PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Anthony Pope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Walter Herman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Walter Herman is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Pope
vs
Herman

189 cm
26
180 lbs
2 - 4 - 0

175 cm
19
185 lbs
5 - 13 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Anthony Pope!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 13 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Walter Herman!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Winston Alpacca and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Pope as Herman shoots in.
Herman misses with a jab, cross combination.
Pope throws a sloppy head kick and Herman moves out of range easily.
Herman throws out a counter right but Pope avoids it with no problem.
Pope lands a nice looking body kick.
Pope definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Anthony Pope seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Herman on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Pope. Pope obviously looking to wear him down.
A head kick from Pope lands but Herman takes it in his stride.

It looks like Walter Herman has been cut.
Pope lands with a thumping leg kick.
Pope connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

Pope clinches.
Herman is trying to pull guard but Pope has him pressed against the cage.
Pope scores with a knee to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Pope with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Pope throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Herman blocks it with crossed arms.
Pope tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herman misses with a body punch.
Pope is trying to push Herman away but Herman has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Herman is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Pope is defending well.
Anthony Pope has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Walter Herman.
Pope displaying some good clinch control by pressing Herman up against the cage.
A bit of stalling here from Herman.
Herman displaying some good clinch control by pressing Pope up against the cage.
Pope tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Pope tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Pope gets underhooks to prevent Herman's takedown attempt.
Herman tries to pull guard but Pope forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Herman drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Herman is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Pope pulls him back up using the underhooks.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Pope takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Pope is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Pope is trying to maintain a safe position but Herman gets an underhook and turns Pope into the cage.
Pope seems a little flustered. He's come in with the intention of controlling the clinch but Herman is preventing him from doing so, at least for the moment.
Knees to the body from Pope.
Pope is trying to break the clinch but Herman is controlling him.
Pope connects with a nasty looking knee right to Herman's face.

Pope breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Herman fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Pope sprawls well initially but Herman persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Pope pushes Herman off but Herman dives into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Herman's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Pope tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Herman taking a breather here.
Herman moves into full mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Herman avoids the attempt from Pope to control.
Herman controlling the pace for now.
Pope is looking to get to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Herman has control of Pope's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Pope regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Herman controlling his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Anthony Pope dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Walter Herman'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.

Herman throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Pope tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Herman is in Pope's guard.
Herman passes Pope's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Pope trying to control from the bottom.
Herman looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Pope wants to control but Herman is keeping busy.
Herman controlling the action here.
Pope is looking to improve his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Herman is thwarting Pope's attempts to control the position.

Herman seems to be looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herman not doing much here.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Herman lands a nice short elbow.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Herman in particular looking to stall.
Herman prevents Pope from improving his position.
Herman controlling the action here.

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.
Herman frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
A nice elbow there by Herman.
Herman landing strikes from the mount.
Herman controlling his opponent.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Herman working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.
Pope is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Herman lands a big shot there that rocks Pope but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Herman sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Herman working from mount. He moves in close and looks like he might be going for an arm triangle... He's hopped off to the side and he's transitioned into an Anaconda choke. Pope turning a nasty shade of purple. He's refusing to tap but he's gone! He's out! The ref rips Herman off and cradles Pope's limp body as Herman celebrates with his corner.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:27 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Anaconda Choke). Walter Herman!
Walter Herman spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.