PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dan Druff (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tipene Rawhiti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Druff's entrance music is Awol Nation - Sail. A fine choice. Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Druff
vs
Rawhiti

183 cm
31
233 lbs
7 - 14 - 1

186 cm
24
266 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 7 - 14 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Dan Druff!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tipene Rawhiti!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Micheangelo Fripello and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Druff jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.

It looks like Tipene Rawhiti has been cut.

Druff closes the distance and clinches.
Rawhiti wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Druff is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Rawhiti can't fight it off and eventually Druff manages to take the fight to the floor. Rawhiti looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Druff stopping the sweep attempt from Rawhiti.
Druff connects with a couple of short punches.
Druff has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Rawhiti avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Druff trying to control but Rawhiti is working from the bottom.
Druff trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Druff passes into half guard.
Druff wants to take a breather but Rawhiti is having none of it.
Druff is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rawhiti avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Druff.
Druff not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Rawhiti actively working from the bottom here.
Druff content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Druff's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Druff working Rawhiti over with strikes.
Druff works his way into full mount!
Druff pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Druff with a couple of short strikes.
Druff putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Druff pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Druff with shots to the head and body - Rawhiti looks very uncomfortable down there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Druff lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Druff loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have Rawhiti scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Druff land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Druff stands and salutes the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:53 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dan Druff!
Our winner, Dan Druff, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.