PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Simon Bates (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cody Montgomery (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cody Montgomery is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Bates
vs
Montgomery

178 cm
18
143 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
135 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Simon Bates!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Cody Montgomery!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Robert Twigg and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Montgomery fails with the takedown.
Montgomery misses with a few strikes there.
Bates throws a series of punches but Montgomery avoids them all with ease.
Bates lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
A right-left combo lands from Bates.
Bates connects with a good right hand that stumbles Montgomery. Montgomery circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Bates feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Montgomery is rocked!
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 big thud reverberates around the arena there as Bates accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Bates throws a big elbow that misses.
Bates in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Montgomery looking for a guillotine here but Bates defends easily.
Bates with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates postures up in Montgomery's guard and throws a big left but Montgomery blocks it.
Bates postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bates passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Bates throws an elbow but Montgomery slips to the side and avoids it well.
Montgomery parries the strikes from Bates easily there. Bates is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Montgomery to escape.

Bates thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Bates tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Bates has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Bates works to advance to full mount. Montgomery defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Montgomery is trying to escape the mount.
Montgomery wants to control but Bates is having none of it.
Montgomery holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Bates tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Bates with good strikes from the mount here!
Bates in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Bates lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Montgomery hang on?
Bates 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.
Bates lands a heavy elbow.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Bates putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Montgomery is in a horrible position here. Bates smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Montgomery is bucking up trying to escape but Bates cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates landing strikes from the mount and Montgomery is in trouble!
Bates landing punches.
Montgomery is still in real trouble! Can Bates finish him?
Bates looking to finish Montgomery with some ground and pound. This is bad for Montgomery!
Montgomery avoids a series of strikes thrown by Bates.
Bates landing shots from mount.
Bates raining down shots from the mount!

Montgomery defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Bates.
Bates throwing strikes here but Montgomery is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Montgomery seems to have recovered his senses.

Montgomery defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Bates.
Bates is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Montgomery is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Bates jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Montgomery manages to avoid the submission attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The ground and pound from Bates seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

Bates is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Montgomery has escaped the position, nice work there.
Montgomery avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Bates.
The strikes coming from Bates are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Montgomery takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.

Bates is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Montgomery has escaped the position, nice work there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Bates dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Bates closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Montgomery will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Montgomery darts in looking for a takedown but Bates gets double underhooks and turns Montgomery into the cage.

Montgomery gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Bates to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Bates is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Bates postures up and lands a big shot to Montgomery's brow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Bates is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Montgomery has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bates working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Bates throws an elbow but Montgomery slips to the side and avoids it well.

Bates is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Montgomery is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Bates wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Montgomery, who protects the arm well.
Bates lands some shots froms side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Bates working the body and head with strikes.
Bates working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Bates throws an elbow but Montgomery slips to the side and avoids it well.
The strikes coming from Bates are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

Bates thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Montgomery is trying to control Bates's posture but Bates avoids it.
Bates working the body and head with strikes.
Bates working the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates working away.
Montgomery defending against the ground and pound.
Bates tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Montgomery takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Bates lands a nice forearm strike.
Montgomery taking punishment in the form of punches.

Bates working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Bates throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Bates working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Bates in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Montgomery some visible discomfort.
Montgomery avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Bates.

Bates is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Montgomery has escaped the position, nice work there.

Bates is trying to get an arm triangle but Montgomery is defending well.
Simon Bates overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Bates tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Bates has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Bates thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Bates dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Bates throws a one two combo.
Bates misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bates fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Bates looks to land a combination but Montgomery avoids it well.
Bates is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Montgomery can do to turn this around?
Bates moves out of range as Montgomery strikes.
Montgomery tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bates paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Bates throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Bates throws a head kick but Montgomery moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Montgomery tries to clinch there but Bates circles away.
Montgomery tries to clinch up but Bates circles away and keeps his distance.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Bates throws a one two combo.
Montgomery tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Bates swivels and escapes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bates shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Montgomery manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Montgomery bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Bates's guard.

Montgomery trying to control the position from guard on top but Bates is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Bates looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Bates avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Montgomery trying to stand up but can't free himself from Bates's guard.

Bates is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Montgomery defends well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bates preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Montgomery wants to control from the top but Bates keeps moving.

Montgomery has gone for a leg lock! Bates slips out almost immediately though and dives into Montgomery's guard.

Montgomery working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Montgomery utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Bates is looking to work some ground and pound but Montgomery has wrist control.
Bates loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Bates postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bates slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Montgomery struggling a bit here.
Montgomery taking punishment in the form of punches.

Bates looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Bates working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Bates wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Montgomery, who protects the arm well.
Montgomery tries to bench press Bates off him but Bates keeps the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Montgomery can't do much from the bottom here.
Simon Bates is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Montgomery is looking to reverse the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Simon Bates showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Bates 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:25
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:25
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Simon Bates!
Simon Bates opened up his post fight interview with a scream to camera that he wants a title shot! Whether he deserves the shot will be up to the management of the organization, so I guess he'll have to wait and see.