PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Stephen Tucker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pawel Rak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Tucker
vs
Rak

168 cm
18
278 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

183 cm
18
231 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Stephen Tucker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Pawel Rak!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Bishop, James Ackerman and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rak doesn't succeed with the takedown

so Tucker counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Tucker is standing up over Rak. Rak looks to escape but Tucker dives into side control.

Tucker cracks Rak with a big right hand but Rak just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

Tucker decides to stand back up. Tucker steps back and let's Rak get back to his feet.
Tucker defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Rak.
Rak shoots in for a takedown but Tucker shows good takedown defense.
Stephen Tucker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Pawel Rak.
Rak looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Tucker is fending him off so far but Rak persists. Nope, Tucker circles away and we're back to standing.
Tucker wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.

Rak shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Rak was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Tucker bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Tucker gets caught napping as Rak dives in and scores a takedown. Tucker manages to retain guard.
Rak must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rak throws an elbow that misses. Tucker uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rak's guard. Nice move by Tucker!

Rak wants to stand up but Tucker is controlling him.
Tucker postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Tucker prevents Rak from getting back to his feet.
Tucker cracks Rak with a solid left hand.
Tucker scoring with some ground and pound.
Tucker distracts Rak with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Rak wants to stand but Tucker is controlling the position.
Tucker 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.
Rak avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tucker won't allow Rak to get back to his feet.
Rak utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rak working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tucker.
Tucker won't allow Rak to get back to his feet.
Rak is wriggling around but Tucker manages to pass to half guard.
Tucker lands strikes from half guard.
Rak is not content to let Tucker control the position.
Tucker could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Tucker seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Rak on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Tucker winds up and cracks Rak with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Rak is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rak scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Tucker manages to mount him!
Rak's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Rak looks winded!
Tucker scoring with strikes but Rak is staying in there.
Tucker lands a nice shot to the head.
Tucker scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Rak?
Rak wants to try and get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tucker looking to finish Rak with some ground and pound. This is bad for Rak!
Rak is trying to stand up.
Tucker lands a big shot there that rocks Rak but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Rak wants to try and get back to his feet.
Tucker is in the full mount, landing strikes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Tucker with a couple of short strikes.
Rak wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Tucker punishing his opponent with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Tucker dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Stephen Tucker's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Tucker has closed the distance and engaged Rak in a clinch.
Rak will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Tucker up against the cage.
Tucker wants to take the fight to the mat but Rak manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Rak looking for a takedown.
Tucker tries to throw a body punch but Rak avoids it by throwing Tucker back against the cage.
A hook to the body from Tucker.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rak tries to pull guard but Tucker won't allow it.

Tucker decides to pull guard.
Tucker is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rak can do to turn this around?
Rak postures up.
Rak is working Tucker over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rak stopping the sweep attempt from Tucker.
Rak throws an elbow that misses. Tucker uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rak's guard. Nice move by Tucker!

Rak wants to get back to his feet but Tucker is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Tucker is standing up over Rak. Rak looks to escape but Tucker dives into side control.
Rak is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Tucker has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Tucker working the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tucker wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rak keeps working.
Tucker lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Rak down.
Tucker lands a decent elbow from side control.
Rak wants to get back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tucker working the head and body with strikes.
Rak is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Tucker is controlling him well.
Rak takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Rak is pushing Tucker's head away, looking to escape. Tucker manages to hold on to the position though.
Tucker lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rak pushes Tucker away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Tucker gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Rak is breathing heavily.
Rak is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Tucker scoring with punches from side control.
Tucker working the ground and pound from side control.
Rak pushes Tucker away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Tucker gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Rak taking punishment in the form of punches.
Tucker scoring with punches and elbows.
Rak bucks up and tries to throw Tucker off but instead Tucker has got his back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rak trying to get back to his feet but Tucker is in full control for now.
Tucker cracks Rak with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Rak from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
Rak is trying to stand back up.
Tucker trying to control momentarily.
Rak is trying to stand back up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Can Rak hold on?! Tucker is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Tucker dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Stephen Tucker's cut.
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!

Rak drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Rak cracks Tucker with a solid left hand.
Tucker controls Rak momentarily but Rak frees himself.
Rak scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Stephen Tucker's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Stephen Tucker's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:52 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Pawel Rak!