PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Island Yonic (ranked 2507 p4p, 6859 weight class) and William Smyth (ranked 339 p4p, 711 weight class). Island Yonic has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Yonic
vs
Smyth

185 cm
29
185
7 - 4 - 0

183 cm
22
180
2 - 6 - 1

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Island Yonic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 6 - 1, fighting out of London, William Smyth!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Wesley Smith and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Yonic closes the distance and pushes Smyth back into the cage.
Yonic keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Smyth's efforts to push away.

Smyth pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Smyth throws the left hand but Yonic avoids the punch easily.

Yonic moves into the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Smyth fails to land.
Yonic wants to get back to striking at distance but Smyth won't allow it.

Smyth's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Good work by Yonic as he checks the leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Smyth is looking to slow Yonic down with leg kicks.
Smyth lands a right hook to the body.
Smyth scores with the left hand. Yonic knows he should have avoided that one.
Smyth misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yonic wants to clinch.
Smyth looks to score with a jab to the body but Yonic is just out of range.
Yonic dives in for a single leg takedown but Smyth sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Yonic tries to land knees in the clinch but Smyth avoids the damage to the body.
Yonic working hard to break the clinch.
Yonic is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Smyth to keep the fight standing.

Yonic is trying to trip Smyth. He has hold of a leg but Smyth is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Yonic persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Yonic is standing up over Smyth. Smyth looks to escape but Yonic dives into side control.

Yonic misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yonic controls the position from side control.
Smyth is looking to regain half guard here but Yonic keeps moving and retains side control.
Yonic is staying tight to Smyth's torso, preventing him from escaping.

Yonic stands up and beckons Smyth to his feet.
Smyth lands an overhand right.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Danga de danga de dang - Smyth scores with a four punch combination!
Smyth throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Yonic keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Yonic tried to counter with a leg kick but Smyth avoided it.
Smyth lands with a nice body punch.
Smyth is looking to clinch but Yonic is avoiding it.

Yonic manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Smyth on his heels. He'll look to pass Smyth's guard now, I'm sure.
Yonic sitting in guard here, content to control.
Yonic throws a big elbow that misses.
Yonic controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yonic lands a couple of digs.
Yonic is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Yonic is pushing down on Smyth's leg trying to pass to half guard. Smyth is fighting to maintain full guard but Yonic has managed to sneak the leg through.
Yonic controlling the action here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Smyth has hold of Yonic's hands but Yonic slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but William Smyth will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Smyth dives in and scores a takedown into Yonic's guard.
Smyth tries to free his leg and advance position but Yonic is retaining full guard.
Yonic bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Smyth's guard.

Yonic 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.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Yonic's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smyth really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Yonic. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Smyth looking to control.
Yonic working some strikes from top position.
Yonic stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Smyth swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Yonic stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Smyth pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Yonic wants to clinch.
Smyth scores with a nice head shot.
Yonic checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Yonic shoots in for a takedown but Smyth shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Yonic closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Smyth quickly recovers to half guard.

Smyth makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Yonic slips under a jab from Smyth.
Yonic has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Yonic has closed the distance and engaged Smyth in a clinch.

Yonic jumps guard and drags Smyth to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Smyth looking to pass the guard.
Smyth throws a big right hand that misses.
Yonic has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Smyth scoring with some ground and pound.
Smyth throws a strike but Yonic rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Yonic stands up over Smyth, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Yonic gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Yonic tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Smyth paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Yonic tries to clinch but Smyth moves out of range.
Smyth appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Smyth with a hook.

Smyth closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Smyth lands in his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smyth wants to pass the guard but Yonic is keeping the position.
Smyth won't allow Yonic to get back to his feet.
Yonic avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Smyth won't allow Yonic to sweep him here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Smyth has gone for a leg lock! Yonic slips out almost immediately though and dives into Smyth's guard.

Yonic controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Smyth not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Island Yonic overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Yonic gets to his feet - Smyth follows without any prompting.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but William Smyth will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Smyth closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Yonic to the mat! Yonic manages to get full guard.
Smyth must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Smyth looking to pass the guard.
Yonic manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Smyth manages to get himself to full guard.

Yonic landing some decent shots from guard.

Yonic is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Yonic gets to his feet - Smyth follows without any prompting.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Yonic clinches with his opponent.
Yonic drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Smyth breaks the clinch.
Yonic showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Smyth.
Smyth's corner calls for a 1-2. Smyth obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Smyth stuffs the takedown.
Smyth lands a body shot.
Yonic slips a jab and a cross from Smyth.
Smyth throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Yonic.
William Smyth seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smyth misses with the combination.
Yonic is looking to clinch.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Smyth enables Yonic to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Smyth manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Yonic tries to free his leg and advance position but Smyth is retaining full guard.
Yonic is working hard here to advance position.
Yonic controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Yonic postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
William Smyth is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yonic looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Smyth not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Smyth has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Tycoon Gym. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Yonic tries to close the distance and clinch up but Smyth swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Smyth swats away the attempt to clinch by Yonic.
Smyth throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Yonic shoots in for a takedown but Smyth shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Island Yonic. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four 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.
Smyth lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Smyth connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Yonic momentarily.
Yonic shoots for a double leg takedown but Smyth sprawls well. He's pushed Yonic's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Yonic throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Smyth throws a series of punches but Yonic moves out of range.
Yonic quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.
Yonic takes a shot to the body in his stride.

Yonic shoots in and gets a takedown into Smyth's guard.
Yonic wants to pass the guard but Smyth is keeping the position.
Yonic content to stall in guard here.
Yonic throwing strikes from guard but Smyth blocks nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
William Smyth comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Smyth winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 29:30
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... William Smyth!
An out of breath William Smyth thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.