PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tanner Velez (ranked 5491 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryan Rabble (ranked 21864 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Velez
vs
Rabble

166 cm
24
279 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
25
226 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tanner Velez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ryan Rabble!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rabble has closed the distance and engaged Velez in a clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Rabble fails to land.
Velez stalling.
Velez really is a fat lump.
Velez dodges an elbow strike from Rabble.
Rabble misses with some punches.

Velez is fighting off a takedown attempt but Rabble is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Velez to the mat. Velez regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Velez kicks Rabble off and gets to his feet.
Ryan Rabble seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rabble throws a wild body kick that Velez sees coming a mile off.
Velez throws a big counter combination but Rabble scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Velez misses with a takedown attempt - Rabble sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Rabble rushes Velez and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Velez blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

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

Rabble moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rabble throws a head punch that misses.
Rabble tries to land a knee to the head but Velez blocks with his arms.

Rabble successfully pulls guard.
Velez is standing up over Rabble. Rabble looks to escape but Velez dives into side control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Rabble can do anything to dispel that myth.
Velez throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Rabble really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Velez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Velez prevents Rabble from escaping the position.
Velez controlling the position from side mount.
Rabble tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Velez punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Velez is landing with some decent strikes but Rabble is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Rabble wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Velez controlling the position easily from mount.
Velez throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rabble wants to control but Velez is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Velez working the ground and pound effectively.
Rabble squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Velez looking for a guillotine from mount but Rabble is having none of it.
A nice elbow there by Velez.
Rabble looks winded!
Velez can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Rabble is looking to escape.
Velez 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.
Velez controlling from mount.
Velez seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Rabble for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rabble is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Rabble is looking to improve his position but Velez isn't that keen on the idea.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Velez lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Velez with good strikes from the mount here!
Velez lands with some strikes.

Velez is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Rabble has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Velez trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tanner Velez dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rabble rushes Velez and presses him up against the cage.
Rabble lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Velez backwards.
Rabble gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Velez.
Rabble wants to break the clinch but can't.
Velez lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Rabble backwards.

Velez has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Rabble uses from the top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rabble is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Rabble is looking to stand up but Velez won't let him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rabble wants to stand and escape but instead Velez has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Velez trying to control the position from guard on top but Rabble is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Velez is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Velez being controlled here momentarily.
Velez trying to control but Rabble is working from the bottom.
Rabble looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Velez in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Velez won't allow Rabble to get back to his feet.
Velez is pushing down on Rabble's leg trying to pass to half guard. Rabble is fighting to maintain full guard but Velez has managed to sneak the leg through.
Rabble is breathing heavily.
Rabble is trying to stand up here but Velez is controlling him well.
Velez is looking to take a break and control but Rabble is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Velez controlling the action here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Velez avoids the head kick by Rabble.

Rabble moves into range and clinches up with Velez.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Rabble just misses with a elbow thrown towards Velez's brow.

Velez pulls guard.
Velez is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Velez is trying to control. Rabble wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Velez is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Rabble has managed to free his arm - good work.
Velez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rabble defending well though.
Velez takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Velez seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Rabble does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Velez is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Velez is looking to take a break and control but Rabble is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rabble wants to get back to his feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Velez is keen to just control but Rabble is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tanner Velez dominated that second round.
That's time! Velez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Rabble closes the distance and clinches.
Rabble throws a punch but it's blocked by Velez.
Rabble slowing the pace effectively.
Velez wants a takedown.
Velez prevents Rabble from breaking the clinch.
Velez throws an elbow that misses.

Velez pulls guard.
Velez tries to strike from the bottom.
Rabble has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Velez is proving hard to escape from.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Velez throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Velez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Rabble's guard.

Rabble takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Velez wants to control from the top but Rabble keeps moving.
Rabble wants to get back to his feet but Velez passes into half guard.
Velez trying to control from half guard but Rabble is working away.
Rabble is looking to escape.
Velez not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rabble tries to kick Velez off in order to stand up. Velez Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Tanner Velez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Velez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rabble keeps working.
Velez tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Rabble tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Velez misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Velez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Velez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Velez trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The referee warns Rabble that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rabble is desperately trying to improve his position but Velez has a good base and remains in mount.
Rabble is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Velez tries to control but Rabble wriggling away.
Velez lands a big elbow.
Velez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rabble can do to turn this around?
Velez pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Velez sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ryan Rabble has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Velez looking to control but Rabble is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Velez controlling the pace for now.
Rabble trying desperately to get to his feet.
Tanner Velez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Velez controlling from the full mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tanner Velez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Velez, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tanner Velez!