PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mystic Zen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and William Trick (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Zen
vs
Trick

192 cm
23
215 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
210 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mystic Zen!
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, William Trick!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, David Schapiro and Dean Styles.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zen fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Trick keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Trick stuns Zen with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Trick just misses with a punch to the body.

Zen shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Trick is trying to defend but Zen finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Zen content to control rather than advance.
Zen thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Zen slows the pace down in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Mystic Zen.
Trick lands with an uppercut that bounces Zen off the cage and back into range.
A big left from Zen misses.
Trick fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Zen looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Nice straight punches there by Trick. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Trick.
Zen has a takedown stuffed.
Trick throws a hook to the side of Zen's head but Zen sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Trick digs a good hook to Zen's body.
A jab from Trick misses.
Trick swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Trick has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Zen is landing a low percentage of strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zen doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
William Trick seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zen takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Trick throws a hook but Zen blocks it.
Zen shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Trick pinned against the cage. Trick gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mystic Zen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Trick just misses with a punch to the body.
Trick misses with a straight right.
Trick throws a shot from downtown. Zen moves away and avoids it.
Zen looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
A looping hook to the body misses from Trick. Zen does a little dance to reset his feet.
Nice defenses there by Zen.

Zen shoots in and bounces Trick off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Zen missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Zen is in close to Trick's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Trick utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Zen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Zen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Trick looking for a guillotine here but Zen defends easily.
Trick being controlled here, momentarily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Zen's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Trick has momentary wrist control but Zen slips an elbow through the middle.
Zen controls from within his opponent's guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Trick avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Zen 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.
Zen's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

We're going to have a standup here because Mystic Zen wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Trick misses with a straight right.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mystic Zen dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Trick slips under a jab from Zen.
Zen fails with the takedown.
Trick throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Trick scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Trick digs a good body shot into Zen's ribs.

Zen drives through with a takedown into Trick's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Zen's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Zen engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zen has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zen is working Trick over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Trick is trying to control the position but Zen postures up.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

William Trick has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Zen shoots in and gets a takedown into Trick's guard.
Zen slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Mystic Zen just wasn't active enough.
Zen ducks under a wild hook from Trick.
Trick scores with a three punch combo!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zen blocks a jab.
Zen slips under a jab.
Trick throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A telegraphed right hand from Trick misses the target.
Zen needs to keep his hands up - Trick had a free shot at his head there.
Zen moves out of range of the strikes.
Trick looks to land a right hand but Zen moved out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Trick misses with a hook to the body

and Zen counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Trick!

Zen looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Trick is letting Zen control him for a moment.
Zen working the ground and pound.
Zen staying calm.
Zen 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.
Check out the look on Zen's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zen remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Zen working the ground and pound but Trick is defending the strikes.
A lull in the action here.
Zen tries to score with some ground and pound. Trick controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Zen wants to control but Trick is keeping him busy.
You can see the frustration on Trick's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zen staying calm.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mystic Zen dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Zen.
Trick is not content to let Zen control the position.
Trick regains half guard.
Zen is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mystic Zen has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Trick pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Zen back to the cage. Trick follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
A big left from Trick misses.

Zen closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Trick did well to prevent Zen getting side control.
Zen seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Zen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Zen controlling the pace.
William Trick has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mystic Zen has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Nice uppercut there from Trick.
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!
A decent looking cross lands there for Trick.
Trick displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Zen.
Trick connects with a crisp jab.

Trick gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Zen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Trick trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Zen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Trick escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Zen gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Zen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Zen controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Mystic Zen wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Zen uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Trick.
Mystic Zen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Zen closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Trick's guard.
Zen controlling from the top position.

Trick escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Zen gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zen seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mystic Zen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Zen, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Jonathan Paton scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mystic Zen!