PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Will Martins (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jason Statham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Martins
vs
Statham

177 cm
18
177 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
25
176 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Will Martins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jason Statham!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Paul Tew and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Statham swinging wildly here.
Statham dives in and grabs Martins's left leg, looking for a takedown. Martins pushes down on Statham's head and hops out.
Statham looks to land a combination but Martins avoids it well.
Statham throws a right hand that Martins ducks under and follows up with a left that Martins also avoids with ease.

Statham bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Martins is pushing Statham's head away, looking to escape. Statham manages to hold on to the position though.
Statham misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Martins is trying to get back to half guard.
Statham wants to stand but Martins is controlling his arm.
Martins dodges the ground and pound from Statham.
Martins is looking to reverse the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Martins is trying to control Statham's posture but Statham avoids it.
Statham fails to land a wild elbow strike.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Statham throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Statham throws a sloppy head kick and Martins moves out of range easily.
Statham looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Martins shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Statham wants to get back to his feet.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Statham is not content to let Martins control the position.
Martins working Statham over with strikes.
Ground and pound from Martins.
Martins wants to control but Statham is keeping him busy.
Martins takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Martins takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Martins sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Martins has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Nice strikes from Martins there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Martins content to control rather than advance.
Martins scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Martins controlling the pace.
Statham tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Statham tries to roll over but Martins keeps him under control.
Martins looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Statham with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Martins perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Martins wants to take a breather but Statham is having none of it.
Statham has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Martins lands with a punch from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Statham is defending against the submission attempts here by Martins.
Martins looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Martins seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Statham does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Martins looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Statham with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Martins is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Martins controlling the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Will Martins.
Nice sprawl there from Statham as Martins shoots in.
Statham throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A punch combination from Statham misses.
Martins tries to close the distance and clinch but Statham swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Statham throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Martins scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Martins lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Martins is taking a breather. Statham says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Martins landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Martins lands strikes from half guard.

Statham looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Martins is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Martins seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Statham wants to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Statham looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Will Martins dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Martins closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Statham to the mat! Statham manages to get full guard.
Martins landing some decent shots from guard.
Martins is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Martins passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Statham tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Martins wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Will Martins overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Check out the look on Martins's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Martins is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Statham will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Statham takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

Martins tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Martins in side control lands a decent elbow.
Statham is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martins landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Statham is looking for a sweep.
Martins landing strikes.
Martins lands some shots froms side control.
Check out the look on Martins's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Martins lands a few punches from side control.
Statham takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Statham is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Martins looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Statham with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Statham actively working from the bottom here.
Martins working Statham over with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Statham is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Martins pulls his head out easily.
Nice strikes from Martins there.
Statham taking some punishment here, with Martins in his half guard.
Martins controlling the action here.
Statham is staying active underneath Martins, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Martins lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Martins looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Martins 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.
Statham is trying to stand.
Martins sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Statham is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Martins scores with a couple of nice shots.
Martins lands strikes from half guard.
Martins slips a nice elbow through Statham's hands, connecting with Statham's forehead.
Martins scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Martins wants to take a breather but Statham is having none of it.
Martins working the head and body with strikes.
Martins takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Martins slips a nice elbow through Statham's hands, connecting with Statham's forehead.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Martins lands a nice short elbow.
Martins lands strikes from half guard.
Martins working over Statham with some ground and pound. Statham looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ground and pound from Martins.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Martins looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Martins is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Martins scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Nice strikes from Martins there.

Statham looking for submissions off his back.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Martins lands a nice short elbow.
Martins slips a nice elbow through Statham's hands, connecting with Statham's forehead.
Statham on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Martins lands with a punch from half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Statham is not content to let Martins control the position.
Statham wants to improve his position but Martins is controlling well.
Statham has hold of Martins's hands but Martins 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.

Will Martins dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Martins shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Martins pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Martins pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Martins lands a big shot there that rocks Statham but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Martins looking to control and managing it successfully.
Statham is working to get back to half guard.
Martins looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Statham really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Martins lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Statham takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
BOOM! Martins connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Martins lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Martins scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Statham?

Statham is rocked!
Martins looking to control and managing it successfully.
Statham is still in real trouble! Can Martins finish him?
Martins tries to control but Statham wriggling away.
Martins lands a nice shot to the head.
Statham seems to have recovered his senses.
Martins landing shots from mount.
Martins with good strikes from the mount here!
Statham tries to hold on but Martins postures up.
Martins lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Martins postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Statham looks a forlorn figure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Martins trying to control but Statham is having none of it.
Martins lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Martins has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Statham's face.
Statham tries to hold on but Martins postures up.
Martins is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Statham can do to turn this around?
Statham is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
A nice elbow there by Martins.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martins with good strikes from the mount here!
Martins landing punches.
Martins controlling the pace for now.

Martins has hold of Statham's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Statham manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Martins unloading with bombs!
Martins looking to finish Statham with some ground and pound. This is bad for Statham!
Statham is trying to escape the mount.
Martins lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Martins fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Martins putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Martins unloading with bombs!
Martins takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Martins cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Martins working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Statham is trying desperately to improve position.
Statham taking shots to the head.
Martins dominating with strikes here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Statham is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Statham is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Jason Statham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Will Martins is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Martins with shots to the head and body - Statham looks very uncomfortable down there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Will Martins showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Martins has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 James Glass scores the fight 30:25
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 30:25
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Will Martins!