PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Lincoln Wright (ranked 5168 p4p, 5529 weight class) and Byron Neal (ranked 546 p4p, 556 weight class). Byron Neal told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Wright
vs
Neal

180 cm
25
180
1 - 2 - 0

191 cm
24
179
3 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

White Gorilla
PWNAGE™

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Lincoln Wright!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Byron Neal!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, William Peck and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Neal rushes Wright and presses him up against the cage.
Wright is trying to break the clinch but Neal has him pressed against the cage.
Wright changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Neal fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Neal uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Wright.
Wright sets himself, and Neal steps forward looking for the clinch! Wright avoids it this time.

Neal has taken the fight to the clinch.
Neal looking to slow down the pace here.
The referee is keeping an eye on Neal - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Wright jumps guard but Neal turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Wright is working for takedown but Neal is calmly controlling the position for now.
Neal looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lincoln Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Wright pulls guard.
Neal wants to get up but he can't break Wright's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wright looking to hit a scissor sweep but Neal is one step ahead there.
Neal wants to stand but Wright has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright managing to control the position.
Neal wants to stand but Wright has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Neal pushes Wright up against the cage in a clinch.
Neal content to slow the pace in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Wright is trying to break the clinch but Neal is controlling him.
Neal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Neal.
Wright is trying to drag Neal to the mat but Neal just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Neal trying to stall but Wright improves his position.
Neal landing knees to the head.
Wright is trying to pull guard but Neal turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Neal with a knee to the head.
Neal is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Wright tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Neal just stands there and leans against the cage.
Wright is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Neal pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!
Wright takes an elbow to the forehead.
Wright can't get the takedown.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Neal obliges.
Wright is breathing heavily.
Neal crunches a lovely knee into Wright's ribcage.
Neal effectively controlling the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nice body punch from Neal - that landed with a thud.
Neal lands a good knee to the midsection. Wright won't want to take too many of those.
Neal utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Neal slowing the pace effectively.
Neal using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Neal - that landed with a thud.
Neal gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Wright.
Neal connects with a knee to the head.
Neal scores a nice knee to the body.
Neal lands a knee to the head.
Wright fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Neal is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Neal lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neal stops a takedown attempt from Wright.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Neal working Wright over with knees to the body.
Neal stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Neal.
Neal scores with a knee to the head.
Neal is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Neal.
Neal lands a good knee to the midsection. Wright won't want to take too many of those.
Neal avoiding damage.
Wright is trying to pull guard but Neal has him pressed against the cage.
Knees to the body from Neal.
Neal lands a body shot.
Nice body punch from Neal.
Neal lands a good knee to the midsection. Wright won't want to take too many of those.
Neal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Neal crunches a lovely knee into Wright's ribcage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Byron Neal dominated that round.
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.

Neal scores with a nice body kick.

Neal clinches.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!

It looks like Lincoln Wright has been cut.
Neal has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Neal with a knee to the head.
Neal lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Neal is trying to maintain a safe position but Wright gets an underhook and turns Neal into the cage.
Neal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Wright tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Neal just stands there and leans against the cage.
Neal scores a nice knee to the body.
Wright jumps guard but Neal turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Neal stalling in the clinch but Wright improves position.
Neal unloads a knee to the mid-section. Wright lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Neal taking a breather.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Wright has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Neal is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lincoln Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Neal utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Neal scores with a knee to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Neal with a knee to the head.
Neal stalling in the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Neal.
Neal unloads a knee to the mid-section. Wright lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Neal utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Neal stalls.
Wright is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Neal gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Neal.
Neal presses Wright against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Neal crunches a lovely knee into Wright's ribcage.
Neal connects with a knee to the head.
Neal has Wright pushed against the cage.
A knee to the head by Neal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Neal connects with a knee to the head.
Neal lands an elbow that stopped Wright in his tracks for a moment.
Neal putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Wright in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Byron Neal seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Neal crunches a lovely knee into Wright's ribcage.
Neal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
A knee to the head by Neal.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Neal.
Wright is looking for a takedown.
Neal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Neal.
Wright is trying to break the clinch but Neal has him pressed against the cage.
Wright is trying to push Neal away but Neal has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Neal lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A knee to the head by Neal.
Neal working Wright over with knees to the body.
Wright stalling in the clinch but Neal improves position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Neal connects with a nasty looking knee right to Wright's face.
Wright goes for a takedown attempt but Neal pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Neal's jab looks to have found its range, popping Wright under the eye.
Wright fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Neal avoids it really well and circles away.

Neal closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Wright wants a takedown.
Neal unloads a knee to the mid-section.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright jumps guard but Neal turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Neal landing knees to the body.
Neal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Neal putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Wright in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Knees in the clinch landing for Neal.
Neal is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Neal lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Neal scores a nice knee to the body.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!
Neal gets underhooks to prevent Wright's takedown attempt.
Neal working Wright over with knees to the body.
Neal connects with a nasty looking knee right to Wright's face.
Neal avoiding damage as Wright throws knees to the body.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Wright tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Neal with a knee to the head.
Neal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Wright tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Neal smiles and moves away.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Byron Neal showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Lincoln Wright's cut.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Neal closes the distance and pushes Wright back into the cage.
Neal looking to stall.
Wright is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Neal pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Neal obliges.
Neal lands with a light punch inside.
Wright wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Neal scores a nice knee to the body.
Neal has Wright pushed against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neal connects with a knee to the head.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!
Wright missing with knees to the body.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Neal scores with a knee to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Neal.
Neal using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Neal landing knees to the head.
Neal connects with a knee to the head.
Neal unloads a knee to the mid-section. Wright lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Neal unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Neal gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Wright.
Neal utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Knees to the body from Neal.

Wright jumps guard.
Wright is pulling down on Neal's head. It's preventing any offense from Neal, at least for the moment.
Neal has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Wright is proving hard to escape from.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wright will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Neal stopping the sweep attempt from Wright.
Neal must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Neal would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Wright has his hands on Neal's head, controlling the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Wright.

Neal fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Wright, pushing him back against the cage.
Neal just leaning against Wright, taking a breather.
Neal gets underhooks to prevent Wright's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lincoln Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wright goes for a takedown in the clinch but Neal prevents it.
Neal wants to stall.
Wright takes a knee right on the jaw!
Wright has had enough of the clinch but Neal keeps him there for the moment.
Wright wants a takedown.

Wright gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Neal tries to kick Wright off in order to stand up. Wright Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Wright'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.
Wright prevents Neal from escaping the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Byron Neal comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Neal 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 25:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 25:30
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Byron Neal!
Byron Neal took to the mic after the fight and begged the organizational hierarchy for a shot at the title.
The defeated Lincoln Wright had this to say: 'Im sorry things didnt go may way, so i will go back to trining harder smarter...next time victory will be mine'.