PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sylvester Ritter (ranked 3336 p4p, 373 weight class) and Pierre Van Gogh (ranked 3081 p4p, 349 weight class). Van Gogh has chosen Outro - By: M83 as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Sylvester Ritter has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ritter
vs
Van Gogh

190 cm
26
278 lbs
9 - 9 - 0

195 cm
28
264 lbs
11 - 11 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 9 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sylvester Ritter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 11 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Pierre Van Gogh!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Daniel Bishop and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Van Gogh tries to keep at a distance but Ritter has taken the fight into the clinch.
Van Gogh prevents a body shot from Ritter.

Van Gogh breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Van Gogh slips under a jab from Ritter.
Van Gogh lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ritter circles away quickly and effectively.
Van Gogh scores with a jab to the head.
Van Gogh dips to his left and cracks Ritter with an uppercut!
Van Gogh jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Ritter smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Van Gogh misses with a combination

and Ritter counters by moving into the clinch.
Ritter struggles to land a body shot inside as Van Gogh controls his hands.
A frustrated look appears on Van Gogh's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Van Gogh blocks a body shot from Ritter.
Ritter can't find room to land a body shot as Van Gogh controls the action.

Van Gogh escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Van Gogh throws a looping overhand right but Ritter ducks down to avoid it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ritter takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Ritter throws a jab when Van Gogh was well out of range.
Ritter takes a swing at Van Gogh's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gogh lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Ritter looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Ritter throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Pierre Van Gogh seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Van Gogh throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Van Gogh checks a low kick from Ritter.
Van Gogh feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Ritters jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Van Gogh fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Ritter catches Van Gogh with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Ritter throws a body shot but no joy.
Ritter looks to score with a jab to the body but Van Gogh is just out of range.

Van Gogh shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Van Gogh wants to control but Ritter is keeping him busy.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
Ritter controlling the position well.
Ritter wants to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Van Gogh controlling the pace.
Ritter makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Ritter.
Van Gogh missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Van Gogh landing with the ground and pound.
Ritter is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Van Gogh tries to roll over but Ritter keeps him under control.
Van Gogh misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Van Gogh manages to get to full guard.
Ritter loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Ritter is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Gogh trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Van Gogh looking to control.
Ritter trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Van Gogh is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Ritter sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Van Gogh keeping moving, preventing Ritter from controlling successfully.
Ritter postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Van Gogh wants to sweep but no luck.
Ritter scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Ritter won't allow Van Gogh to sweep him here.
Van Gogh has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Ritter throwing strikes but missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Gogh wants to sweep here but Ritter controlling him for the moment.
Ritter postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Ritter wants to control from the top but Van Gogh keeps moving.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Van Gogh is on top in guard.

There's a bit of a scramble here and now Ritter is on top in guard.

Van Gogh is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Van Gogh trying to control the position.
Ritter preventing the sweep.
Ritter tries to free his leg and advance position but Van Gogh is retaining full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ritter accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Ritter wants to control from the top but Van Gogh keeps moving.
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 Sylvester Ritter will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Van Gogh darts in and clinches Ritter up against the cage.
Ritter misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ritter tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Van Gogh's elbow.

Van Gogh breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Van Gogh misses with a straight right.
Van Gogh scores with the left hand. Ritter knows he should have avoided that one.
Pierre Van Gogh seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Van Gogh connects with a looping right hand.
Van Gogh shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Ritter as he avoids it easily.
Ritter swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Ritter uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Van Gogh.
Van Gogh swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Van Gogh connects with a good right hand that stumbles Ritter. Ritter circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Ritter punishes Van Gogh's body with a nice straight punch.

Ritter has closed the distance and engaged Van Gogh in a clinch.
Van Gogh wants to break free but Ritter has control.

Ritter turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ritter working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Van Gogh is trying to get back to half guard.
Ritter trying to control the action but Van Gogh is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gogh tries to get back to half guard but can't.
You can see the frustration on Van Gogh's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Van Gogh regains half guard.
Ritter not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ritter wants to control but Van Gogh is keeping him busy.
Van Gogh gets full guard.
Ritter sitting in guard here, content to control.
Ritter connects with a couple of short punches.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Van Gogh holds on and takes a little breather.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ritter postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ritter scoring with punches to the head and body.
Van Gogh controls Ritter momentarily but Ritter frees himself.
Ritter wants to control from the top but Van Gogh keeps moving.
Ritter stopping the sweep attempt from Van Gogh.
Ritter wants to control from the top but Van Gogh keeps moving.
Ritter loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Van Gogh looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ritter is one step ahead there.
Van Gogh trying to keep a closed guard but Ritter is proving a slippery customer.
Ritter works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Van Gogh wants to improve his position but Ritter is controlling well.
Ritter is nestled in close to Van Gogh, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ritter prevents Van Gogh from improving his position.
Ritter working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Van Gogh is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Ritter scores with a couple of nice shots.
Ritter wants to pass to mount but Van Gogh is defending the position.
Ritter thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Ritter looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Ritter uses his free foot to push down on Van Gogh's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Van Gogh.
Van Gogh is squirming around, avoiding Ritter's attempts to control the action.
Sylvester Ritter overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Van Gogh is wriggling around trying to escape.
Ritter working Van Gogh over with strikes here.
Van Gogh tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Van Gogh wants to hold on but Ritter pushes him away.
Ritter lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Ritter lands a big elbow.

Van Gogh is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ritter postures up and throws a big right hand. BOOM! Right on the button! Van Gogh is out cold - huge knockout for Ritter!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Sylvester Ritter!
Our winner, Sylvester Ritter, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.