PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alex Doumbos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Josh Howell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Doumbos
vs
Howell

186 cm
21
200 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

210 cm
23
201 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Alex Doumbos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Josh Howell!
The judges for this bout are Donatello Bradman, Damien Edna and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Doumbos shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Doumbos fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Doumbos swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Nice shot lands for Howell.
Doumbos scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Doumbos.
Howell comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Doumbos thows a left - swing and a miss!
Howell throws a predictable looking body shot
and Doumbos counters with a nice uppercut.
Doumbos misses the shot to the body.
Howell lands a jab to the head.
Howell uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Doumbos.
A big left from Doumbos misses.
Doumbos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Doumbos throws a combination that misses
and Howell cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Howell scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Doumbos gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Howell counters with a takedown into side control.
Doumbos's coaches at Blunt Force Training have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Doumbos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Doumbos tries to buck Howell off but Howell is having none of it.
Howell is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howell throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Doumbos is looking to reverse the position.
Howell really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Doumbos. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Doumbos parries the strikes from Howell easily there. Howell is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Doumbos to escape.
Doumbos is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Doumbos is working hard here to advance position.
Howell moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Doumbos tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Howell presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Howell avoids the attempt from Doumbos to control.
Howell looking to control but Doumbos is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Doumbos tries to reverse the position but Howell maintains control.
Howell with good strikes from the mount here!
Doumbos working to try and regain half guard.
Howell throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howell content just to control the position here.
Doumbos tries to reverse the position but Howell maintains control.
Doumbos might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Howell controlling the pace for now.
Doumbos wants to control but Howell is having none of it.
Doumbos regains half guard.
Howell thows a huge punch but Doumbos dodges it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well, if Howell is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Doumbos is not content to let Howell control the position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Josh Howell wasn't active enough on the ground.
Howell dips to his left and cracks Doumbos with an uppercut!
Doumbos misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Doumbos buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Howell lands with a cross.
Doumbos rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Howell moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Doumbos ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Howell moves away.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Howell staying out of range there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Howell dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Doumbos throws a jab when Howell was well out of range.
Doumbos misses with a jab, cross combination.
Doumbos misses with a head kick.
Doumbos is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Howell's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Howell scores with a shot to the body.
Doumbos shoots in for a takedown but Howell shows good takedown defense.
Howell dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Doumbos shoots in looking for a takedown. Howell tries to sprawl out of it but Doumbos keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Howell manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Doumbos looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Howell!
Howell dodges the ground and pound from Doumbos.
Doumbos working the ground and pound.
Howell tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Doumbos wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Doumbos throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Howell is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Doumbos is one step ahead and moves to full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Doumbos misses with a head shot.
Doumbos sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Doumbos is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Doumbos working Howell over with strikes here.
Howell can't escape the position.
Doumbos unloads with some shots from mount but Howell bucks and avoids them well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Doumbos landing strikes from the mount and Howell is in trouble!
Doumbos throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Howell felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

Doumbos goes for an armbar but Howell turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Howell.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Howell trying to control but Doumbos is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Doumbos trying to keep a closed guard but Howell is proving a slippery customer.
Howell must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Doumbos is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Howell is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Howell seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Howell stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Doumbos swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Howell missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Josh Howell has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Doumbos takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Doumbos will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Doumbos tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Howell stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Doumbos looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Doumbos fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Doumbos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Howell connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Howell lands a nice shot that snaps Doumbos's head back.
Howell lands a head shot.
Doumbos fails with an attempt to clinch.
Doumbos missing with a left hand there. Howell was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Alex Doumbos is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Howell scores with a one two! Doumbos had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Howell scores with a jab to the head.

Doumbos is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
No luck for Doumbos with that takedown attempt.
Howell connects with a crisp jab.
Oh Doumbos is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Howell avoids a punch combination nicely.

Doumbos shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Howell is doing well to control the position and prevent Doumbos from advancing to side control.
Doumbos seems to have got his legs back now.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Howell won't allow Doumbos to pass to mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Alex Doumbos will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're 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.

Howell connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Doumbos scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Howell lands a two punch combo.
Howell lands a jab to the nose.
Howell lands a nice hook to Doumbos's body. Doumbos takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Doumbos misses with a hook.
Doumbos wants to clinch.
A jab from Howell finds it's way through Doumbos's defenses.
Doumbos takes a swing at Howell's ribcage but misses.
Howell lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Doumbos circles away quickly and effectively.
Howell throws a one two combo.
Howell thows a body shot but no joy.
Howell lands a jab to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Doumbos takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Doumbos throws a hook to the side of Howell's head but Howell sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Josh Howell is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Doumbos avoids a punch combination nicely.
Doumbos misses with a hook. Howell ducked under it nicely.
Howell looks to throw the jab but Doumbos is out of range.
Nice uppercut lands for Howell. That snapped Doumbos's head back.
A lazy left from Howell finds it's target.
Howell lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Howell throws a good cross that connects.
Doumbos misses with a hook

and Howell counters with a big slam followed by a series of strikes - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Slam). Josh Howell!