PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Roy (ranked 3204 p4p, 348 weight class) and Jacob Menard (ranked 7091 p4p, 536 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Roy
vs
Menard

180 cm
25
155 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

187 cm
19
145 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Matthew Roy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jacob Menard!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Matti Vanhoillinen and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Menard darts in trying to clinch

and Roy counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Roy is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Menard keeping full guard, as Roy tries to pass.
Menard really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Roy. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Roy sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Menard's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Roy performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Roy seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Menard for as long as he can get away with.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roy working Menard over with strikes.
Menard tries to roll over but Roy keeps him under control.
Roy is looking to advance position but Menard won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Roy keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Roy throwing shots but Menard is blocking nicely.
Menard is looking to improve his position.
Roy wants to stand up but Menard is controlling the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Roy moves out of range as Menard strikes.
Roy tries to counter by clinching up but Menard breaks away and moves out of range.
Jacob Menard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Roy swats away the attempt to clinch by Menard.

Roy closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Roy dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Roy closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Roy lands in his opponent's guard.
Roy throwing strikes but missing.
Matthew Roy overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Roy's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Roy continues to stall.
Menard is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Roy prevents Menard from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roy lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Roy is looking to stand up but Menard won't let him.
Roy tries to free his leg and advance position but Menard is retaining full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Menard swinging wildly here.
The fight stays on the outside here - Menard looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Roy drives through with a takedown into guard.
Roy is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Menard wants to get back to his feet but Roy is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Roy seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Roy dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Menard misses with a jab, cross combination.
Roy is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Menard can do to turn this around?
No luck for Roy with that takedown attempt.
Menard doesn't manage to clinch there - Roy circles away.
Roy appears to be looking for a big counter.
We've been informed that Menard has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.

Roy gets a double leg takedown into Menard's guard.
Roy is pushing down on Menard's leg trying to pass to half guard. Menard is fighting to maintain full guard but Roy has managed to sneak the leg through.

Roy is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Roy looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Roy tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jacob Menard has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Roy is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Roy lands with a punch from half guard.
Menard tries to kick Roy off but Roy keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Roy working over Menard with some ground and pound. Menard looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Menard blocking the ground and pound attempt from Roy.
Roy slows the pace down in half guard.
Matthew Roy is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
More hug and hope from Roy.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Menard can do anything to dispel that myth.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Menard tries to clinch but Roy is having none of it.
Menard throws a wild body kick that Roy sees coming a mile off.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matthew Roy showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Roy, 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matthew Roy!