PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Tim Naylor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lathem Upchuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tim Naylor has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Naylor
vs
Upchuk

172 cm
25
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
24
143 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Tim Naylor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Lathem Upchuk!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Patrick Alders and Wagner Zegers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Upchuk throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Naylor.
Upchuk misses with a few strikes there.
Naylor is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Upchuk.
Upchuk swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Naylor has taken the fight to the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Upchuk's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Naylor keeps control of Upchuk as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Upchuk has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Upchuk breaks the clinch.
Upchuk falls off balance throwing a combination

and Naylor counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Naylor moves nicely into side control.
Naylor throws a strike aimed at the side of Upchuk's head but Upchuk avoids it well.
Naylor 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.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Upchuk tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Naylor wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Upchuk seems a little lost for a moment, as Naylor dominates the positioning.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Upchuk avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Naylor.

Naylor stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Lathem Upchuk is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Naylor rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Upchuk moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Despite the aggression on Upchuk's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.

Naylor shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Naylor was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Naylor controlling the position from side mount.
Upchuk avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Naylor.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Naylor controlling from side mount.
Naylor tries to score with some ground and pound. Upchuk controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Naylor is trying to ground and pound but Upchuk uses the momentary lack of control by Naylor to regain half guard.
Upchuk really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Naylor. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Naylor is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Poor strikes thrown by Naylor there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Naylor throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Upchuk because Naylor loaded up on that one.
Naylor sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Naylor throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Naylor looking to finish with strikes here!
Naylor controlling from the full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Upchuk is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Naylor trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Naylor tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Naylor thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Naylor controlling from mount.
Upchuk manages to regain half guard whilst avoiding the strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tim Naylor dominated that round.
That's time! Naylor's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Upchuk scores with a one two! Naylor had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Tim Naylor is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Naylor fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Upchuk, pushing him back against the cage.
Naylor jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Upchuk walks away with a smile on his face. Naylor gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Naylor looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Upchuk lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Upchuk misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Upchuk scores with a one two! Naylor had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Naylor dodges the punch combination from Upchuk.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Upchuk throws a right hand that Naylor ducks under and follows up with a left that Naylor also avoids with ease.
A right-left combo lands from Upchuk.
Upchuk misses with a two punch combination.
Lathem Upchuk seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Naylor shoots in looking for a takedown but Upchuk manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Naylor's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tim Naylor. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Naylor moves into the clinch.
Upchuk wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Naylor escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Upchuk throws a right and a left that Naylor avoids nicely.
Naylor shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Upchuk lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.

It looks like Tim Naylor has been cut.
Sloppy strikes from Upchuk. Those never looked like landing.
Upchuk is breathing heavily.
Naylor has a takedown stuffed.
Upchuk throws a right and a left that Naylor avoids nicely.
As Upchuk tries to get set, Naylor tries to push him back and clinch up but Upchuk manages to avoid the attempt.
Naylor throws a low kick but it's checked well by Upchuk.
Naylor throws a nice looking combination but Upchuk bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Upchuk swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Upchuk displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Upchuk lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Naylor circles away quickly and effectively.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Naylor.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Upchuk misses with a wild combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Upchuk misses with a double jab.
Naylor misses the shot to the body.
Upchuk misses with a jab, cross combination.
Naylor drops down looking for a counter takedown but Upchuk sprawls and moves away.
Upchuk misses with the combination.
Naylor looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Naylor shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Upchuk manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Upchuk wants to get back to his feet but Naylor passes into half guard.

Well, if Naylor is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Naylor passes to full mount!
Naylor pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Naylor looking to control and managing it successfully.
Naylor throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lathem Upchuk showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Tim Naylor'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. This is the final round!

Upchuk leaves Naylor with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Upchuk fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Upchuk throws a one two combo.
Upchuk throws a series of strikes that have Naylor backpedaling.
Upchuk lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Naylor circles away quickly and effectively.
Naylor throws a head kick but Upchuk moves out of range.

Naylor shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Upchuk has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Naylor not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Upchuk is defending against the submission attempts here by Naylor.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Naylor seems to be working for a kimura but Upchuk defends the submission attempt.
Naylor is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

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.

Naylor is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Upchuk sees it coming and defends easily.
Still in half guard, Naylor seems content to control.
Upchuk avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Naylor.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Upchuk trying to hold on to Naylor's head to control him but Naylor postures up.
Still in half guard, Naylor seems content to control.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Upchuk keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Upchuk throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Naylor.
Naylor feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Upchuk closes the distance and lands a one-two.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Naylor.
Naylor slips a jab and a cross from Upchuk.
Upchuk throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Upchuk takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Upchuk throws a one two combo.

Upchuk gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Naylor to score an easy takedown into full guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Naylor stays in close to Upchuk's body and controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Naylor's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Naylor passes Upchuk's left leg - he's now in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Naylor throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lathem Upchuk comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Upchuk 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 Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 28:29
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lathem Upchuk!