PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zach vanEsselstyn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Jackson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). vanEsselstyn comes to the cage accompanied by Day and Night. This should be fireworks!

vanEsselstyn
vs
Jackson

188 cm
22
265 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
21
245 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Attliction

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Zach vanEsselstyn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Chris Jackson!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, David Schapiro and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jackson's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Jackson duly obliges.
vanEsselstyn misses with a few strikes there.
Jackson throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Jackson tries to clinch but vanEsselstyn is having none of it.
Jackson dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
vanEsselstyn changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Jackson tries to avoid it but vanEsselstyn manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Jackson to the ground. Jackson escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
vanEsselstyn scores with a nice head shot.
Jackson keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
vanEsselstyn looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zach vanEsselstyn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Jackson lands with a thumping leg kick.
vanEsselstyn chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Jackson can pounce on him.
Jackson tries to close the distance and clinch up but vanEsselstyn swats him away and circles back towards the center.

vanEsselstyn decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
vanEsselstyn trying to control the action but Jackson is working from the bottom.
vanEsselstyn sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Jackson defending well though.
vanEsselstyn is breathing heavily.
Jackson tries to roll over but vanEsselstyn keeps him under control.
vanEsselstyn works his way into full mount!
vanEsselstyn throwing strikes here but Jackson is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jackson is working to get back to half guard.
Jackson wants to hold on but vanEsselstyn pushes him away.
vanEsselstyn with the ground and pound from mount.
Jackson flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Jackson tries to hold on but vanEsselstyn pushes him away.
vanEsselstyn with good strikes from the mount here!
vanEsselstyn with the ground and pound from mount.
vanEsselstyn with shots to the head and body - Jackson looks very uncomfortable down there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Jackson tries to buck vanEsselstyn off but he can't manage it.
Jackson wants to control but vanEsselstyn is having none of it.
vanEsselstyn is landing with some decent strikes but Jackson is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
vanEsselstyn landing strikes from the mount and Jackson is in trouble!
vanEsselstyn with the ground and pound from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jackson is trying to escape the mount.
vanEsselstyn raining down shots from the mount!
Jackson flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Jackson is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
vanEsselstyn with a couple of short strikes.
Jackson sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Jackson throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Jackson is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of vanEsselstyn's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take vanEsselstyn's back!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Jackson.
Jackson keeps control of the position as vanEsselstyn tries to break free.
Jackson wants to control but vanEsselstyn is keeping busy.
vanEsselstyn is covering up but some of the strikes from Jackson are getting through and doing damage.

Jackson is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. vanEsselstyn defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Jackson keeps control of the position as vanEsselstyn tries to break free.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jackson has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of vanEsselstyn's body.
Jackson has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Will Jackson go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

Jackson looking for the choke from the back.
vanEsselstyn holding both Jackson 's hands and preventing any damage.
vanEsselstyn tries to escape the position.
Jackson trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
vanEsselstyn breaks Jackson's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
vanEsselstyn is working Jackson over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
vanEsselstyn distracts Jackson with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
vanEsselstyn working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Jackson's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jackson keeping moving, preventing vanEsselstyn from controlling successfully.
vanEsselstyn landing with the ground and pound.
vanEsselstyn works over Jackson with some ground and pound from guard.
vanEsselstyn landing with the ground and pound.
Jackson should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Jackson is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
vanEsselstyn throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Jackson wants to stand up but vanEsselstyn is controlling him.
vanEsselstyn pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Jackson is keeping the position for now.
vanEsselstyn with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Jackson looking for a guillotine here but vanEsselstyn defends easily.
vanEsselstyn is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Zach vanEsselstyn will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Nice sprawl there from vanEsselstyn as Jackson shoots in.

Jackson gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Jackson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
vanEsselstyn cracks Jackson with a solid left hand.
Jackson looking for a sweep. Not yet Jackson, not yet.
Jackson is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
vanEsselstyn chips away with some ground and pound.
vanEsselstyn passes Jackson's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
vanEsselstyn looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
vanEsselstyn lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Jackson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
vanEsselstyn with the ground and pound but Jackson uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Jackson working a defensive guard here.
vanEsselstyn throws a big right hand that misses.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Jackson throws some sloppy strikes off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
vanEsselstyn cracks Jackson with a solid left hand.

Jackson pushes vanEsselstyn off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Jackson slips under a jab.
Jackson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but vanEsselstyn paws at him with a jab and circles away.
vanEsselstyn fails with the takedown

and Jackson counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for vanEsselstyn!
Jackson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as vanEsselstyn is looking to escape.
vanEsselstyn tries to reverse the position but Jackson maintains control.
Jackson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Jackson trying to control but vanEsselstyn is having none of it.
vanEsselstyn is trying to escape the mount.
vanEsselstyn gets back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
vanEsselstyn is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Jackson's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Jackson's back!
vanEsselstyn lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
vanEsselstyn struggling to keep hold of the position.
Jackson covers up after that shot from vanEsselstyn.
vanEsselstyn lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.

Jackson is rocked!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards vanEsselstyn.
Jackson is still in real trouble! Can vanEsselstyn finish him?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Jackson covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
vanEsselstyn connects with a couple of big shots that have Jackson covering up! Oh, this looks bad for Jackson! vanEsselstyn fires away with several more unanswered shots and the referee has no choice but to step in! This one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:41 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Zach vanEsselstyn!