PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Laimonas Zemaitis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dave Sherk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zemaitis comes to the cage accompanied by Queen - 'Don't Stop Me Now. Sherk comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Divinations by Mastodon kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Laimonas Zemaitis could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Dave Sherk's chin.

Zemaitis
vs
Sherk

193 cm
21
200 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
209 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Laimonas Zemaitis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dave Sherk!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Gwen Towbar and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sherk throws a shot to the body.
Zemaitis shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Sherk defends it nicely.
Sherk lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Zemaitis circles away quickly and effectively.
Sherk sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Sherk misses with a takedown attempt - Zemaitis sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Sherk throws a right and a left that Zemaitis avoids nicely.
Sherk blocks the body kick.

Sherk closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Zemaitis is looking for a sweep.
Sherk wants to stand but Zemaitis is controlling his arm.
Zemaitis is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Sherk is controlling him well.
Sherk tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sherk trying to control the action but Zemaitis is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zemaitis is looking to reverse the position.
Sherk tries to move into full mount but can't pass Zemaitis's legs.
The strikes coming from Sherk are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Zemaitis sneaks back into half guard.
Zemaitis wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sherk trying to mount his opponent but Zemaitis defends it.
Sherk trying to control from half guard but Zemaitis is working away.
Sherk throws a strike but Zemaitis avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Sherk advances to half guard.
Sherk is keen to just control but Zemaitis is a slippery customer.
Zemaitis blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sherk.
Zemaitis is in trouble now - Sherk has advanced to mount!
Zemaitis is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sherk throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Zemaitis because Sherk loaded up on that one.
Sherk trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sherk might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Zemaitis haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Sherk misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Sherk trying to control but Zemaitis is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sherk scoring with strikes but Zemaitis is staying in there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sherk throws a sloppy strike and Zemaitis uses the opportunity to reverse the position! A bit of a scramble here and Zemaitis has ended up in Sherk's guard.
Sherk looking for a sweep. Not yet Sherk, not yet.

Zemaitis drops back, looking for a kneebar! Sherk looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Sherk looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Sherk!
Sherk wants to stand but Zemaitis has his arm trapped.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sherk creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Sherk dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Sherk misses with the body kick
and Zemaitis counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Laimonas Zemaitis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A nice combination there by Zemaitis.

It looks like Dave Sherk has been cut.
Zemaitis throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Sherk fails with a takedown attempt.
Zemaitis throws a leg kick which misses Sherk's front leg but catches the back leg as Sherk tries to avoid it.
Sherk throws an off balance right hand

and Zemaitis holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Zemaitis breaks from the clinch.
Zemaitis tries to land a front kick but Sherk steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Zemaitis goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Laimonas Zemaitis seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sherk tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Zemaitis paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Zemaitis throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zemaitis.

Sherk drives through with a takedown into guard.
Sherk is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Dave Sherk has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sherk is looking to work some ground and pound but Zemaitis has wrist control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Zemaitis is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Sherk lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Sherk postures up and lands a big shot to Zemaitis's brow.
Sherk trying to control the position from guard on top but Zemaitis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sherk must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Sherk won't allow Zemaitis to sweep him here.
Sherk wants to control from the top but Zemaitis keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zemaitis avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sherk wants to control from the top but Zemaitis keeps moving.
Sherk is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Dave Sherk hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Sherk is looking to land body kicks.
Horrible takedown by Sherk or perhaps it was just good defense by Zemaitis which made him look bad.
Sherk looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Nice body kick there by Zemaitis.
Sherk scores with a kick to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zemaitis scores with a takedown into Sherk's guard.
Sherk is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Zemaitis trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zemaitis throwing strikes but missing.
Zemaitis postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Zemaitis trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zemaitis prevents Sherk from getting back to his feet.
Sherk working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zemaitis looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Zemaitis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Zemaitis stops Sherk from standing up.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Sherk can do anything to dispel that myth.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Zemaitis loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sherk avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Zemaitis stopping the sweep attempt from Sherk.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Laimonas Zemaitis will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dave Sherk's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

That kick from Zemaitis tenderised Sherk's leg. Sherk is trying to keep his angry face on.

Sherk feints and as Zemaitis raises his hands in defense, Sherk changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sherk accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sherk trying to control but Zemaitis is working from the bottom.
Zemaitis looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sherk is one step ahead there.
Sherk trying to control but Zemaitis is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sherk postures up in Zemaitis's guard and throws a big left but Zemaitis blocks it.
Sherk postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Zemaitis manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Zemaitis keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sherk's efforts to push away.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Zemaitis jumps guard but Sherk turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Sherk stops a takedown attempt from Zemaitis.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Sherk gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Zemaitis regains guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zemaitis is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Zemaitis keeping moving, preventing Sherk from controlling successfully.
Sherk looking to pass the guard.

Dave Sherk has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Sherk lands a right hook to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sherk circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nice sprawl there from Sherk as Zemaitis shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Laimonas Zemaitis. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A good leg kick by Zemaitis.
Zemaitis avoids the body shot from Sherk.
Zemaitis scores with a leg kick.

Sherk closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Zemaitis is trying to push Sherk away but Sherk has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Zemaitis has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Zemaitis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
A head kick misses from Zemaitis.
Sherk ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Zemaitis moves away.
Zemaitis avoids the head kick by Sherk.
Zemaitis misses with a body kick.
Zemaitis tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zemaitis tries to clinch but Sherk moves out of range.
Sherk misses the shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sherk thows a body shot but no joy.
Sherk throws a wild body kick that Zemaitis sees coming a mile off.

Sherk forces Zemaitis back against the cage and clinches.

Zemaitis manages to pull guard.
Sherk wants to control from the top but Zemaitis keeps moving.
Sherk in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zemaitis wants to get back to his feet but Sherk is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sherk chips away with some ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Sherk comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Sherk 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dave Sherk!
A less than humble Dave Sherk misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.