PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rob Hughes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ralph Drysdale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ralph Drysdale is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Hughes
vs
Drysdale

180 cm
24
210 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

186 cm
23
208 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rob Hughes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ralph Drysdale!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, John Kavanagh and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drysdale misses with a takedown attempt - Hughes sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hughes looks to throw the jab but Drysdale is out of range.
Drysdale just misses with a punch to the body.
Drysdale tries to clinch up but Hughes circles away and keeps his distance.
Drysdale will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Drysdale ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hughes moves away.

Drysdale shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Hughes wants to sweep here but Drysdale controlling him for the moment.

Hughes is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Drysdale tries to free his leg and advance position but Hughes is retaining full guard.
Drysdale won't allow Hughes to sweep him here.
Hughes is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Drysdale stopping the sweep attempt from Hughes.
Hughes on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Hughes tries to get out of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drysdale trying to control the position from guard on top but Hughes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hughes wants to get back to his feet but Drysdale passes into half guard.

Drysdale seems to be working for a kimura but Hughes defends the submission attempt.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Drysdale throws a head kick that misses.
Hughes keeps the fight on the outside.
Drysdale lands a head kick!

It looks like Rob Hughes has been cut.
Hughes misses with an uppercut. Drysdale saw that one coming.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hughes with a jab.
Hughes stuffs the takedown attempt from Drysdale. Drysdale gets slowly back to his feet.
Rob Hughes has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ralph Drysdale.
Donk. Hughes catches Drysdale right on the button with a cross.
Drysdale misses with a head kick.
Drysdale takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Hughes misses with a looping left.
Drysdale fails with an attempt to clinch.
Drysdale tries a head kick but it misses.

Hughes looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Hughes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Drysdale works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hughes slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Hughes creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drysdale wants to control but Hughes postures up.
Drysdale looks gassed!
Drysdale is looking to regain half guard here but Hughes keeps moving and retains side control.
Hughes throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Drysdale works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Drysdale wants to improve his position but Hughes is controlling well.
Drysdale has hold of Hughes's hands but Hughes slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Hughes landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Hughes trying to control from half guard but Drysdale is working away.
Hughes missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Drysdale is looking to improve his position.
Drysdale is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Drysdale looking for submissions off his back.
Ground and pound from Hughes.
Hughes thows a huge punch but Drysdale dodges it nicely.
Hughes sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Drysdale defending well though.
Hughes 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.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hughes passes the guard and advances to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rob Hughes dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rob Hughes's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Drysdale tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Drysdale tries to clinch there but Hughes circles away.
A leg kick checked by Hughes.

Hughes gets a takedown into half guard.
Hughes is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hughes throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Hughes thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Drysdale's head.
Drysdale is trying to get back to full guard.
Nice strikes from Hughes there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hughes landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Hughes lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Hughes is keen to just control but Drysdale is a slippery customer.
Hughes not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hughes lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Hughes is looking to advance position but Drysdale won't allow it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Drysdale trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Hughes lands a big elbow.
Hughes landing shots from mount.
Rob Hughes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Drysdale tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hughes working Drysdale over with strikes here.
Hughes landing strikes, looking to finish!
Hughes landing punches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hughes landing strikes from the mount.
Hughes postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Drysdale looks a forlorn figure.
Hughes lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Hughes with a couple of short strikes.
Drysdale is in a horrible position here. Hughes smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Hughes lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Drysdale is bucking up trying to escape but Hughes cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hughes lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Hughes working the ground and pound effectively.
Hughes breaks from Drysdale's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Drysdale sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hughes connects with a nice short shot to Drysdale's temple.
Drysdale works his way to full guard. Good work.
Drysdale keeping full guard, as Hughes tries to pass.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hughes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hughes trying to control the position from guard on top but Drysdale is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes throws and elbow that misses. Drysdale uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Hughes's guard. Nice move by Drysdale!
Drysdale passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hughes is looking to regain half guard here but Drysdale keeps moving and retains side control.

Drysdale has hold of Hughes's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! Hughes tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - Drysdale cranks the arm and Hughes screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from Hughes, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5:02 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Ralph Drysdale!