PBP Commentary

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

Dean
vs
Penn

180 cm
27
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

188 cm
26
194 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Bare Knuckle Fisticuffs Clothing

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Matthew Dean!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, BJ Penn!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Wesley Smith and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dean with a poor takedown

and Penn holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Penn lands with a short shot to the head.
Dean's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Dean goes for a takedown attempt but Penn pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Penn scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Dean will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Penn misses with a wild combination.

Dean shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Penn napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Penn is looking to regain half guard here but Dean keeps moving and retains side control.
Dean working the head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dean working the head and body with strikes.
Dean working the body and head with strikes.
Dean landing a few strikes.
Penn tries to bench press Dean off him but Dean keeps the position.
Penn is not content to let Dean control the position.
Penn really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Dean. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Penn is trying to get back to half guard.
You can see the frustration on Penn's face as Dean controls the position.
Dean 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.
Dean scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Penn to see if he's OK.
Penn tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Dean wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Dean trying to control the action but Penn is working from the bottom.
Dean working the head and body with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Dean tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Dean has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Penn tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Dean wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Penn misses with an elbow from the bottom.
Dean connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Penn some visible discomfort.
Penn tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Dean presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Dean in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Penn tries to lock up and control but Dean gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Penn working to try and regain half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Dean with a couple of short strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dean postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Penn looks a forlorn figure.
Dean unloading with bombs!
Penn is trying desperately to improve position.

Dean is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Penn has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Dean trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Dean is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Penn can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Penn can do anything to dispel that myth.
Dean looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Dean landing strikes, looking to finish!
Penn wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dean content just to control the position here.
Penn tries to lock up and control but Dean gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Dean controlling from the full mount.
Penn tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Dean raining down shots from the mount!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Dean landing punches.
We've been informed that Penn has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Dean connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Dean fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Dean working Penn over with strikes here.
A nice elbow there by Dean.
Penn is looking to get to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Dean dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Dean throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Dean fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Dean closes the distance and clinches up with Penn, looking for a takedown. Dean pushes Penn against the cage but Penn circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Nice uppercut there from Penn.
Dean lands a nice looking body shot.
Matthew Dean is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Dean takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Penn connects with a good right hand that stumbles Dean. Dean circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Penn lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Dean.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matthew Dean. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dean misses the shot to the body.
Dean fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Dean fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Penn is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Penn scores with the left hand. Dean knows he should have avoided that one.
BJ Penn is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dean takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Penn stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Dean tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Penn manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Dean takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Penn circles away from the clinch attempt.
Dean looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Penn has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Dean shoots in looking for a takedown but Penn manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Dean's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Penn changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Penn throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Dean stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

Penn lands a big right hand that sends Dean crashing to the mat! Penn stays standing though and waves Dean back to his feet!

Dean is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
BAM! Penn delivers a spinning backfist that drops Dean like a ragdoll! This is all oooooveeeer! He was out before he hit the ground!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:43 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Spinning Backfist). BJ Penn!
BJ Penn really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Bare Knuckle Fisticuffs Clothing logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.