PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mister Love (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Byron Malik (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mister Love could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Byron Malik's chin.

Love
vs
Malik

197 cm
20
250 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

194 cm
20
255 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Voodoo Nutrition

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 Las Vegas, Mister Love!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Byron Malik!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Stewart Dunkirk and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Malik throws a good cross that connects.
A big right from Love misses.
Love waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Malik.
Malik looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.

Love gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Malik to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Love keeping full guard, as Malik tries to pass.
Malik wants to control from the top but Love keeps moving.
Malik works a leg free and moves into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Malik trying to mount his opponent but Love defends it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Malik there.
Malik not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Love is in a tricky position. We've heard reports from his gym mates at LOD: Top Team that he's been drilling escapes, so let's see if he can get back to his feet.
Malik thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Malik lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Still in half guard, Malik seems content to control.
Malik tries to pass to full mount but Love defends it.
Love has hold of Malik's hands but Malik slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Malik trying to mount his opponent but Love defends it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Malik content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Malik throwing shots but Love is blocking nicely.
Malik missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Malik stalling.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Mister Love is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Malik throws a big shot that misses.
Love was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Jab by Love.

It looks like Byron Malik has been cut.
Nice uppercut there from Malik.
A big right from Love misses.
Malik throws a right hand that misses
and Love counters with a straight right hand.
Mister Love seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Malik displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Love throws out the jab.
Love tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Malik was well out of range. Poor timing from Love.
Love cracks Malik with a good jab.
Love ducks under a wild hook from Malik.
Malik looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Love tries to counter by clinching up but Malik breaks away and moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Love throws a solid leg kick but Malik takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Love.
Love smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Malik swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Malik looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Love lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Malik at a distance.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Malik ducks under a wild hook from Love.
Love takes a swing at Malik's ribcage but misses.
Malik wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Love throws a hook but Malik avoids it easily.
Love tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Malik throws an ugly left hook that misses
enabling Love to counter with a crisp jab.
Malik doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Malik takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Mister Love will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Byron Malik'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.

Malik circles away from the clinch attempt.
Malik misses with a straight left.
Love doesn't manage to clinch there - Malik circles away.
Malik moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.

Malik shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Love is looking to get back to is feet but Malik passes into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Love is trying to get back to his feet.
Malik taking a breather here.
Love is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Malik is controlling him well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Love is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Love is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Malik lands an elbow.
Malik landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Malik connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Love some visible discomfort.
Love pushes Malik away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Malik gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Malik cracks Love with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Love takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Malik scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Love to see if he's OK.
Byron Malik has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Love trying to remain calm as Malik controls from the top position.
Malik throws an elbow but Love slips to the side and avoids it well.
Malik landing a few strikes.
Malik working the body and head with strikes.
Malik is working Love over with some ground and pound from side control.
Malik working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Love is letting Malik control him for a moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Malik scoring with punches from side control.
Malik lands a decent elbow from side control.
Love pushes Malik away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Malik gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Malik controlling the position.
Love is not content to let Malik control the position.
Love on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Malik cracks Love with a big right hand but Love just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Love wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Malik has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's four 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.
Malik lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Malik is putting a hurting on Love here, landing some big shots from side control.
Malik misses with the ground and pound.
Malik cracks Love with a big elbow.
Malik scoring with punches from side control.
Malik has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Malik lands a few punches from side control.
Malik working the ground and pound.
Malik lands some shots froms side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Malik lands a decent elbow from side control.
Malik landing strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Byron Malik showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Byron Malik's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Love misses with an uppercut
and Malik counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Malik misses with a wild body shot.
A big left from Love misses.
And Malik tries to counter it with a takedown but Love pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Malik shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Malik lands the left hand.
Love displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Malik throws out the jab.
Love is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

Malik is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Love's half guard.
Malik takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Love looks like he's trying to stand up.
Love knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Malik on the ground.
Love is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Malik scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Love has hold of Malik's hands but Malik slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Malik wants to take a breather but Love is having none of it.
Still in half guard, Malik seems content to control.
Malik's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Malik is looking to stall here but Love recovers full guard.
Love wants to stand up but Malik is controlling him.
Malik wants to control from the top but Love keeps moving.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Jab by Malik.
Malik lands with an overhand left.
Love staying out of range there.
Nice cross by Malik.
Malik throws a right and a left that both miss.
Love is looking to counter punch.
Love throws a solid leg kick but Malik takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Love.
Love dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Mister Love is winning the standup battle so far.
Malik takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love dips to his left and cracks Malik with an uppercut!

Love clinches up against the cage.
Malik wants a takedown but no success here.

Love manages to break the clinch.
Malik misses with a series of wild punches.
Malik swats away the attempt to clinch by Love.

Malik closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Love's guard.
Malik sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Malik trying to control the position from guard on top but Love is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Malik distracts Love with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Love wants to stand but Malik is controlling the position.
Malik throwing strikes from guard but Love blocks nicely.
Malik is stalling in the full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Malik throws an elbow that misses. Love uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Malik's guard. Nice move by Love!

And that's the end of the fight!
Byron Malik comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Malik has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Byron Malik!
Byron Malik seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.