PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jalen Moore (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marc Wholeman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Moore
vs
Wholeman

225 cm
21
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jalen Moore!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Marc Wholeman!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Colin Fray and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wholeman is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Moore's half guard.
Moore taking some punishment here, with Wholeman in his half guard.
Moore trying to control here.
Wholeman blocks the strikes from Moore.
Moore wants to control but Wholeman is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Wholeman misses with a head shot. Moore uses the momentum to regain guard.
Moore will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Moore is looking for a triangle but Wholeman pushes his legs off easily.
Wholeman throwing strikes from guard but Moore blocks nicely.
Wholeman keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Moore's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Moore is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Wholeman preventing the sweep.
Moore working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Wholeman.
Wholeman postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Moore is trying to keep Wholeman in close.
Wholeman chips away with some ground and pound.
Moore really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Moore is looking for a triangle but Wholeman pushes his legs off easily.
Moore is breathing heavily.
Wholeman postures up and lands a big shot to Moore's brow.
Wholeman is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Wholeman distracts Moore with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Wholeman preventing the sweep.
Wholeman with a nice head shot there.
Wholeman throwing strikes from guard but Moore blocks nicely.
Wholeman landing some decent shots from guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Moore working a defensive guard here.
Wholeman in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Wholeman really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Moore. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Wholeman keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Moore's head.
Wholeman scoring with some ground and pound.
Wholeman distracts Moore with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Wholeman lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Wholeman looking to sit in guard and control but Moore gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Wholeman can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wholeman looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Moore slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Wholeman is trying to get back to half guard.
Moore happy to just control the position for now.
Wholeman is trying to work for a sweep but Moore has mounted him!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Moore trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Wholeman wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Moore lands a shot to the head.
Wholeman is in bad spot here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Wholeman misses with a takedown attempt
and Moore counters with a right hand to the body.
Moore scores with a one two! Wholeman had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.

It looks like Marc Wholeman has been cut.

Wholeman throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Moore tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Wholeman is in Moore's guard.
Moore is adopting a defensive guard.
Wholeman working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Wholeman working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Moore avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Moore is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Wholeman is aware though and is defending well.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Moore has his feet on Wholeman's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Moore throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Moore tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Wholeman counters by clinching up.
Moore is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Wholeman is defending well.
Wholeman is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Moore gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Wholeman pulls guard effortlessly.

Moore gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
A thudding body kick lands there by Moore!
Moore tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Moore fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Wholeman avoids it really well and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wholeman takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Moore throws a head kick that Wholeman semi-blocks.
Wholeman takes a head kick and keeps coming.

Wholeman scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Wholeman grinds an elbow into Moore's temple.
Moore manages to get back to half guard.
Wholeman is looking to take a break and control but Moore is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Marc Wholeman has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Moore slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Moore is on top in guard.
Moore is stalling in the full guard.
Moore wants to control from the top but Wholeman keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wholeman tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Moore with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Moore wanted to stand there but Wholeman had control of the position.
Moore not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Wholeman avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jalen Moore dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Marc Wholeman's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Moore works over Wholeman's head and body with a nice combination.
Moore looks for a takedown but Wholeman sprawls well.
Moore misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Jalen Moore seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wholeman displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Moore.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jalen Moore. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A head kick from Moore lands but Wholeman takes it in his stride.
Moore looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Wholeman closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Moore to the mat! Moore manages to get full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wholeman content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

Moore had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Wholeman defends it easily.
Moore has momentary wrist control but Wholeman slips an elbow through the middle.
Wholeman works over Moore with some ground and pound from guard.
Wholeman preventing the sweep.
Moore is trying to keep Wholeman in close.
Wholeman working some strikes from top position.
Wholeman distracts Moore with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Wholeman controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wholeman scoring with punches to the head and body.
Wholeman working some strikes from top position.
Wholeman is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Wholeman throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Moore works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Wholeman's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Wholeman postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Moore is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Wholeman stops Moore from standing up.
Moore manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wholeman avoids a series of strikes thrown by Moore.
Moore lands a heavy elbow.

Moore stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
Moore tries to clinch up.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Moore is defended easily by Wholeman.
Wholeman circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Moore lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Moore throws a series of strikes that have Wholeman backpedaling.

Wholeman dives in and scores a takedown into Moore's guard.
Moore preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Moore looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Wholeman won't allow Moore to sweep him here.
Wholeman throws a strike but Moore rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Marc Wholeman.
I think Wholeman 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 Paul Gruel scores the fight 28:29
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight 28:29
Judge Josh West scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marc Wholeman!