PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sam Willson (ranked 3033 p4p, 4307 weight class) and Ji Bai (ranked 414 p4p, 0 weight class). Sam Willson could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ji Bai's chin.

Willson
vs
Bai

185 cm
25
210
1 - 1 - 0

200 cm
19
210
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Sam Willson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ji Bai!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice leg kick lands there from Willson.
Willson misses with a head kick.
Bai misses with a takedown attempt - Willson sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Willson leaves Bai with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Willson shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Bai's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Willson's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Willson won't allow Bai to sweep him here.
Willson won't allow Bai to get back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Willson stands up from Bai's guard - Willson perhaps looking for a knockout.

Willson dives in and scores a takedown into Bai's guard.

Bai wriggles free and stands up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bai keeps the fight on the outside.
Bai shoots in but no luck this time.
Sam Willson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ji Bai.
Bai tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Ji Bai seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Horrible takedown attempt by Willson or perhaps it was just good defense by Bai, which made it look bad.
Bai takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

It looks like Ji Bai has been cut.
Bai closes the distance and clinches up with Willson, looking for a takedown. Bai pushes Willson against the cage but Willson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Bai looks winded!

Bai gets caught napping as Willson dives in and scores a takedown. Bai manages to retain guard.
Willson wants to pass the guard but Bai is keeping the position.
Willson is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Bai can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bai tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Willson stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Willson shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Willson passes to full mount!
Willson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Willson.
Bai in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Bai really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Willson. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Willson controlling the pace for now.
Willson works his way to his opponent's back.
Good control from Willson.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willson is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Bai. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Willson biding his time, looking for the opening.
Bai trying to control the hands but Willson breaks the grip.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Willson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ji Bai's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Willson shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Bai defends it nicely.
Willson connects with a solid leg kick.

Willson fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Bai to the ground. Willson is now in Bai's guard.
Bai wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Willson manages to pass to side control.

Willson wants to lay and pray for a moment but Bai keeps working.
Sam Willson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Willson with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Willson'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.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Willson connects with a nice short shot to Bai's temple.
Bai is looking to escape.
Willson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Bai can do to turn this around?

Willson is looking for a kimura here.
Bai tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Willson manages to move to mount!
Bai is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Willson looking to control and managing it successfully.
Willson with good strikes from the mount here!
Willson content just to control the position here.
Willson is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Willson misses with a head shot.
Willson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Bai is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Willson fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Bai takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Bai looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
BOOM! Willson connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Willson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Willson seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Bai for as long as he can get away with.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Willson moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Bai has worked his arm free - good work by Bai!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Willson stands up and beckons Bai to his feet.
Willson bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Willson fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Bai shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Willson as he jumps to the side.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Bai looks for a takedown but Willson sprawls well.
Willson closes the distance and clinches up with Bai, looking for a takedown. Willson pushes Bai against the cage but Bai circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Willson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ji Bai'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. This is the final round!

Willson shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Willson showed some decent athleticism there.
Bai is trying to escape back to his feet but Willson uses the scramble to pass into side control.
Bai tries to buck Willson off but Willson is having none of it.
A lull in the action here as Willson stalls from top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Willson 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.
Bai takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Bai is trying to buck Willson off.

Willson stands up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Willson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Willson fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Willson clinches with his opponent.
Willson wants to stall.
Bai tries to score a body lock takedown but Willson shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Bai ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Bai no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Willson showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Willson forces his way into half guard.

Willson gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Willson connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Willson lets loose with a powerful body kick. Bai will feel that in the morning.

Willson shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Bai napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Bai wants to get back to his feet but Willson is dominant here and he's now got Bai's back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Willson is working on the RNC. He looks like he's got it but Bai won't tap... Oh, he's out! The ref rips Willson off his unconscious opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:23 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Sam Willson!
A very excited looking Sam Willson rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.