PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rene Lafayette (ranked 207 p4p, 879 weight class) and Frank Morrison (ranked 29 p4p, 129 weight class). Lafayette comes into the arena with Erasure - Always blaring out of the sound system. The crowd seem to be enjoying Morrison's choice of entrance music: Dead By Daylight - Legion Theme. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Lafayette
vs
Morrison

179 cm
21
170
12 - 2 - 0

181 cm
21
170
9 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

HELLS BALLS RECOVERY
Altitude Clothing

Savage Fightwear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Rene Lafayette!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Frank Morrison!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lafayette takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Morrison steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Lafayette.
A slow jab from Morrison misses its intended target.
Morrison looks to throw the jab but Lafayette is out of range.
Morrison moves in looking to clinch but Lafayette pushes him off.
Lafayette appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Lafayette dips to his left and cracks Morrison with an uppercut!
Morrison uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Lafayette.
Lafayette jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Lafayette just misses with a punch to the body.
Frank Morrison seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Lafayette throws a hook but Morrison avoids it easily.
Lafayette scores with a shot to the body.
Morrison closes the distance but Lafayette moves to the side
and Lafayette counters with a stiff right hand.
Lafayette waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Morrison.
Morrison takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Lafayette connects with the punch.

Lafayette manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Morrison on his heels. He'll look to pass Morrison's guard now, I'm sure.
Morrison is pulling down on Lafayette's head. It's preventing any offense from Lafayette, at least for the moment.
Morrison is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrison seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Morrison looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lafayette is one step ahead there.
Lafayette trying to control but Morrison is working from the bottom.
Lafayette won't allow Morrison to sweep him here.
Morrison wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Lafayette is now in half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morrison tries to get to full guard but Lafayette has control of the leg.

That's two 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.
Morrison is looking to control Lafayette's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Morrison avoid being mounted?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morrison wants to get back to full guard.
Morrison is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Lafayette prevents Morrison from improving his position.
Morrison won't allow Lafayette to pass to mount.
Morrison keeping hold of Lafayette's head, controlling as best he can.

Lafayette is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Morrison doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Lafayette.
Lafayette wants to lay and pray for a moment but Morrison keeps working.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lafayette is really struggling to control Morrison but he's trying to hold on to the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Morrison on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Morrison throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
An attempted straight right counter from Lafayette misses the target.
Morrison misses with a wild body shot.
It looked like Lafayette wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

Lafayette feints and as Morrison raises his hands in defense, Lafayette changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Morrison looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lafayette is one step ahead there.
Morrison seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lafayette wants to pass the guard but Morrison is keeping the position.
Lafayette trying to control the position from guard on top but Morrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Lafayette stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morrison swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Morrison is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Morrison is pulling down on Lafayette's head. It's preventing any offense from Lafayette, at least for the moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morrison is trying to control the position from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rene Lafayette dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Lafayette takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Lafayette bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Morrison throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A looping hook to the body misses from Morrison. Lafayette does a little dance to reset his feet.
Morrison misses with a wild body shot.
As Morrison tries to get set, Lafayette tries to push him back and clinch up but Morrison manages to avoid the attempt.
Morrison misses with a hook
and Lafayette counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Lafayette misses with a left hand
and Morrison counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Morrison looks to score with a jab to the body but Lafayette is just out of range.
Lafayette was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Morrison is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Lafayette rather than just go for the knockout.
Lafayette slips a jab from Morrison.
Lafayette stuns Morrison with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Morrison swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Lafayette tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Morrison was well out of range. Poor timing from Lafayette.
The fighters circling - Morrison throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A left lands for Morrison.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morrison swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morrison uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Lafayette.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lafayette ducks under a wild hook from Morrison.
Rene Lafayette is winning the standup battle so far.
Lafayette throws a body shot but no joy.
Lafayette misses with an uppercut. Morrison saw that one coming.
Lafayette defending well as Morrison loads up on a big left hand.
Morrison throws a lazy right hand but Lafayette sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Morrison swings away with a body shot that misses
and Lafayette counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Morrison loads up on a big right hand but Lafayette slips the punch.
Lafayette showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morrison.
Lafayette lands a nice hook to Morrison's body. Morrison takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Jab by Lafayette.
Lafayette dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Lafayette swings for the body but Morrison moves out of range.
A telegraphed right hand from Lafayette misses the target.

Lafayette shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Morrison felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Morrison is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Lafayette is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Morrison controlling the position well.
Morrison is trying to get back to full guard.
Morrison moves into full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morrison looking for a sweep. Not yet Morrison, not yet.
Lafayette sitting in guard here, content to control.
Lafayette postures up.
Lafayette stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morrison swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lafayette slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Morrison tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morrison bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lafayette's guard.

Morrison must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morrison stands up over Lafayette, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Morrison postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Lafayette seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Lafayette keeping moving, preventing Morrison from controlling successfully.
Lafayette working a defensive guard here.
Lafayette preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Lafayette looking for a sweep. Not yet Lafayette, not yet.
Morrison looking to sit in guard and control but Lafayette gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Lafayette trying to control the position from guard on top but Morrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morrison controls Lafayette momentarily but Lafayette frees himself.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Rene Lafayette will probably get the nod.
That's time! Lafayette's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Morrison is looking to clinch.
Morrison fails with an attempt to clinch.
Lafayette shoots in looking for a takedown but Morrison manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Lafayette's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Morrison misses with a body shot.
Morrison staying out of range there.
Morrison misses with a double jab
and Lafayette counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Lafayette fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Morrison throws a body shot but no joy.
A slow jab from Morrison misses its intended target.
Lafayette is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Morrison can do to turn this around?
Morrison pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lafayette uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morrison.
Morrison dodges the punch combination from Lafayette.
Morrison clobbers Lafayette with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

Lafayette scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrison tries to buck Lafayette off but Lafayette is having none of it.
Lafayette trying to control the action but Morrison is working from the bottom.
A lull in the action here.
Morrison tries to bench press Lafayette off him but Lafayette keeps the position.

Lafayette thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Morrison is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Lafayette's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Morrison wants to get back to full guard.
Morrison is in trouble now - Lafayette has advanced to mount!
Morrison tries to hold on but Lafayette pushes him away.
Morrison prevents any damage by holding on tight.
Morrison is trying desperately to improve position.
Morrison tries to hold on but Lafayette pushes him away.
Lafayette looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lafayette working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Morrison is desperately trying to improve his position but Lafayette has a good base and remains in mount.
Lafayette controlling the pace for now.
Frank Morrison has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Morrison working to try and regain half guard.
Morrison is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Rene Lafayette is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Morrison is in all sorts of trouble here.
Morrison is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lafayette looking to control but Morrison is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Lafayette content just to control the position here.
Lafayette looking to control but Morrison is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Morrison reaches up and holds on to Lafayette to control the position.
Lafayette moves to the back position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lafayette has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Morrison's body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rene Lafayette showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Lafayette has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rene Lafayette!
Rene Lafayette decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.
In defeat, Frank Morrison stepped up to the mic, saying 'This is no place for cowards'.