PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between George Pieru (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Henry Downey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Downey has chosen we didn't start the fire as his entrance music. Henry Downey has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Pieru
vs
Downey

180 cm
26
184 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

175 cm
27
177 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, George Pieru!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henry Downey!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Stewart Dunkirk and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pieru tries for a takedown but Downey sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Downey looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Downey tries to close the distance and clinch up but Pieru swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Pieru gets a clinch.
Downey has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Pieru avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Pieru prevents a takedown attempt there.
Pieru blocks an uppercut.
Pieru stops a takedown attempt from Downey.
George Pieru has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Henry Downey.
Pieru is trying to drag Downey to the mat but Downey just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Pieru gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Downey.

Pieru wants the takedown. Downey is fighting it off but Pieru persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Downey's guard against the cage.
Pieru working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Pieru is working Downey over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Pieru missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Pieru is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Downey is trying to keep Pieru in close.
Pieru connects with a couple of short punches.
Pieru with a flurry of punches that miss.
Downey is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Pieru is controlling him.
Pieru with a nice head shot there.
Downey preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pieru is working Downey over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Downey looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Pieru 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.
Downey working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pieru.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Downey is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pieru accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Pieru's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Pieru distracts Downey with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Downey is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Pieru postures up in Downey's guard and throws a big left but Downey blocks it.
Pieru throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Downey is looking to stand up but Pieru isn't so interested in that idea.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pieru lands a couple of digs.
Pieru in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Pieru lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Pieru thows a big elbow that misses.
Pieru postures up.
Pieru loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Pieru content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Pieru won't allow Downey to get back to his feet.
Downey looking to hit a scissor sweep but Pieru is one step ahead there.
Downey is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pieru is positioning himself well to prevent Downey advancing to mount.
Pieru is trying to maintain the position but Downey is very close to passing his half guard.
Downey throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Downey throwing shots but Pieru is blocking nicely.
Pieru makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Pieru.
Downey in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Pieru is on top in guard.
Pieru lands a couple of decent looking shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Pieru dominated that round.
That's time! Pieru's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Downey throws a jab but it's blocked by Pieru.
Pieru is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A leg kick checked by Pieru.

Pieru gets a takedown into half guard.
Downey on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Pieru working over Downey with some ground and pound. Downey looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Downey wants to get back to his feet.
Pieru thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Downey is trying to stand back up but Pieru is controlling him

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pieru lands strikes from half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Pieru lands a nice short elbow.
Pieru lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Pieru is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Pieru is looking to advance position but Downey won't allow it.
Downey has hold of Pieru's hands but Pieru slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Pieru looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Downey wants to get back to his feet.
Pieru trying to control the action but Downey is working from the bottom.
Pieru missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Pieru prevents Downey from standing back up.
Pieru landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Pieru missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Pieru throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Downey regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Downey is looking to stand up but Pieru isn't so interested in that idea.
Pieru throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Downey works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Pieru stops Downey from standing up.
Downey is breathing heavily.
Pieru lands a couple of digs.
Downey preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pieru wants to control from the top but Downey keeps moving.
Pieru in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Pieru throws a hook to the side of Downey's head but Downey sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Pieru shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Downey as he jumps to the side.
Pieru uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Downey.
Downey has a takedown stuffed.
Downey throws a right and a left that Pieru avoids nicely.
Downey scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Downey throws a series of punches but Pieru moves out of range.
Pieru ducks under a wild hook from Downey.

Pieru shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Downey has hold of Pieru's hands but Pieru slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Pieru dominated that second round.
That's time! Pieru's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Pieru has his takedown stuffed
and Downey counters with a three punch combo that has Pieru backing up. Pieru nods at Downey to acknowledge the strikes.
A combination from Downey does no damage.
Pieru misses with a takedown attempt - Downey sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Downey stuffs the takedown attempt from Pieru. Pieru gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for George Pieru. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Downey tries to close the distance and clinch up but Pieru swats him away and circles back towards the center.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pieru uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Downey.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pieru is trying hard to land a takedown here. Downey sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Downey with a lazy takedown attempt

and Pieru counters with a nice double leg into side control. Downey won't be happy with that.
Downey managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Pieru.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Downey's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Pieru working the body and head with strikes.
Pieru with the ground and pound but Downey regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Pieru thows a huge punch but Downey dodges it nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pieru thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Downey's head.
Downey looks like he's trying to stand up.
Pieru prevents Downey from improving his position.
Henry Downey has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Nice strikes from Pieru there.
Pieru misses with a head shot. Downey uses the momentum to regain guard.
Pieru trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Pieru throwing strikes from guard but Downey blocks nicely.
Pieru with a flurry of punches that miss.

Downey is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pieru gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Downey.
Downey wants to break free but Pieru has control.
Pieru goes for a takedown attempt but Downey pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Pieru shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Downey sprawls well. Downey wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Pieru gets slowly back to his feet.
Some wild striking there from Downey.
Downey misses with a few strikes there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Downey gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Pieru to score an easy takedown into full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pieru accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Pieru throws a strike but Downey rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Pieru looking to hit a scissor sweep but Downey is one step ahead there.
George Pieru is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Downey trying to stand up but can't free himself from Pieru's guard.
Downey with a flurry of punches that miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
George Pieru showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Pieru, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... George Pieru!