PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Harold Norman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Tremblay (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steve Tremblay will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Norman
vs
Tremblay

191 cm
18
346 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
18
300 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Harold Norman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Steve Tremblay!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Trevor Gratis and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Norman misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Tremblay gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Norman counters with a nice body shot.
Norman throws a right and a left that both miss.
Tremblay misses with a takedown
and Norman counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Norman changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Tremblay looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Norman taking a breather here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tremblay tries to bench press Norman off him but Norman keeps the position.
You can see the frustration on Tremblay's face as Norman controls the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Norman scoring with punches from side control.
Tremblay sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Norman is taking a breather. Tremblay says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Norman drops an elbow to the side of Tremblay's head.
Norman sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Tremblay defending well though.
Norman lands with a punch from half guard.
Tremblay wants to control but Norman is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Norman perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Norman sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Tremblay defending well though.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tremblay is trying to get back to full guard.
Still in half guard, Norman seems content to control.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Norman manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Tremblay on his heels. He'll look to pass Tremblay's guard now, I'm sure.
Norman is stalling in the full guard.
Norman really is a fat lump.
Tremblay is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tremblay can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Norman controls the pace.
Norman has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Steve Tremblay hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Norman shoots in and bounces Tremblay off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Norman is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Norman throwing strikes but missing.
Norman is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Tremblay working a defensive guard here.
Norman stands up over Tremblay, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Norman is looking to work some ground and pound but Tremblay has wrist control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Norman content to stall in guard here.
Norman trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Harold Norman dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Tremblay gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Norman counters with a series of strikes. Tremblay will be more careful next time no doubt.
Tremblay misses with a takedown
and Norman counters with a straight right hand.
Tremblay with a poor takedown
and Tremblay takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Harold Norman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Steve Tremblay.

Norman closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Norman lands in his opponent's guard.
Norman looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Norman seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Tremblay for as long as he can get away with.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Harold Norman just wasn't active enough.

Tremblay tries to keep at a distance but Norman has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Norman stops a takedown attempt from Tremblay.
Norman is trying to break free.
Tremblay trying to control the position but instead, Norman has worked for underhooks and has pushed Tremblay into the cage.
Tremblay keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Norman's efforts to push away.
Norman is defending well against a takedown attempt.

Tremblay is fighting off a takedown attempt but Norman is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Tremblay to the mat. Tremblay regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tremblay looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Norman controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Harold Norman.

Norman shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Tremblay manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Norman 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.
We've been informed that Tremblay has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Norman postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Norman showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Norman working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Norman throwing strikes but missing.
Norman is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Norman might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Norman makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Harold Norman dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Tremblay shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Norman counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Norman closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Norman moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
An elbow from Norman crashes against the mat.
Harold Norman overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Norman controlling from side mount.
Norman is putting a hurting on Tremblay here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tremblay is trying to escape the position but Norman is controlling the position.
Norman has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Tremblay struggling a bit here.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Harold Norman wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Tremblay misses with a takedown attempt
and Norman counters with a left and a right that stings Tremblay.

Norman feints and as Tremblay raises his hands in defense, Norman changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tremblay utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Norman postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Norman not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Norman throws a big right hand that misses.
Norman missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Norman drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Tremblay dives on top into guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Norman has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Tremblay can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Tremblay would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Tremblay postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tremblay has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Norman is proving hard to escape from.
Tremblay throwing strikes but missing.

Tremblay thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Tremblay throwing strikes from guard but Norman blocks nicely.
Tremblay working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Norman looking to control.
Tremblay wanted to stand there but Norman had control of the position.
Tremblay pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Norman is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Norman has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Tremblay can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Norman keeping moving, preventing Tremblay from controlling successfully.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Tremblay lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Norman has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Tremblay can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Tremblay trying to control but Norman is working from the bottom.
Steve Tremblay has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Harold Norman is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tremblay postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Harold Norman.
Well Norman has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Harold Norman!