PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eugene Elephant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Slatko Matic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Slatko Matic told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Elephant
vs
Matic

194 cm
20
285 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

196 cm
26
235 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

Alpha Male

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 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Eugene Elephant !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Slatko Matic!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Sam Margolis and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Matic rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Elephant counters with a lovely straight right hand!
We've been hearing reports that Elephant has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Matic lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Matic looks to land a right hand but Elephant moved out of range.
Elephant explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Matic moves away from the strike by Elephant .
Matic blocks the body kick.
Elephant takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

It looks like Slatko Matic has been cut.
Matic scores with a jab. Elephant acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Elephant doesn't manage to clinch there - Matic circles away.
Matic keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Elephant .
Elephant misses with a straight right.
Elephant takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Matic lands a nice leg kick that just misses Elephant 's sensitive parts.
A big left from Matic misses.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Matic, as that shot connected.
Matic fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Elephant on the side of the head.
Matic is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Elephant .

Elephant closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Matic's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Elephant with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Elephant makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Matic wants to stand up but Elephant is controlling him.
Elephant controls from within his opponent's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Elephant loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Elephant trying to control the position from guard on top but Matic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Elephant stays in close to Matic's body and controls the position.
Elephant is working Matic over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Elephant in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Elephant throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Elephant 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Elephant postures up in Matic's guard and throws a big left but Matic blocks it.
Elephant won't allow Matic to get back to his feet.
Elephant is stalling in the full guard.
Matic keeping moving, preventing Elephant from controlling successfully.
Elephant missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Matic can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Elephant controls the pace.
Elephant wants to control from the top but Matic keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Eugene Elephant .
Matic lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Matic avoids the body shot from Elephant .

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Matic scores with a crisp jab that stopped Elephant in his tracks.
Elephant wants to clinch up but Matic keeps it at a distance.
Elephant misses with a low kick.
Matic throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Matic fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Matic lands with a right hand.
Nice defenses there by Elephant .
Matic fails to land with a series of punches.
Matic tries to clinch but Elephant moves out of range.
Slatko Matic is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A jab from Elephant misses.
Matic slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Matic jabs Elephant right on the nose. Elephant blinks but takes it well.
Matic connects with a leg kick. Elephant looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nice defenses there by Elephant .
Matic throws a hook to the side of Elephant 's head but Elephant sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Elephant moves out of range as Matic strikes.
Donk. Elephant catches Matic right on the button with a cross.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matic throws a looping overhand right but Elephant ducks down to avoid it.
Elephant tries a head kick but it misses.
Matic dips to his left and cracks Elephant with an uppercut!
Matic lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Elephant connects with a leg kick. Matic looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Good standup being displayed there by Matic as he connects with a hook.
Matic looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Elephant closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Elephant passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Matic!
Matic sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Matic has hold of Elephant 's hands but Elephant slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Elephant slips a nice elbow through Matic's hands, connecting with Matic's forehead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eugene Elephant dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Slatko Matic's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Matic misses with an uppercut.
Elephant checks a leg kick.
Matic pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Matic throws a good cross that connects.
Elephant throws the kick towards the body but Matic avoids it.
Elephant ducks right into an uppercut from Matic.
Horrible takedown by Elephant or perhaps it was just good defense by Matic which made him look bad.
An inside leg kick from Elephant misses.
A big left from Matic misses.
Elephant moves in looking to clinch but Matic pushes him off.
Elephant gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Matic.

It looks like Eugene Elephant has been cut.
Matic ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Elephant moves away.
Elephant throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Matic loads up on a big right hand but Elephant slips the punch.
Matic checks a leg kick.
A big left from Elephant misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Elephant displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Matic throws out the jab.
Matic moves out of range of the strikes.
Matic throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Elephant sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Matic throws a low kick, looking for Elephant 's leg but Elephant calmly moves out of range.
Matic looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Matic tries to close the distance and clinch but Elephant swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Matic lands with an overhand left.
Elephant takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Elephant shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Matic's guard.
Matic keeping moving, preventing Elephant from controlling successfully.
Matic wants to stand and escape but Elephant is having none of it.
Matic avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Elephant accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Matic wants to stand up but Elephant is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Elephant engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Elephant pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Matic is keeping the position for now.
Elephant showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Elephant missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Elephant in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Matic looks to land a left hand but Elephant moved out of range nicely.
Matic checks the leg kick nicely there.
Elephant checks a leg kick nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Elephant displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Matic throws out the jab.
Elephant throws the kick towards the body but Matic avoids it.
Matic throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Elephant sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Matic leaves Elephant with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Matic misses the jab.
Slatko Matic seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Elephant misses with an uppercut.
Elephant scores with a leg kick.

Elephant has taken the fight to the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Matic's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Elephant keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Matic's efforts to push away.

Elephant is trying to trip Matic. He has hold of a leg but Matic is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Elephant persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Elephant is stalling in the full guard.
Matic working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Elephant throws a big elbow that misses.

Matic is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
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!
Matic trying to keep a closed guard but Elephant is proving a slippery customer.
Matic is looking to stand up but Elephant isn't so interested in that idea.
Elephant is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Elephant missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Elephant lands a couple of digs.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Elephant 's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Elephant scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eugene Elephant dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Matic walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Slatko Matic seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Matic throws an overhand right that lands on Elephant 's shoulder, as Elephant tries to avoid the shot.
Matic throws a jab but it's blocked by Elephant .
Matic on the wrong end of a nice hook.

Elephant closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Matic quickly recovers to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Elephant looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Eugene Elephant overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Matic blocking the ground and pound attempt from Elephant .
Elephant stops Matic from getting back to his feet.

Elephant is trying to work for a kimura but Matic is defending well.
Elephant keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Elephant landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matic is trying to stand back up but Elephant is controlling him
Elephant takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Elephant thows a huge punch but Matic dodges it nicely.
Still in half guard, Elephant seems content to control.
Nice strikes from Elephant there.
Elephant takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Elephant content to control rather than advance.
Elephant missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Elephant is looking to advance position but Matic won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Elephant working the head and body with strikes.
Matic on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Elephant thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Matic's head.
Matic has hold of Elephant 's hands but Elephant slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Matic takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Elephant is keen to just control but Matic is a slippery customer.
Elephant uses his free foot to push down on Matic's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Matic.
Elephant controlling from mount.
Elephant has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Matic's face.
Elephant lands with some strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Elephant fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Matic is rocked!

That has opened up Slatko Matic's cut even more.
Elephant controlling from the full mount.
Elephant drops a big elbow. That's hurt Matic! More shots from Elephant and the ref steps in! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:29 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eugene Elephant !
Post fight, Eugene Elephant stared into the camera and said 'Thanks for a fine fight'.