PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joe Derrick (ranked 1012 p4p, 137 weight class) and Patrick Bower (ranked 1351 p4p, 177 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Derrick
vs
Bower

180 cm
22
215 lbs
7 - 7 - 0

199 cm
22
220 lbs
6 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Fast

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 7 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Joe Derrick!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Patrick Bower!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Radbod Blank and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bower changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Bower takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Bower looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Bower uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Derrick.
Derrick walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Bower scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Decent striking displayed by Bower there.
A swing and a miss from Bower.
A big right from Bower misses.

Bower tries to keep at a distance but Derrick has taken the fight into the clinch.
I was talking to Derrick's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Bower lands a nice elbow.

It looks like Joe Derrick has been cut.
Derrick goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Derrick has Bower pressed against the cage, preventing Bower from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Derrick lands a body punch in the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Derrick lands with a left to the head.
Derrick throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Derrick misses with a knee to the head.
A short right from Derrick on the inside.
Derrick misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nice body punch from Derrick.
Bower stalling in the clinch but Derrick improves position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Derrick.
Bower looks winded!
Knees to the body from Derrick.
Derrick lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Bower or not.
Derrick landing knees to the body.
A short uppercut from Derrick.
Derrick stalling against the cage.
Derrick misses with a knee to the head.
Bower tries to work over Derrick's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Bower is trying to break the clinch but Derrick has him pressed against the cage.
Derrick lands a nice uppercut.
Derrick keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Bower's efforts to push away.
Derrick tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Derrick struggles to land a body shot inside as Bower controls his hands.
Bower wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Derrick has him pressed against the cage.
Bower wants to break free but Derrick has control.
Derrick lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Bower backwards.
Derrick misses with a punch to the body.
Derrick digs a right hand into Bower's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Bower's gas tank.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bower is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Derrick is keeping busy.
Derrick tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Derrick lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Derrick softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Derrick misses with a hook to the ribs.
Bower avoiding damage as Derrick throws knees to the body.
Derrick is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Bower is defending well for now.
Bower has had enough of the clinch but Derrick keeps him there for the moment.
Good body shot from Derrick.
Derrick comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Derrick lands an elbow just above Bower 's eye.
Derrick digs a right hand underneath Bower's ribcage. Bower let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Derrick pushes Bower back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Derrick lands a hook that snaps the head of Bower backwards.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Derrick.
Bower misses with a punch on the inside.
Derrick lands an elbow that stopped Bower in his tracks for a moment.
Bower has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
With the fighters up against the cage, Bower throws an elbow but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bower tries to break free but Derrick pushes him back against the cage.
Derrick goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Derrick lands a right hand that snaps the head of Bower backwards.
Derrick tries to land knees in the clinch but Bower avoids the damage to the body.
Derrick tries a body shot but Bower blocks it.
Derrick lands a knee to the body.
Nice body punch from Derrick - that landed with a thud.
Derrick lands a nice knee to the body.
Bower blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Derrick lands a knee to the body.
Derrick scores with a hook to the body.
Derrick landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
A short uppercut from Derrick.
Derrick lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Bower backwards.
Derrick pushes Bower back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Derrick using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Derrick lands a nice elbow.
Derrick lands a body shot in the clinch.
Derrick throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A right hook to the body lands for Derrick.
Bower takes a shot to the head.
Derrick gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Derrick landing knees to the body.
Bower takes a knee to the side of the body.
Derrick landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Bower can't break the clinch.
Bower doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Derrick lands a body punch.
Derrick digs a right hand into Bower's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Bower's gas tank.
Derrick scores with a shoulder strike.
A right hook to the body lands for Derrick.
A right handed body shot lands from Derrick.
Derrick lands an elbow inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Derrick cracks Bower with a nice body shot.
Derrick utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
A hook to the body from Derrick.
Derrick tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Bower avoids it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Derrick dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Joe Derrick's cut.
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.

Derrick rushes Bower and presses him up against the cage.
Derrick pushes Bower back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Nice body punch from Derrick - that landed with a thud.
Derrick is working Bower over against the cage.
Derrick lands a body shot in the clinch.
Derrick scores with a nice hook to the head.
Derrick is leaning against Bower and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Derrick lands a hook that snaps the head of Bower backwards.
Derrick has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Derrick lands a left hand.
Derrick cracks Bower with a nice body shot.
Derrick misses with a punch to the body.
Derrick lands an elbow that stopped Bower in his tracks for a moment.
Derrick blocks an elbow strike from Bower.
Derrick utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Derrick lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Bower is breathing heavily.
A shot in the inside from Derrick.
Derrick pushes Bower back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Derrick putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Bower in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
A right hand to the body from Derrick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Derrick.

Bower is rocked!
Derrick lands a hook to the side of the head.
Bower is still on wobbly legs! Can Derrick finish him?
A short body shot lands from Derrick as the two fighters clinch.
Derrick has Bower pressed up against the cage in a tight Thai clinch. Bower is arching his back, trying to avoid the knees but a big one sneaks through from Derrick - that's hurt Bower badly! Oh, another knee lands and Bower is covering up! The referee steps in to save him - possibly a bit early but Bower doesn't seem to be complaining.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:17 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Knees). Joe Derrick!
A victorious Joe Derrick thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.