PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Slade Blaze (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Grizzly Bear (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Blaze
vs
Bear

190 cm
18
275 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

204 cm
18
290 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

Solid boxing
Good chin

Basic striking
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Slade Blaze!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Grizzly Bear!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, John Mangel and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bear tries to clinch but Blaze moves out of range.

Bear has taken the fight to the clinch.
Blaze is trying to force a seperation but Bear has the dominant position.
Blaze being controlled against the ropes.
Blaze stalling in the clinch but Bear improves position.
Bear keeps control of Blaze as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Blaze struggles to land a body shot inside as Bear controls his hands.
Bear stalling in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blaze is trying to push Bear away but Bear has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Bear stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Bear keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Blaze's efforts to push away.
Bear blocks a body shot from Blaze.
Blaze trying to stall but Bear improves his position.
Blaze wants to break the clinch but can't.
Bear controlling the action here for a moment.
Blaze wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bear has him pressed against the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blaze is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Bear has Blaze pressed against the ropes, preventing Blaze from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Blaze wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Bear is pushing Blaze up against the ropes, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Blaze wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blaze has had enough of the clinch but Bear keeps him there for the moment.
The referee is keeping an eye on Bear - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Blaze wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Bear effectively controlling the action here.
Blaze is trying to break the clinch but Bear has him pressed against the ropes.
Blaze is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Bear is defending well for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blaze is looking to break free of the clinch but Bear has double underhooks.
Blaze wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bear has him pressed against the ropes.
Blaze throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Blaze is looking to control Bear's arms but Bear gets an underhook and turns him. Now Blaze has his back to the ropes.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
The crowd are getting on Bear's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.
Blaze can't break the clinch.
Bear content to slow the pace in the clinch.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Grizzly Bear.

Blaze closes the distance and clinches.
Blaze misses with a shot to the kidneys.
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 Slade Blaze will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Blaze clinches up with Bear and pushes him back against the ropes.
Blaze tries to circle away but Bear has him pinned against the ropes.
Bear landing knees to the head.
Blaze is looking to break free of the clinch but Bear has double underhooks.
Blaze with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Bear has Blaze pressed against the ropes, preventing Blaze from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Blaze stalling in the clinch but Bear improves position.
Blaze can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Bear taking a break, stalling in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blaze unloads a knee to the mid-section. Bear lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Bear scores with a knee to the head.
Slade Blaze has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Blaze throws a punch but it's blocked by Bear.
Blaze wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Blaze is trying to break the clinch but Bear is controlling him.
Come on Bear - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Stalling in the clinch from Bear.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blaze has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Blaze pushes off an throws an elbow but Bear leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
Blaze has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Bear blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Bear will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Blaze up against the ropes.
Blaze has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Come on Bear - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blaze stalling in the clinch but Bear improves position.
Bear's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Grizzly Bear.

Blaze instigates a clinch.
Blaze tries to break the clinch but Bear is controlling the position.
Blaze throws a head punch that misses.
Bear prevents Blaze from breaking the clinch.
Blaze is trying to push Bear away but Bear has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Bear.
Blaze can't find room to land a body shot as Bear controls the action.
Blaze has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Blaze wants to stall.
Blaze misses with a short punch on the inside.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Blaze wants to break the clinch but can't.
Bear pressing his opponent against the ropes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Slade Blaze dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Bear clinches up against the ropes.
A bit of stalling here from Bear.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Grizzly Bear.

Blaze has taken the fight to the clinch.
Blaze looking to slow down the pace here.
Blaze can't find room to land a body shot as Bear controls the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bear holding his opponent close, against the ropes.
Blaze tries to circle away but Bear has him pinned against the ropes.
Blaze tries to break the clinch but Bear is controlling the position.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Bear as Blaze tries to tie him up.
Bear on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Blaze tries to circle away but Bear has him pinned against the ropes.
Bear manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blaze is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Bear is keeping busy.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Blaze takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Bear holding his opponent close, against the ropes.
Blaze is trying to stall.
Blaze working hard to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bear holding his opponent close, against the ropes.
Bear avoiding damage as Blaze throws knees to the body.
Bear keeps control of Blaze as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Blaze can't find room to land a body shot as Bear controls the action.
Bear effectively controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blaze throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Bear blocks it with crossed arms.
Blaze is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Bear is keeping busy.
Bear throws an elbow that misses.
Bear stalls.
Grizzly Bear has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Slade Blaze is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Blaze tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Slade Blaze.
Well Blaze 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 30:27
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Slade Blaze!
After winning the bout, Slade Blaze thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.