PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Quigley (ranked 716 p4p, 2078 weight class) and Jean Lucroy (ranked 101 p4p, 329 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Quigley
vs
Lucroy

194 cm
35
197
19 - 15 - 0

182 cm
38
206
19 - 10 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Shadow Realm Apparel

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 19 - 15 - 0, fighting out of London, Matthew Quigley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jean Lucroy!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Saam Ante and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lucroy misses with a takedown
and Quigley cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Quigley misses with a right hand

and Lucroy counters by moving into the clinch.
Quigley lands a right hand.
Quigley prevents a takedown attempt there.
Lucroy misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Quigley.

Quigley manages to break the clinch.
Quigley lands a nice shot that snaps Lucroy's head back.

It looks like Jean Lucroy has been cut.
Quigley misses with an uppercut. Lucroy saw that one coming.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Quigley throws a lazy right hand but Lucroy sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Quigley misses with a straight right.
Lucroy keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Quigley.
Lucroy takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lucroy drives through with a takedown into Quigley's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Lucroy trying to control but Quigley is working from the bottom.
Quigley is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Lucroy tries to free his leg and advance position but Quigley is retaining full guard.
Lucroy sitting in guard here, content to control.
Lucroy stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Quigley swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lucroy throws an elbow that misses. Quigley uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Lucroy's guard. Nice move by Quigley!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lucroy has a closed guard, preventing Quigley from standing up.

Quigley avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Quigley sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Lucroy wants to sweep but no luck.
Quigley tries to stand but Lucroy is controlling from the bottom.
Quigley postures up.
Quigley knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Lucroy on the ground.
Quigley would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Quigley showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Quigley trying to control the position from guard on top but Lucroy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Quigley would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Quigley throws a hook but Lucroy blocks it.
Lucroy shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Quigley pinned against the cage. Quigley gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Matthew Quigley has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jean Lucroy.
Quigley misses the shot to the body.

Lucroy shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Quigley makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Quigley.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Quigley working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Lucroy.
Lucroy trying to control the position from guard on top but Quigley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Quigley preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Lucroy's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Lucroy throws a strike but Quigley rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Quigley looking to sit in guard and control but Lucroy gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lucroy with a nice head shot there.
Lucroy stops Quigley from standing up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Quigley dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jean Lucroy's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Quigley lands with an uppercut that bounces Lucroy off the cage and back into range.
The fighters circling - Quigley throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Quigley punishes Lucroy's body with a nice straight punch.
Lucroy displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Quigley throws out the jab.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Quigley enables Lucroy to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Quigley manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Lucroy working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Lucroy trying to control but Quigley is working from the bottom.
Quigley wants to sweep here but Lucroy controlling him for the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lucroy wants to control from the top but Quigley keeps moving.
Lucroy throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Lucroy's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lucroy postures up and lands a big shot to Quigley's brow.
Lucroy tries to free his leg and advance position but Quigley is retaining full guard.
Lucroy trying to control the position from guard on top but Quigley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Lucroy throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Quigley works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Lucroy loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Lucroy preventing the sweep.
Quigley is working hard here to advance position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Lucroy lands a couple of elbows.
Lucroy is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Lucroy is working Quigley over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Lucroy 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.
Lucroy postures up in Quigley's guard and throws a big left but Quigley blocks it.
Lucroy passes Quigley's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Lucroy perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lucroy not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Quigley is staying active underneath Lucroy, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Quigley throws a lazy right hand but Lucroy sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Lucroy blocks a jab.
Lucroy with the counter takedown but Quigley avoids it easily.
Matthew Quigley is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A slow jab from Quigley misses its intended target.
The crowd cheers as Quigley lands an impressive looking overhand right. Lucroy doesn't seem phased though.
A big left from Quigley misses.
Lucroy takes one to the side of the head.
Lucroy moves out of range as Quigley strikes.
Matthew Quigley is winning the standup battle so far.
Lucroy shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lucroy takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Quigley throws a right and a left that both miss.
Quigley throws a body shot but no joy.
Lucroy has his takedown stuffed
and Lucroy takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Jean Lucroy is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lucroy tries for a takedown but Quigley circles away easily
and Quigley counters with a nice uppercut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Quigley scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Lucroy doesn't seem bothered though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Quigley looks to land a left hand but Lucroy moved out of range nicely.
Quigley is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.
Quigley is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Lucroy can do to turn this around?
Quigley lunges at Lucroy with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Lucroy's hand.
Quigley is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

Lucroy fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Quigley sprawls well initially but Lucroy persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Quigley dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jean Lucroy's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Quigley waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Lucroy.
Quigley misses with an uppercut. Lucroy saw that one coming.
Lucroy tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Quigley throws a looping overhand right but Lucroy ducks down to avoid it.
Lucroy's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Quigley connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Lucroy scrambles back to his feet.
Quigley is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Lucroy clinches up against the cage.
Quigley lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Lucroy or not.
Quigley is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Quigley's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Quigley misses with a hook

and Lucroy counters with a takedown into side control.
Jean Lucroy has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lucroy postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Quigley is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Lucroy lands with a punch from half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Lucroy lands a nice short elbow.
Lucroy wants to take a breather but Quigley is having none of it.
Lucroy is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Lucroy is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Lucroy working the head and body with strikes.
Lucroy winds up and cracks Quigley with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Lucroy not doing much here.
Lucroy is thwarting Quigley's attempts to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lucroy perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Lucroy has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Lucroy tries to pass the half guard into mount. Quigley knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Lucroy is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Lucroy is looking to pass Quigley's guard but actually Quigley recovers to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Quigley utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Quigley here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Lucroy in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Lucroy wants to control from the top but Quigley keeps moving.
Jean Lucroy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Matthew Quigley is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Quigley not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Nice defenses there by Lucroy.
Quigley looks to score with a jab to the body but Lucroy is just out of range.
Quigley misses with a hook. Lucroy ducked under it nicely.
Quigley misses with a looping left.
Lucroy feints the counter takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
A swing and a miss from Quigley.
Lucroy is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Quigley misses with a looping right.
Lucroy tries for a takedown but Quigley sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Quigley is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Lucroy bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Quigley connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Quigley misses with a lunging right hand

and Lucroy counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Lucroy lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Quigley keeping full guard, as Lucroy tries to pass.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lucroy loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Jean Lucroy.
I think Quigley 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 30:27
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matthew Quigley!
After winning the bout, Matthew Quigley thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.