PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between MJ Raven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Austin Aries (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Raven
vs
Aries

180 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
27
167 lbs
4 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good in bed

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

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 Sydney, MJ Raven!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Austin Aries!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, Damien Edna and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Raven doesn't manage to clinch there - Aries circles away.
Aries closes the distance and clinches up with Raven, looking for a takedown. Aries pushes Raven against the cage but Raven circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Raven tries to clinch but Aries is having none of it.
Raven ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Aries moves away.
Raven tries to clinch there but Aries circles away.
Raven stuffs the takedown.
Raven tries to clinch there but Aries circles away.

Raven rushes Aries and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Raven jumps guard and drags Aries to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Raven controls Aries momentarily but Aries frees himself.
Aries wants to pass the guard but Raven is keeping the position.
Raven is adopting a defensive guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raven has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Aries must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

We're going to have a standup here because MJ Raven wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Aries misses with a head kick.

Raven moves into the clinch successfully.
Nice elbow from Raven.

Raven breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Raven slips a straight right by Aries.
Raven fails with an attempt to clinch.
Raven doesn't manage to clinch there - Aries circles away.
Raven gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Aries counters with a single leg into guard. Raven didn't expect that.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Raven is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Raven tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

Raven is looking for a kimura here.
Aries trying to control from the bottom.
Raven thows a huge punch but Aries dodges it nicely.
Raven is looking to take a break and control but Aries is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aries trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Raven manages to pass to mount!
Raven looking to control but Aries is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Aries tries to hold on but Raven pushes him away.
Raven thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Raven sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Aries is in all sorts of trouble here.
Raven throwing strikes here but Aries is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Aries is looking to improve his position but Raven isn't that keen on the idea.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Raven looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Aries holds on to Raven as tight as he can, avoiding damage.
Aries tries to hold on but Raven pushes him away.
Raven thowing shots but they're missing.
Aries really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Raven. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Raven jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Aries manages to avoid the submission attempt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Aries pushes Raven away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Raven gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

MJ Raven dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Aries shoots in for a takedown but Raven shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Aries avoids the head kick by Raven.

Raven drives through and clinches with Aries against the cage.
Aries wants to break free but Raven has control.
Aries has had enough of the clinch but Raven keeps him there for the moment.
Aries is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Raven is defending well.

Raven breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Raven rushes Aries and presses him up against the cage.
Raven connects with a nasty looking knee right to Aries's face.
Raven utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Aries wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Aries takes a knee right on the jaw!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Raven.
Aries drops down looking for an ankle pick but Raven pulls his leg out and moves away.
MJ Raven has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Austin Aries.
Raven throws a leg kick which misses Aries's front leg but catches the back leg as Aries tries to avoid it.
Aries is breathing heavily.
Nice sprawl there from Raven as Aries shoots in.

Raven has taken the fight to the clinch.

Raven breaks the clinch.
Raven wants to clinch.
Aries slips a jab and a cross from Raven.
Aries tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Raven paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aries swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
MJ Raven seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Aries keeps the fight on the outside.
Aries shoots in but no luck this time.

Raven gets a clinch.

Raven breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Raven fails with a takedown attempt.

Raven closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Aries is trying to push Raven away but Raven has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Raven has Aries pressed against the cage.
Raven blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Raven's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Raven is looking to clinch but Aries is avoiding it.
Raven circles away from the clinch attempt.
Aries keeps the fight on the outside.
Raven tries to clinch up but Aries circles away and keeps his distance.

Aries closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Aries lands a few punches from side control.

Aries is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Raven knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Aries wants to control but Raven is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raven gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Raven is pressing down on Aries's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Aries would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Raven has control of Aries's left arm, preventing Aries from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

MJ Raven dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Raven throws a head kick but Aries moves out of range.
Aries tries to clinch but Raven is having none of it.
Raven is looking to clinch but Aries is avoiding it.
Aries lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Raven uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Aries.
Aries throws a low kick but it's checked well by Raven.
Raven tries to clinch but Aries moves out of range.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Aries.
Raven is trying to control Aries's posture but Aries avoids it.
Aries tries to advance position but instead Raven slips a leg back in to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raven trying to hold on to Aries's head to control him but Aries postures up.
Aries is looking to stall here but Raven recovers full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Raven trying to keep a closed guard but Aries is proving a slippery customer.
Raven managing to control the position.
Austin Aries has got the better of the ground game so far.
Aries throws an elbow that misses. Raven uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Aries's guard. Nice move by Raven!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Raven stands up from Aries's guard - Raven perhaps looking for a knockout.
Aries keeps the fight on the outside.
Raven tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Aries paws at him with a jab and circles away.
MJ Raven is winning the standup battle so far.
Aries fails in his attempt to clinch.
Raven tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Raven gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Aries.
Aries swats away the attempt to clinch by Raven.
Raven is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Aries circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raven lands with a nice body kick.
Aries is looking to clinch but Raven is avoiding it.
Aries misses with a head kick.
Aries lands a nice shot that snaps Raven's head back.
Raven tries to clinch but Aries moves out of range.
Aries throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Raven wants to clinch up but Aries keeps it at a distance.

Aries looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Raven!
Aries takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Raven tries to hold on but Aries postures up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Austin Aries comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Raven 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 Eliza Hachem scores the fight 29:28
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 29:28
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... MJ Raven!