PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bobby Tate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Dolphin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bobby Tate has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Tate
vs
Dolphin

189 cm
23
215 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

175 cm
23
208 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Intelligent

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 Montreal, Bobby Tate!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Steve Dolphin!
The judges for this bout are Eddie Farnsworth, Lou da Vinci and David Schapiro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Tate clinches up against the cage.
Dolphin wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Dolphin is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Dolphin tries to break the clinch but Tate is controlling the position.
Dolphin is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Tate gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Dolphin regains guard.
Tate tries to free his leg and advance position but Dolphin is retaining full guard.
Dolphin preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Dolphin is pulling down on Tate's head. It's preventing any offense from Tate, at least for the moment.
Tate trying to control the position from guard on top but Dolphin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tate passes Dolphin's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tate is trying to control. Dolphin wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Tate seems to be trying to get a kimura but instead Dolphin has recovered full guard.
Tate stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Dolphin swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Tate is working hard here to advance position.

Tate drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Tate jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Dolphin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Tate's guard.
Dolphin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tate will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Dolphin's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Dolphin wants to control from the top but Tate keeps moving.
Dolphin throwing strikes from guard but Tate blocks nicely.

Dolphin avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Tate escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Dolphin gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tate trying to control the position.

Tate isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Dolphin stacks Tate on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Dolphin!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dolphin works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Tate wants to control but Dolphin postures up.
Tate is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dolphin is looking to take a break and control but Tate is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tate regains half guard.
Dolphin wants to pass to mount but Tate is defending the position.
Tate tries to roll over but Dolphin keeps him under control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Tate looking for a sweep. Not yet Tate, not yet.
Dolphin lands a couple of digs.
Dolphin trying to control the position from guard on top but Tate is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Tate pushes Dolphin off and gets back to his feet.
Tate shoots for a double leg takedown but Dolphin sprawls well. He's pushed Tate's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
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.

Tate closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bobby Tate 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.

Dolphin drives through with a takedown into guard.
Dolphin working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Dolphin trying to control the position from guard on top but Tate is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dolphin looking to pass the guard.
Dolphin wants to control from the top but Tate keeps moving.
Dolphin won't allow Tate to sweep him here.
Dolphin postures up in Tate's guard and throws a big left but Tate blocks it.
Dolphin stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Tate swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Tate bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Dolphin's guard.
Tate with a flurry of punches that miss.
Tate preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dolphin is looking to stand up but Tate isn't so interested in that idea.
Tate pushing down on Dolphin's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Tate landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Tate not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Tate is trying to work for a kimura but Dolphin is defending well.
Dolphin blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tate.
Dolphin avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Tate.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dolphin on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Tate is keen to just control but Dolphin is a slippery customer.

Tate seems to be working for a kimura but Dolphin defends the submission attempt.
Bobby Tate overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Tate thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Dolphin's head.
Tate thows a huge punch but Dolphin dodges it nicely.
Dolphin manages to get to full guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tate postures up and lands a big shot to Dolphin's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Tate working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Tate pushes down on Dolphin's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Tate has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Dolphin keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Tate is working for a submission of some sort.
Tate wants to lay and pray for a moment but Dolphin keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate throwing shots but Dolphin is blocking nicely.

Tate seems to be trying to get a kimura but instead Dolphin has recovered full guard.
Tate wants to control from the top but Dolphin keeps moving.
Tate throwing strikes but missing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tate throws a big elbow that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bobby Tate dominated that second round.
That's time! Tate's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Dolphin closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Tate to the mat! Tate manages to get full guard.
Dolphin wants to pass the guard but Tate is keeping the position.

Tate looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Dolphin trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Dolphin avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Tate looking to hit a scissor sweep but Dolphin is one step ahead there.
Tate seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Dolphin 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dolphin is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Dolphin wants to stand and escape but instead Tate has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Dolphin keeping full guard, as Tate tries to pass.
Dolphin pulls Tate in to control the position.
Tate throwing strikes from guard but Dolphin blocks nicely.

Dolphin kicks Tate off and gets to his feet.
Tate displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Dolphin.
Dolphin takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dolphin with a poor takedown
and Tate counters with a two punch combo.

Tate gets a clinch.

Tate gets a trip takedown into half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Dolphin blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tate.

Tate is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Tate is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Dolphin is trying to stand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Tate is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Dolphin looks like he's trying to stand up.
Tate working Dolphin over with strikes.
Tate is looking to take a break and control but Dolphin is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tate throws a strike but Dolphin avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Bobby Tate is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Dolphin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Tate is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Dolphin preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Dolphin can do anything to dispel that myth.
Tate pushing down on Dolphin's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Tate scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Steve Dolphin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Tate scoring with strikes to the body and head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Dolphin is defending against the submission attempts here by Tate.
Tate is trying to control the action in half guard but Dolphin is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bobby Tate showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Tate 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 Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bobby Tate!