PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Justice Washington (ranked 2278 p4p, 1710 weight class) and Luke Ridley (ranked 232 p4p, 176 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Washington
vs
Ridley

185 cm
26
156
5 - 4 - 0

175 cm
26
165
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Justice Washington!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Luke Ridley!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Michael Johnstone and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Ridley lands a left hand that snaps the head of Washington backwards.
Washington trying to control the position but instead, Ridley has worked for underhooks and has pushed Washington into the cage.
Washington taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Washington jumps guard but Ridley turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Ridley escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Washington misses with a hook.
Ridley tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Washington was well out of range. Poor timing from Ridley.
Washington drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Washington tries to clinch but Ridley is having none of it.
Washington fails with an attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Washington closes the distance and pushes Ridley back into the cage.

Ridley breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Washington tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ridley swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ridley keeps the fight on the outside.
Ridley throws a hook but Washington avoids it easily.
Washington is looking to clinch but Ridley is avoiding it.
Washington definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Washington tries to clinch but Ridley is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ridley gets tackled into the cage by Washington. Washington maintains the clinch.
Ridley trying to land knees to the body.
Washington jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Ridley walks away with a smile on his face. Washington gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Ridley misses with a straight right.
Washington wants to clinch up but Ridley keeps it at a distance.
A swing and a miss from Washington.
Washington moves in looking to clinch but Ridley pushes him off.
Ridley lands a really nice looking cross but Washington seems unphased.
Ridley looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
A telegraphed right hand from Ridley misses the target.
Ridley misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ridley throws a hook to the side of Washington's head but Washington sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Washington tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ridley manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Ridley unleashes a big counter combination but Washington bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Ridley misses with the combination.
Ridley slips a jab from Washington.
Ridley throws out a counter right but Washington avoids it with no problem.
Washington tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ridley manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Washington tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ridley paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ridley scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Washington gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Ridley is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ridley tries to circle away but Washington has him pinned against the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Washington.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Washington tries to pull guard but Ridley won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Justice Washington. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Washington avoiding damage as Ridley throws knees to the body.
Ridley makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Ridley fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ridley is looking to break free of the clinch but Washington has double underhooks.
Washington is looking to control Ridley's arms but Ridley gets an underhook and turns him. Now Washington has his back to the cage.
Washington is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Ridley is defending well for now.

Ridley breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Ridley throws a hook but Washington avoids it easily.

Washington fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Ridley, pushing him back against the cage.
Washington throws a punch but it's blocked by Ridley.
Washington prevents Ridley from breaking the clinch.
Washington fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Washington decides to pull guard.

Washington throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Washington looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Washington has his foot on Ridley's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ridley works his way back into a safe position though.
Washington really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Ridley with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ridley 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.
Ridley works over Washington with some ground and pound from guard.
Ridley trying to control but Washington is working from the bottom.

Washington has his foot on Ridley's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ridley works his way back into a safe position though.
Ridley is working Washington over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Washington looking for a guillotine here but Ridley defends easily.

Washington looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Ridley is pushing down on Washington's leg trying to pass to half guard. Washington is fighting to maintain full guard but Ridley has managed to sneak the leg through.
Ridley passes to side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Washington tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Washington manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Ridley moves nicely into side control.
Washington is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Washington is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Ridley is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Washington wants to improve his position but Ridley is controlling well.
Ridley working the head and body with strikes.

Washington is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Ridley is looking for a kimura here.

Washington looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Washington is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ridley pulls his head out easily.
Ridley slips a nice elbow through Washington's hands, connecting with Washington's forehead.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Luke Ridley dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Washington misses with an uppercut.
Washington tries to clinch up but Ridley circles away and keeps his distance.
Washington doesn't manage to clinch there - Ridley circles away.
Ridley throws a jab when Washington was well out of range.
Washington tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Washington fails with an attempt to clinch.
Ridley throws out a counter right but Washington avoids it with no problem.
Washington walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Ridley keeps the fight on the outside.
Ridley avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Ridley throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Ridley might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Washington's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Ridley connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Washington scrambles back to his feet.
Oh Washington is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Washington misses with a straight left.
Ridley swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Washington is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ridley keeps the fight on the outside.
Washington slips a jab from Ridley.
Washington seems to have got his legs back now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ridley lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

Washington clinches with his opponent.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ridley misses with a punch on the inside.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Washington.
Washington blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ridley has picked Washington up - he's going for a ride! Ridley dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Washington is staying active underneath Ridley, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Ridley has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Washington is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ridley pulls his head out easily.

Washington looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Washington is trying to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ridley moves nicely into side control.
Ridley landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Washington gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Ground and pound from Ridley.

Washington is defending against the submission attempts here by Ridley.

Washington looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ridley is keen to just control but Washington is a slippery customer.
Washington regains full guard. Nicely done.

Washington is looking for a triangle but Ridley pushes his legs off easily.
Ridley must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Washington is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Washington is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ridley is aware though and is defending well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Washington is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ridley is aware though and is defending well.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ridley content to stall in guard here.

Washington has his foot on Ridley's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ridley works his way back into a safe position though.
Ridley pushes down on Washington's leg and manages to get into half guard.

Washington actively working from the bottom here.
Nice strikes from Ridley there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ridley winds up and cracks Washington with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Washington on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Washington looking for submissions off his back.
Ridley working the head and body with strikes.
Ridley scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ridley controlling the pace.

Washington actively working from the bottom here.

Washington looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Washington taking some punishment here, with Ridley in his half guard.
Ridley trying to pass the guard but Washington defending well.

Washington is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ridley pulls his head out easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ridley winds up and cracks Washington with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Washington actively working from the bottom here.

Washington looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Ridley trying to pass the guard but Washington defending well.

Washington looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Washington is not content to let Ridley control the position.

Ridley looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Ridley working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Luke Ridley showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Ridley lands with an uppercut that bounces Washington off the cage and back into range.
Justice Washington has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The fight stays on the outside here - Washington looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Washington tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ridley paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Washington is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ridley looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Luke Ridley seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Washington fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ridley misses with a hook.
Ridley uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Ridley lands with a nice body punch.
Washington fails in his attempt to clinch.
Washington tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Ridley cracks Washington with a big right hand that sees him stumbling back against the cage! Washington falls to his knees and Ridley doesn't need a second invitatation - he rushes in and fires off several unanswered shots that force the referee to stop the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:34 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Luke Ridley!
Luke Ridley seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.