PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between James Foster (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and roy nelson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Foster
vs
nelson

183 cm
22
222 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
19
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, James Foster!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, roy nelson!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Wesley Smith and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Foster tries to keep at a distance but nelson has taken the fight into the clinch.
Foster tries to score a body lock takedown but nelson shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

nelson jumps guard.
Foster throwing strikes but missing.
nelson wants to sweep but no luck.
Foster has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Foster makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Foster avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

nelson had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Foster is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. nelson Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Foster's back instead.
Foster covers up after that shot from nelson.
Foster is trying to break free.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

nelson working for a choke but Foster is defending well.
You can see the frustration on Foster's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

That's one minute gone in the round.
nelson trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
nelson should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Foster manages to reverse the position and now he's in nelson's guard. Nice work there by Foster.
Foster postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
nelson looking for a sweep. Not yet nelson, not yet.
Foster lands a couple of digs.
Foster stands up over nelson, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
nelson looks gassed!
nelson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Foster postures up in nelson's guard and throws a big left but nelson blocks it.
Foster chips away with some ground and pound.
nelson trying to keep a closed guard but Foster is proving a slippery customer.
nelson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Foster postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Foster throws and elbow that misses. nelson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Foster's guard. Nice move by nelson!
Foster trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Foster is striking from the bottom but nelson uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
Foster missing with punches from the bottom.
Foster throws a sloppy strike from the bottom. He's now off balance and nelson manages to pass to side control.
Foster wings away with a couple of strikes but they don't land.
Foster is trying to improve his position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Foster throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

nelson has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Nice sprawl there from nelson as Foster shoots in.
Nice sprawl there from nelson as Foster shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Foster. That's going to take a lot out of him.
nelson shoots in looking for a takedown. Foster tries to sprawl out of it but nelson keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Foster manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Foster gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and nelson counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Foster misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Foster knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for nelson on the ground.
nelson blocks the strikes from Foster.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with nelson in particular looking to stall.
nelson moves into side control, avoiding the strikes from Foster.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Foster is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked nelson off and has taken his back!
nelson looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Foster scores with strikes from the back.
Foster throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting nelson!
Foster thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
nelson trying to control the action but Foster just sinks the hooks in.
nelson is covering up but some of the strikes from Foster are getting through and doing damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

roy nelson dominated that 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.

nelson shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Foster punching from the bottom.
Foster wants to improve his position but nelson is controlling well.
Foster striking from half guard on the bottom.
Foster is striking from the bottom but he's now found himself mounted! Oh dear - not enough focus on defense there.
Foster throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
nelson blocks Foster's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
nelson blocks Foster's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Foster is squirming around, avoiding nelson's attempts to control the action.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
nelson blocks Foster's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
nelson cracks Foster with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
nelson working the ground and pound effectively.
nelson takes Foster's back, avoiding a couple of desperation strikes from the bottom.
A lull in the action here.
roy nelson has got the better of the ground game so far.
Foster rolls, trying to escape but nelson keeps control of the position.
Foster is working hard here to advance position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
nelson keeps control of the position as Foster tries to break free.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Foster is taking damage to the body and head.
Foster tries to escape but nelson has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
nelson is trying to stick to Foster's back but Foster is turning into nelson. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in nelson's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Foster.
Foster missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
nelson throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Foster shoots and misses

and nelson counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Foster!

nelson looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Foster is desperately trying to improve his position but nelson has a good base and remains in mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
nelson blocks Foster's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Foster throwing hammer fists to the chest of nelson. What's that going to do exactly?

nelson working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Foster swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Foster is looking to get to half guard.
nelson trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Foster throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
nelson controlling the position easily from mount.
Foster is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
A nice elbow there by nelson.
Foster swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.

nelson has control of Foster's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Foster regains control of the situation pretty easily.
nelson with a couple of short strikes.
nelson lands a big elbow.
nelson trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Foster slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

roy nelson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

nelson tries to clinch up.
nelson shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Foster counters with a nice double leg into side control. nelson won't be happy with that.
Foster working the body and head with strikes.
Foster cracks nelson with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Foster cracks nelson with a big elbow.
nelson struggling a bit here.
Foster lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Check out the look on Foster's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Foster in side control, throwing shots but nelson defends.
Foster scoring with punches and elbows.
Both fighters take a look at the clock.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Foster lands a few punches from side control.
nelson is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Foster's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
nelson gets full guard.
nelson looking for a sweep. Not yet nelson, not yet.
nelson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
nelson wants to get back to his feet but Foster is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Foster is looking to work some ground and pound but nelson has wrist control.
Foster keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of nelson's head.
Foster works over nelson with some ground and pound from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
nelson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Foster scoring with some ground and pound.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
nelson fails with the takedown

and Foster counters with a single leg into guard. nelson didn't expect that.
Foster postures up and lands a big shot to nelson's brow.
Foster stands up over nelson, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
nelson bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Foster's guard.
Foster tries to land a sweep but no joy.
nelson is on the wrong end of a couple of strikes there.
Foster is striking from the bottom but nelson uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
nelson is tying to control. Foster wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
nelson tries to pass to full mount but Foster defends it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
nelson wants to control but Foster is keeping him busy.
James Foster has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Foster is pressing down on nelson's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
nelson would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Foster throwing short punches from the bottom.
nelson wants to control from the top but Foster keeps moving.
Foster trying to strike off his back.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
nelson looks to clinch

and Foster counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Foster thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed nelson's head.
Foster missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Foster scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Foster not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Foster thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed nelson's head.

Foster is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. nelson doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Foster.
Foster looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks nelson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

nelson has hold of a guillotine but he's not going to be able to crank on it really with only half guard, so it's no trouble for Foster. Oh but nelson has got full guard now! Oh boy! This one could be over very soon! Foster goes limp - he's gone! nelson jumps up and celebrates with the crowd - fantastic submission finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). roy nelson!