping the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Staal missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Reed utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Staal throwing strikes from guard but Reed blocks nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Staal working some strikes from top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reed tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Staal wants to control from the top but Reed keeps moving.
Reed preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Staal working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Staal throws a big right hand that misses.
Staal in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Staal throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Staal throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Reed works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Staal postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staal trying to control the position from guard on top but Reed is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Staal tries to free his leg and advance position but Reed is retaining full guard.
Staal missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Staal is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Staal accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Reed on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Reed tries to get out of the position.
Staal loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Staal working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Reed's head.
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!
Reed trying to control the position.
Staal trying to control but Reed is working from the bottom.
John Staal is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Staal has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staal loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Reed is trying to keep Staal in close.
Staal sitting in guard here, content to control.
Travis Reed has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. John Staal hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Staal scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Reed doesn't seem bothered though.
Reed takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Staal thumps Reed with a low kick.
Staal moves out of range of the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staal checks a leg kick.
Staal is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Reed takes a swing at Staal's ribcage but misses.

Staal has taken the fight to the clinch.
Staal lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Reed backwards.

Reed escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Staal scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
A slapping body kick lands there for Staal.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Staal checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Travis Reed is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Staal pushes Reed away with a front kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Staal keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

Staal closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Reed's guard.
Staal trying to control the position from guard on top but Reed is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Staal comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Staal has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Staal!