PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Byron Bridges (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Desmond Nelson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nelson has chosen skillet ~ monster as his entrance music. Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Bridges
vs
Nelson

172 cm
21
140 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

170 cm
24
136 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Byron Bridges!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Desmond Nelson!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Jonathan Paton and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bridges misses with a two punch combination.

Bridges manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Nelson on his heels. He'll look to pass Nelson's guard now, I'm sure.
Nelson tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Bridges postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Bridges decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Nelson, up you get!
Bridges misses with a double jab
and Nelson counters with a two punch combo.
Nelson has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Bridges is landing a low percentage of strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bridges throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Nelson counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Left hook, right uppercut from Nelson.
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!
Nelson lunges at Bridges with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Bridges's hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bridges lands a head kick!

Bridges closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Nelson sneaks out the side door and pushes Bridges away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Bridges misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Bridges manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Nelson on his heels. He'll look to pass Nelson's guard now, I'm sure.

Nelson is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Bridges manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bridges shoots in and bounces Nelson off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Nelson pushes Bridges off and gets back to his feet.
Bridges throws a head kick but Nelson moves out of range.
Nelson wants to counter with a clinch but Bridges pushes him away.
Some wild striking there from Nelson.

Nelson closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nelson thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bridges holds on to Nelson's head and controls the position momentarily.

Nelson decides to stand back up. Nelson steps back and let's Bridges get back to his feet.

Nelson shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Nelson showed some decent athleticism there.
Bridges slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Bridges is breathing heavily.
Bridges keeping moving, preventing Nelson from controlling successfully.
Nelson sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Bridges's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bridges preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Nelson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Nelson wants to take a breather but Bridges is having none of it.
Bridges knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Nelson on the ground.
Bridges is holding on to half guard well.
Bridges wants to get back to full guard.
Bridges is pressing down on Nelson's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Bridges not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Nelson thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Nelson is looking to stand up but Bridges won't let him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Desmond Nelson dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Bridges gets caught napping as Nelson dives in and scores a takedown. Bridges manages to retain guard.
Bridges seems keen to control Nelson's posture.
Nelson slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Bridges.
Nelson wants to pass the guard but Bridges is defending well.
Bridges works his way to full guard. Good work.
Nelson trying to control the position from guard on top but Bridges is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Bridges looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nelson is fighting to break Bridges's control of his arms but Bridges is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Bridges looking to control.
Bridges throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson passes Bridges's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bridges has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Nelson is working away from the top position though.
Bridges is staying active underneath Nelson, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Nelson wants to work for an arm triangle but Bridges is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Nelson is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Bridges has managed to free his arm - good work.
Bridges is controlling Nelson's trapped leg to prevent Nelson from advancing to side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bridges is looking to improve his position.

Nelson seems to be looking for submissions.
Bridges is not content to let Nelson control the position.
Bridges is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Nelson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Bridges defends it well.
Bridges is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bridges is looking to control Nelson's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Bridges avoid being mounted?

Nelson is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Nelson trying to control the action but Bridges is working from the bottom.

Nelson is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Bridges is positioning himself well to prevent Nelson advancing to mount.
Bridges trying to hold on to Nelson's head to control him but Nelson postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bridges punching from the bottom.
Bridges trying to control but Nelson postures up.
Nelson is keen to just control but Bridges is a slippery customer.
Nelson passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Bridges!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bridges keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nelson looking to control but Bridges is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Bridges tries to reverse the position but Nelson maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Desmond Nelson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Nelson scores with a takedown into Bridges's guard.
Bridges is trying to keep Nelson in close.
Bridges is controlling Nelson's posture.

Nelson decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Bridges, up you get!
Sloppy strikes from Bridges. Those never looked like landing.
Bridges misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Bridges drives through with a takedown into Nelson's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Nelson kicks Bridges off and gets to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bridges with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Nelson to score with a decent uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Nelson throws a right and a left that both miss.
Bridges is looking for a counter combo.

Bridges shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Bridges was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Nelson explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!

Bridges fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Nelson to the ground. Bridges is now in Nelson's guard.

Nelson is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Bridges presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
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!
Nelson wants to break free but Bridges has control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bridges breaks from the clinch.

Bridges dives in and scores a takedown into Nelson's guard.

Nelson has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Bridges is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Nelson has had enough of the clinch but Bridges keeps him there for the moment.
Bridges prevents Nelson from breaking the clinch.
Nelson trying to control the position but instead, Bridges has worked for underhooks and has pushed Nelson into the cage.
Nelson is looking to break free of the clinch but Bridges has double underhooks.
Nelson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nelson wants to break the clinch but can't.

Bridges pulls guard effortlessly.
Bridges keeping moving, preventing Nelson from controlling successfully.
Bridges tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Bridges throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Bridges looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Nelson wants to pass the guard but Bridges is keeping the position.
Nelson wants to control from the top but Bridges keeps moving.
Bridges working a defensive guard here.
Nelson stands and throws Bridges's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Desmond Nelson is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Nelson trying to control the action but Bridges is working from the bottom.
Bridges throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.
Nelson wants to lay and pray for a moment but Bridges keeps working.

And that's the end of the fight!
Desmond Nelson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Nelson has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Desmond Nelson!
Desmond Nelson spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.