PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dick van Greeven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kerry Ward (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). van Greeven comes to the cage accompanied by Tom Waits - Telephone call from Istanbul. Ward comes into a darkened arena with his song building. People are strange by The Doors kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

van Greeven
vs
Ward

205 cm
31
284 lbs
20 - 18 - 1

193 cm
26
263 lbs
13 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

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 20 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dick van Greeven!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kerry Ward!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Tiny Johnson and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ward fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Ward ducks down and throws a hook to the body but van Greeven moves away.
van Greeven shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ward pinned against the cage. Ward gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Ward is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
van Greeven jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Ward feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends van Greeven sprawling to the canvas! van Greeven rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Ward finish him?!

It looks like Dick van Greeven has been cut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Horrible takedown by van Greeven or perhaps it was just good defense by Ward which made him look bad.
Ward throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
van Greeven swings for the body but Ward moves out of range.
van Greeven getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
van Greeven keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Ward throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around van Greeven's waist but van Greeven gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Ward off to one side.

van Greeven shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
van Greeven throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
van Greeven looking to pass the guard.
van Greeven postures up in Ward's guard and throws a big left but Ward blocks it.
Ward can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as van Greeven controls the pace.
van Greeven postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
van Greeven trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ward has momentary wrist control but van Greeven slips an elbow through the middle.
Ward keeping moving, preventing van Greeven from controlling successfully.
van Greeven looking to sit in guard and control but Ward gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward won't allow van Greeven to sweep him here.
van Greeven controls Ward momentarily but Ward frees himself.
Ward trying to control but van Greeven is working from the bottom.
Ward is looking to stand up but van Greeven won't let him.
Ward stopping the sweep attempt from van Greeven.

van Greeven is working an open guard so Ward takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven lunges at Ward with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Ward's hand.
van Greeven fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dick van Greeven. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
van Greeven throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from van Greeven is defended easily by Ward.
Ward rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but van Greeven moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ward misses with a takedown attempt - van Greeven sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Ward throws a looping overhand right but van Greeven ducks down to avoid it.
Ward throws a series of punches but van Greeven moves out of range.
van Greeven tries for a takedown but Ward sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven defending well as Ward loads up on a big left hand.
Ward throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Ward wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
A swing and a miss from Ward.
van Greeven tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Ward swivels and escapes.
Ward throws a shot from downtown. van Greeven moves away and avoids it.
van Greeven fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Ward bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of van Greeven's head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
van Greeven throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ward swings for the body but van Greeven moves out of range.
Ward misses with a two punch combination.
van Greeven avoids the head kick by Ward.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
van Greeven fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Ward scores with a head kick. van Greeven tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
van Greeven moves away from the strike by Ward.
Ward wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kerry Ward dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Dick van Greeven's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

van Greeven dives in and grabs Ward's left leg, looking for a takedown. Ward pushes down on van Greeven's head and hops out.
van Greeven blocks a head kick by Ward.
van Greeven's corner calls for a 1-2. van Greeven obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Ward throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Nice defenses there by van Greeven.
van Greeven shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Ward as he avoids it easily.
Ward misses with a two punch combination.
van Greeven takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Ward stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dick van Greeven. That's going to take a lot out of him.
van Greeven avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kerry Ward seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ward misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
van Greeven steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ward.
Nice uppercut lands for Ward. That snapped van Greeven's head back.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
van Greeven shoots in for a takedown but Ward shows good takedown defense.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ward fails to land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
van Greeven misses with the combination.
Ward misses with a series of wild punches.
Ward throws a hook but van Greeven blocks it.
Ward throws the left hand but van Greeven avoids the punch easily.

van Greeven scores with a takedown into Ward's guard.
van Greeven is looking to work some ground and pound but Ward has wrist control.
van Greeven tries to free his leg and advance position but Ward is retaining full guard.
van Greeven wants to control from the top but Ward keeps moving.
Ward keeping full guard, as van Greeven tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven throws an elbow that misses. Ward uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in van Greeven's guard. Nice move by Ward!
Ward postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
van Greeven will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as van Greeven holds on and takes a little breather.

Ward is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! van Greeven is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! van Greeven has escaped and now he's on top!
Ward utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
van Greeven throwing strikes but missing.
van Greeven working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
van Greeven trying to control the position from guard on top but Ward is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
van Greeven in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ward is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
van Greeven trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Ward working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from van Greeven.
van Greeven tries to free his leg and advance position but Ward is retaining full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
van Greeven closes the distance and clinches up with Ward, looking for a takedown. van Greeven pushes Ward against the cage but Ward circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
van Greeven slips under a jab from Ward.
Ward scores with a jab. van Greeven acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Some wild striking there from van Greeven.
Ward misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from van Greeven.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Kerry Ward will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Dick van Greeven'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. This is the final round!

Nice jab there from Ward.
No joy there for Ward, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
van Greeven shoots in for a takedown but Ward shows good takedown defense.
Ward scores with a head kick. van Greeven tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.

van Greeven closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Ward did well to prevent van Greeven getting side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
van Greeven is looking to take a break and control but Ward is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
van Greeven wants to advance to full mount but Ward doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
van Greeven throws a strike but Ward rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
van Greeven is pulling down on Ward's head. It's preventing any offense from Ward, at least for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of van Greeven is proving hard to escape from.
van Greeven lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Ward!
van Greeven controlling from the full mount.
Dick van Greeven overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven working Ward over with strikes here.
van Greeven throws a strike there. Ward manages to avoid it well and slips a leg under to get to half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
van Greeven throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
van Greeven not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ward blocking the ground and pound attempt from van Greeven.
van Greeven is stalling here. Ward is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! van Greeven seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Ward has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
van Greeven regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven is looking to improve his position.

Ward decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
van Greeven changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ward tries to avoid it but van Greeven manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ward to the ground. Ward escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
van Greeven throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

van Greeven shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
van Greeven tries to control but Ward wriggling away.
Ward controls the position.
van Greeven looking to land elbow strikes but Ward uses the position to regain half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
van Greeven trying to pass the guard but Ward defending well.

Ward is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but van Greeven pulls his head out easily.
van Greeven working over Ward with some ground and pound. Ward looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Dick van Greeven has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
van Greeven looks to land a strike but Ward avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
van Greeven throwing strikes but missing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dick van Greeven showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Ward has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kerry Ward!
An out of breath Kerry Ward thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.