PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Damian Drake (ranked 2073 p4p, 1957 weight class) and Eron Saunders (ranked 20 p4p, 17 weight class). Eron Saunders will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Drake
vs
Saunders

183 cm
30
225
6 - 1 - 0

194 cm
30
221
13 - 9 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Conviction
FUClothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Damian Drake!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Eron Saunders!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, David Schapiro and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Saunders clinches up against the cage.
A short uppercut from Saunders.
Drake lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Saunders scores with a shot to the side of Drake's head.
Drake is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Drake pushes Saunders back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Saunders has a couple of punches blocked by Drake.
Saunders lands a shot to the body.
Drake blocks an uppercut.
Saunders digs a right hand underneath Drake's ribcage. Drake let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Saunders blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Saunders digs a right hand into Drake's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Drake's gas tank.

Saunders is fighting off a takedown attempt but Drake is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Saunders to the mat. Saunders regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Drake trying to control the position from guard on top but Saunders is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Drake throwing strikes from guard but Saunders blocks nicely.
Drake trying to control the position from guard on top but Saunders is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saunders wants to stand up but Drake is controlling him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Drake works over Saunders with some ground and pound from guard.
Saunders bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Drake's guard.

Drake has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Drake keeping full guard, as Saunders tries to pass.
Drake seems keen to control Saunders's posture.
Saunders is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Saunders looking to pass the guard.
Drake looking to hit a scissor sweep but Saunders is one step ahead there.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Drake is wriggling around but Saunders manages to pass to half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Eron Saunders dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Saunders tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Drake paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Saunders wants to clinch.
Eron Saunders seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Saunders tries to clinch up but Drake circles away and keeps his distance.
Nice straight punches there by Drake. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Drake.

Drake gets tackled into the cage by Saunders. Saunders maintains the clinch.
Saunders being controlled against the cage.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Saunders.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Saunders avoiding damage.
Drake tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Saunders's elbow.
Saunders tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Drake's elbow.
Saunders swings wildly with an uppercut but Drake uses good head movement to avoid it.
Drake blocks a body shot from Saunders.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saunders tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Drake's elbow.
Saunders looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Drake lands a body punch in the clinch.
Drake misses with a punch to the body.
Saunders scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Drake avoids the elbow strike from Saunders, against the cage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Drake.
Drake scores with a nice hook to the head.
Drake lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Saunders backwards.

Saunders is rocked!
Drake blocks an elbow strike.
Saunders is still on wobbly legs! Can Drake finish him?
Drake tries to work over Saunders's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Saunders seems to have recovered his senses.
Drake digs a right hand into Saunders's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Saunders's gas tank.
Saunders is breathing heavily.
Drake lands a body punch in the clinch.
Eron Saunders seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Drake goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Drake is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Saunders gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Drake stalling against the cage.
Drake lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake avoiding damage.
Still in the clinch, Drake scores with a nice short uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Saunders stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Drake lands a right hand.
Drake misses with a hook to the ribs.
Drake misses with a short punch on the inside.
Drake misses with a punch to the body.
A short uppercut from Saunders.
Drake blocks a body shot from Saunders.
Saunders tries a body shot but Drake blocks it.
Saunders tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Drake tries to work over Saunders's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Saunders prevents a body shot from Drake.
Drake scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Saunders lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Saunders throws a punch but it's blocked by Drake.
Drake is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Saunders pulls him back up using the underhooks.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Damian Drake dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Saunders tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Drake paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Saunders gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Drake tries to throw a body punch but Saunders avoids it by throwing Drake back against the cage.
Saunders swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Saunders lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Drake or not.
A shot in the inside from Drake.

Drake breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Saunders tries to clinch up
and Drake counters with a left and a right that stings Saunders.
Saunders tries to close the distance and clinch up but Drake swats him away and circles back towards the center.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Saunders clinches.
Saunders digs a right hand into Drake's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Drake's gas tank.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Saunders.
Saunders lands a nice uppercut.
Saunders doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Saunders is fighting off a takedown attempt but Drake is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Saunders to the mat. Saunders regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Drake stopping the sweep attempt from Saunders.
Drake with a nice head shot there.
Saunders keeping moving, preventing Drake from controlling successfully.
Drake in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Saunders working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Drake.
Drake postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Drake throwing strikes from guard but Saunders blocks nicely.
Drake preventing the sweep.
Saunders not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Drake might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Drake throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Drake working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Drake trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Damian Drake overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Drake throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Saunders works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Drake controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Drake throws an elbow that misses. Saunders uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Drake's guard. Nice move by Saunders!

Saunders pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Drake is keeping the position for now.
Saunders sitting in guard here, content to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Damian Drake showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Drake has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 John Roberts scores the fight 29:28
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Damian Drake!