PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Doug Bowers (ranked 8460 p4p, 0 weight class) and Professor Exanian (ranked 7657 p4p, 0 weight class). Professor Exanian has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Bowers
vs
Exanian

156 cm
23
140 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

220 cm
21
131 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Doug Bowers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Professor Exanian!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Luis Engracia and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Exanian thuds a left hand into Bowers's body.

Exanian rushes Bowers and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Exanian taking a breather.

Exanian lands a takedown into guard.

Bowers manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Exanian throws a right and a left that Bowers avoids nicely.
Exanian tries to clinch but Bowers is having none of it.

Exanian closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Exanian trying to control the action but Bowers is working from the bottom.
Bowers is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Bowers is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Exanian creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Bowers sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Exanian misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Exanian is staying tight to Bowers's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Exanian connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Bowers some visible discomfort.
Bowers lands a little strike from the bottom.
Exanian in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Bowers tries to bench press Exanian off him but Exanian keeps the position.
Bowers is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Bowers tries to kick Exanian off in order to stand up. Exanian Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Bowers is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Exanian works to advance to full mount. Bowers defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Exanian trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
You get the feeling that Bowers really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Exanian working for a guillotine from mount but Bowers is in no mood to give up.
Exanian tries to control but Bowers wriggling away.
Bowers is in all sorts of trouble here.
Exanian blocks Bowers's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Exanian is landing with some decent strikes but Bowers is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Exanian controlling from the full mount.
Exanian tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.
Bowers wants to hold on but Exanian pushes him away.
Bowers in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Exanian lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bowers sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Bowers looks like he's trying to stand up.
Exanian stalling.
Bowers could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Bowers tries to get to full guard but Exanian has control of the leg.
Exanian seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Bowers does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Bowers is trying to stand back up but Exanian is controlling him
Exanian has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Exanian trying to control from half guard but Bowers is working away.
Bowers is trying to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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.
Exanian passes to side control.
Bowers struggling a bit here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Exanian cracks Bowers with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Bowers wants to control but Exanian postures up.
Exanian tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Bowers is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Bowers is looking to reverse the position.
Bowers wants to get back to his feet but Exanian drags him back down.
Bowers looks to move to half guard but instead Exanian has passed into mount! Damn!
Bowers is looking to get to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Professor Exanian dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

The fight stays on the outside here - Bowers looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Exanian drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Bowers defends it well.

Exanian drives through with a takedown into guard.
Bowers looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Exanian puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

Exanian is looking for a kimura but Bowers is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Exanian to get the leverage.

Exanian is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Bowers has managed to free his arm - good work.
Bowers tries to kick Exanian off but Exanian keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bowers preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Bowers is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Exanian's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Exanian's back!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bowers working for the choke.

Bowers looking for the RNC.
Bowers controlling well, preventing Exanian from escaping the position.

Bowers patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Exanian is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Exanian covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
Bowers doesn't have the hooks in and Exanian manages to turn into his guard.
Exanian stops Bowers from standing up.
Exanian is looking to stand up but Bowers won't let him.
Bowers is trying to control the position but Exanian postures up.
Bowers is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Exanian is controlling him.
Exanian trying to control but Bowers is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bowers doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Bowers is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Exanian is controlling him.
Exanian is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Exanian wanted to stand there but Bowers had control of the position.
Exanian sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Bowers's guard.
Exanian is nestled in close to Bowers, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Exanian is trying to control. Bowers wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Bowers is looking to control Exanian's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Bowers avoid being mounted?
Bowers keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Exanian is looking to take a break and control but Bowers is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Bowers holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Bowers checks a low kick from Exanian.
A low kick from Exanian is predictable there

and Bowers counters with a single leg into guard. Exanian didn't expect that.
Professor Exanian has got the better of the ground game so far.
Exanian is looking to stand up but Bowers isn't so interested in that idea.
Bowers wants to stand but Exanian is controlling his posture from full guard.
Bowers has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Bowers looking to sit in guard and control but Exanian gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Exanian trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Bowers wants to stand but Exanian is controlling the position.
Exanian stopping the sweep attempt from Bowers.
Exanian slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Exanian trying to control the position from guard on top but Bowers is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Exanian would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Exanian passes Bowers's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Bowers wants to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Professor Exanian showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Bowers looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Exanian darts in trying to clinch
and Bowers counters with a three punch combo that has Exanian backing up. Exanian nods at Bowers to acknowledge the strikes.
Exanian is looking to clinch.
Exanian tries to clinch but Bowers moves away
and Bowers counters with a three punch combo that has Exanian backing up. Exanian nods at Bowers to acknowledge the strikes.

Bowers drives through and clinches with Exanian against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bowers lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Exanian backwards.
Bowers tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Exanian smiles and moves away.
Exanian avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bowers throws a head kick that misses.

Exanian gets a clinch.
Exanian is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Bowers is keeping busy.

Exanian tightens his grip and picks Bowers up, before dumping him to the ground. Bowers manages to land in guard.
Bowers looking to hit a scissor sweep but Exanian is one step ahead there.
Exanian looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Exanian trying to control but Bowers is working from the bottom.
Bowers wants to stand but Exanian is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bowers throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Bowers can't keep his opponent in guard - Exanian advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Exanian prevents Bowers from standing back up.
Bowers trying to control but Exanian postures up.
Bowers missing with punches from the bottom.

Bowers kicks off Exanian and gets to his feet.
Exanian tries to clinch there but Bowers circles away.

Exanian scores with a takedown into Bowers's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bowers is looking to stand up but Exanian isn't so interested in that idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bowers trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Exanian is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Bowers is trying to control the position but Exanian postures up.
Exanian is standing up over Bowers. Bowers looks to escape but Exanian dives into side control.
Exanian lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Bowers down.
Exanian slows the pace down.
Bowers looks to move to half guard but instead Exanian has passed into mount! Damn!
Exanian controlling the position easily from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Exanian looking for a guillotine from mount but Bowers is having none of it.
Bowers tries to hold on but Exanian postures up.
Bowers is trying to escape the mount.
Exanian content just to control the position here.
Bowers in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Exanian wants to control the pace but Bowers is squirming around nicely.
Bowers tries to hold on but Exanian pushes him away.
Doug Bowers has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Professor Exanian is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Exanian can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Bowers is looking to escape.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Professor Exanian.
I've got Exanian winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Daniel Cesar scores the fight 27:30
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 27:30
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Professor Exanian!