PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Heath Marcum (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Te Huna (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Te Huna's choice of entrance music: Chevelle-Jars. James Te Huna has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Marcum
vs
Te Huna

187 cm
33
196 lbs
20 - 14 - 0

188 cm
37
219 lbs
19 - 16 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

V-Mask Clothing (10%)

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 20 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Heath Marcum!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, James Te Huna!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Sam Margolis and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A slow jab from Te Huna misses its intended target.
Marcum lands a nice leg kick that just misses Te Huna's sensitive parts.
Te Huna shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Marcum pinned against the cage. Marcum gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Marcum is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Te Huna will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Marcum moves into range and connects with a jab.
Marcum keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Marcum uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Te Huna.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Te Huna crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Marcum - the referee stops the clock and Te Huna gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Marcum. Te Huna manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Te Huna showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Marcum.
Heath Marcum seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Marcum wants to clinch up but Te Huna keeps it at a distance.
Marcum takes a swing at Te Huna's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcum scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Te Huna misses with a body punch
and Marcum counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Te Huna thinking.

Marcum moves into the clinch.

Marcum breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Marcum ducks under a wild hook from Te Huna.

Te Huna tries to keep at a distance but Marcum has taken the fight into the clinch.
A right hand to the body from Marcum.
Marcum misses with a knee strike.
Te Huna blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Marcum has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Te Huna after a bit of a struggle.

Marcum has hold of one of Te Huna's legs. Te Huna is fighting the takedown attempt but Marcum gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

Te Huna is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Marcum presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Te Huna drags the fight down to the ground.
Marcum being controlled here momentarily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Marcum trying to control the position from guard on top but Te Huna is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marcum trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Marcum controls from within his opponent's guard.
Te Huna looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Marcum slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Marcum 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.
Marcum in side control, throwing shots but Te Huna defends.
The strikes coming from Marcum are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Te Huna parries the strikes from Marcum easily there. Marcum is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Te Huna to escape.
Te Huna is trying to control Marcum's posture but Marcum avoids it.
Te Huna tries to bench press Marcum off him but Marcum keeps the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcum throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Marcum wants to control but Te Huna is keeping him busy.
Marcum working the head with strikes.
Marcum working the ground and pound but Te Huna is defending the strikes.
Te Huna tries to bench press Marcum off him but Marcum keeps the position.

Marcum working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Marcum looks up at the clock and then as Te Huna takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Marcum smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Marcum working away.
Sloppy strikes there by Marcum.
Marcum connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Te Huna some visible discomfort.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marcum trying to control the action but Te Huna is working from the bottom.
Marcum throws a strike aimed at the side of Te Huna's head but Te Huna avoids it well.
Te Huna sneaks back into half guard.
Te Huna is trying to get back to full guard.

Marcum is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Te Huna doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Marcum.
Marcum is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Te Huna is looking for a sweep. Marcum is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heath Marcum dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Marcum throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A countering left hand to the body from Te Huna misses.
Te Huna darts in looking for a takedown but Marcum gets double underhooks and turns Te Huna into the cage.
Te Huna's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Marcum connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Te Huna scrambles back to his feet.
Marcum tries to close the distance and clinch up but Te Huna swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Marcum tries to close the distance and clinch up but Te Huna swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Marcum looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Marcum looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Te Huna!
Marcum scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Te Huna to see if he's OK.
Marcum tries to score with some ground and pound. Te Huna controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Te Huna tries to improve position but can't.
Te Huna is working to avoid the ground and pound but Marcum connects with a decent elbow.
The strikes coming from Marcum are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Marcum working away.
Marcum lands a decent elbow from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcum working the head with strikes.
Te Huna managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Marcum.
Te Huna tries to improve position but can't.
Marcum scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Te Huna to see if he's OK.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Marcum here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Marcum works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
The ground and pound from Marcum seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Marcum creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Te Huna sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Marcum is putting a hurting on Te Huna here, landing some big shots from side control.
Te Huna can't do much from the bottom here.
Marcum scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Te Huna to see if he's OK.
Marcum landing strikes.
Te Huna is trying to get back to half guard.
Te Huna taking a bit of punishment here - Marcum scoring with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marcum trying to control the action but Te Huna is working from the bottom.
Marcum working the ground and pound.
Marcum throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
You can see the frustration on Te Huna's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Marcum scores with punches from side control.
Marcum is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Te Huna can do to turn this around?
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Te Huna is trying to improve his position.
Marcum landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Heath Marcum overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Marcum misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Te Huna is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Te Huna has one of Marcum's arms on lockdown, trying to prevent him from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcum trying to control the action but Te Huna is working from the bottom.
Marcum fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Te Huna takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Marcum misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Marcum connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Te Huna some visible discomfort.
Te Huna is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Te Huna is trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Te Huna is not content to let Marcum control the position.
Te Huna managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Marcum.
Marcum trying to control the position but Te Huna is working away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Marcum misses with the ground and pound.
Check out the look on Marcum's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Marcum throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Marcum is chipping away with strikes.
Marcum fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Te Huna tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Marcum wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Marcum wants to lay and pray for a moment but Te Huna keeps working.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heath Marcum dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nice cross by Marcum.
Marcum ducks under a wild hook from Te Huna.
Marcum fires out a quick counter leg kick but Te Huna just manages to avoid it.
A jab lands there for Marcum.
Te Huna throws a shot from downtown. Marcum moves away and avoids it.
Marcum uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Te Huna.
Left hook, right uppercut from Te Huna.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Marcum.
Te Huna's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Te Huna duly obliges.
Marcum keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Marcum misses with a looping right.
Marcum connects with a high kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A slow jab from Te Huna misses its intended target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Te Huna throws a shot from downtown. Marcum moves away and avoids it.
Marcum lands a head shot.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Te Huna.
Te Huna takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Te Huna slaps away a takedown attempt from Marcum, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Marcum is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Te Huna walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Marcum avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Marcum staying out of range there.
Te Huna takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marcum shoots for a takedown but Te Huna saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Heath Marcum. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Marcum tries to close the distance and clinch but Te Huna swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Te Huna now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Marcum just misses with a punch to the body.
Heath Marcum is winning the standup battle so far.

Marcum drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Te Huna keeping moving, preventing Marcum from controlling successfully.
Te Huna looking to hit a scissor sweep but Marcum is one step ahead there.
Marcum missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Te Huna seems keen to control Marcum's posture.
Marcum is looking to work some ground and pound but Te Huna has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcum wants to control from the top but Te Huna keeps moving.
Te Huna is trying to keep Marcum in close.
Marcum is in close to Te Huna's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Marcum cracks Te Huna with a solid left hand.
Marcum postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Marcum is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Te Huna pulls Marcum in close to prevent any damage.
Te Huna is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Marcum is looking to control Te Huna's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Marcum avoid being mounted?
James Te Huna has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Te Huna is looking for a kimura here.
Marcum trying to control here.
Heath Marcum is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Te Huna not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Marcum avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Te Huna.
Marcum tries to roll over but Te Huna keeps him under control.

Marcum looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Marcum looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

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 Heath Marcum.
Well Marcum 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:26
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Heath Marcum!
Heath Marcum looked relieved post fight as he said the following; 'I wanna thank my fans and foremost and give thanks to God. Im gonna train to become the best at this sport and dedicate this win to my family back home. '.