PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Waldo Whip (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Clayton Harding (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Whip comes to the cage accompanied by BLUNT- . Waldo Whip has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Whip
vs
Harding

203 cm
26
276 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

185 cm
21
230 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

Decent wrestler
Excellent MT
Powerful

Australian Xtreme - 159 Energy + Stamina!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Waldo Whip!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Clayton Harding!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Bruno Lombardi and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harding fails in his attempt to clinch.
Whip lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

It looks like Clayton Harding has been cut.
Whip circles away from the clinch attempt.
Whip keeps the fight on the outside.
Whip avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Whip moves into the clinch.
Harding misses with a knee strike.
Harding tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Whip takes a knee to the side of the body.
Harding tries to land knees in the clinch but Whip avoids the damage to the body.
Harding with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Whip on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Whip escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Whip tries to clinch but Harding is having none of it.
Whip misses with a head kick.
Harding tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Whip counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Whip.
Harding connects with a knee to the head.
Harding tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Whip escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Harding moves into the clinch.
Whip takes a knee right on the jaw!
Harding with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Whip wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Whip fails to pull guard.
Harding connects with a knee to the head.
Harding tries a knee to the head but Whip blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whip is trying to force a seperation but Harding has the dominant position.
Harding prevents Whip from breaking the clinch.
Harding misses with a knee strike.
Whip wants to break the clinch but can't.

Whip is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Harding can't fight it off and eventually Whip manages to take the fight to the floor. Harding looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Whip trying to control but Harding is working from the bottom.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Harding can do anything to dispel that myth.
Whip scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Whip wants to control from the top but Harding keeps moving.
Harding tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whip trying to control the position from guard on top but Harding is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Waldo Whip has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Whip shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Harding pinned against the cage. Harding gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Whip changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Harding tries to avoid it but Whip manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Harding to the ground. Harding escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Waldo Whip. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harding moves to clinch but Whip breaks away

and Whip counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Whip.
Harding throws a knee to the head but misses.

Whip successfully pulls guard.
Harding really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Whip. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Whip trying to keep a closed guard but Harding is proving a slippery customer.
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.
Harding wants to control from the top but Whip keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harding controlling from the top position.
Harding prevents Whip from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Harding trying to control the position from guard on top but Whip is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Whip had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Harding defends it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Waldo Whip dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Clayton Harding's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Harding tries to clinch but Whip moves away

and Whip counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Harding's guard now.
Whip stays in close to Harding's body and controls the position.
Whip trying to control the position from guard on top but Harding is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Whip scoring with some ground and pound.
Whip trying to control the position from guard on top but Harding is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Whip landing with the ground and pound.
Whip keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Harding's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whip thows a big elbow that misses.

Whip gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Whip shoots for a double leg takedown but Harding sprawls well. He's pushed Whip's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harding tries to clinch but fails miserably

so Whip counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Harding manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Whip really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harding tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Whip is working to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whip tries to buck Harding off but he can't manage it.
Whip is looking to get to half guard.
Harding tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Harding can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Whip is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Waldo Whip dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Clayton Harding's cut.
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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Harding avoids the body shot from Whip.
Harding tries to clinch up but Whip circles away and keeps his distance.

Whip pushes Harding up against the cage in a clinch.
Harding tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Harding with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Waldo Whip has been cut.

Whip has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Harding is trying to keep an underhook but Whip manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Whip trying to control from Harding's half guard. Harding has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Whip content to stall in guard here.
Whip trying to control the position from guard on top but Harding is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Whip thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whip 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.
Harding looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Harding working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Whip.
Whip loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Whip trying to control but Harding is working from the bottom.
Whip postures up.
Waldo Whip overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Whip in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Whip trying to stand up but can't free himself from Harding's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Whip throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Whip postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Harding is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Whip, into his guard.

Whip pushes Harding off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Waldo Whip is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harding looks to clinch

and Whip counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Whip.
Harding tries to land a knee to the head but Whip blocks with his arms.
Harding gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Harding utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Harding throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Whip blocks it with crossed arms.
Harding lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Whip tries to break free but Harding pushes him back against the cage.
Harding with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Harding tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
With the fighters up against the cage, Harding throws an elbow but misses.
Harding misses with a knee strike.
Harding tries a knee to the head but Whip blocks it.
Harding lands a knee to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Harding as Whip tries to tie him up.
Whip misses with a short punch on the inside.
Harding with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Harding is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Whip is defending well for now.
Harding tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Harding.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Harding just misses with a elbow thrown towards Whip's brow.
Harding with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Harding tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Harding with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Whip breaks from the clinch.
Whip shoots for a double leg takedown but Harding sprawls well. He's pushed Whip's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harding moves in looking to clinch but Whip pushes him off.

Whip shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Whip showed some decent athleticism there.
Whip perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Clayton Harding.
I think Whip 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 John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:28
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Waldo Whip!