PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Raphael Van Halen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Erikson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Van Halen's entrance music is Killing In The Name Of - By Rage Against The Machine. A fine choice. Erikson has chosen PrideFC as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Van Halen
vs
Erikson

196 cm
29
261 lbs
18 - 11 - 0

191 cm
20
280 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Basic striking
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 18 - 11 - 0, fighting out of New York, Raphael Van Halen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Tom Erikson!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Yves DeLean and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

A momentary lapse in concentration from Van Halen enables Erikson to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Van Halen manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Erikson throws a strike but Van Halen rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Erikson can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Van Halen controls the pace.
Van Halen is standing up over Erikson. Erikson looks to escape but Van Halen dives into side control.
Van Halen landing a few strikes.
Van Halen staying calm.
Erikson is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Van Halen has just dragged him back down to the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Van Halen stalls from top position.
Van Halen looks up at the clock and then as Erikson takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Van Halen smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Check out the look on Van Halen's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Erikson wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Erikson is not content to let Van Halen control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Halen advances to mount.

Van Halen is working for a guillotine from mount but Erikson frees his head quite easily.
Van Halen content just to control the position here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Erikson wants to try and get back to his feet.
Van Halen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Halen landing strikes from the mount.
Erikson wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Van Halen tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Van Halen is working for a guillotine from mount but Erikson frees his head quite easily.
Erikson is squirming around, avoiding Van Halen's attempts to control the action.
Van Halen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Erikson wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Van Halen looking to finish Erikson with some ground and pound. This is bad for Erikson!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Halen wants to control the pace but Erikson is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Erikson wants to get back to his feet.
Erikson is squirming around, avoiding Van Halen's attempts to control the action.
Erikson's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Van Halen tries to control but Erikson wriggling away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Van Halen cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Van Halen with shots to the head and body - Erikson looks very uncomfortable down there.
Erikson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Van Halen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Erikson in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Van Halen dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Erikson misses with a takedown

and Van Halen counters by moving into the clinch.

It looks like Tom Erikson has been cut.
Van Halen lands a nice knee to the body.
Van Halen just leaning against Erikson, taking a breather.
Erikson tries to score a body lock takedown but Van Halen shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Van Halen has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Erikson is trying to keep an underhook but Van Halen manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Van Halen stops Erikson from getting back to his feet.
Van Halen is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Van Halen works his way into full mount!
Erikson is breathing heavily.
Van Halen controlling the pace for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Halen can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Erikson is looking to escape.
Erikson's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Erikson is squirming around, avoiding Van Halen's attempts to control the action.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Erikson can do anything to dispel that myth.
Van Halen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Van Halen working Erikson over with strikes here.
Erikson is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Halen connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Erikson's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Van Halen landing strikes, looking to finish!
Van Halen is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Erikson can do to turn this around?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Erikson in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Raphael Van Halen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Erikson is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Van Halen controlling from mount.
Van Halen lands a heavy elbow.
Van Halen controlling from mount.
Van Halen lands a heavy elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Erikson is in a horrible position here. Van Halen smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Van Halen with good strikes from the mount here!
Erikson wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Van Halen fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Erikson is rocked!
Van Halen lands a heavy shot. That's hurt Erikson! Van Halen sees the opportunity and turns up the heat - strike after strike land to the defenseless Erikson and the ref dives in to save him! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:51 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Raphael Van Halen!
A very excited looking Raphael Van Halen rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.