PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dynamo Dragon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Yup (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Dragon
vs
Yup

185 cm
18
187 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
25
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Lethal high kicks
Inexperienced

Mohito Fightwear

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Dynamo Dragon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, James Yup!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Colin Fotheringham and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dragon connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Dragon takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Yup throws a sloppy head kick and Dragon moves out of range easily.
Dragon stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Yup.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Dragon.
Dragon shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Yup counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Dragon darts in looking for a takedown but Yup gets double underhooks and turns Dragon into the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dynamo Dragon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yup lands a leg kick that knocks Dragon off balance momentarily.
Yup lands a jab to the head.
Dragon wants to clinch
and Yup counters with a series of strikes. Dragon will be more careful next time no doubt.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Yup fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Dragon stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Yup.
Yup fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Dragon on the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yup scores with a hook to the body. Dragon takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Dragon gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Yup scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
A left lands for Yup.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Yup, right into the meat.
James Yup seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dragon fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Yup avoids it really well and circles away.
Yup paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Dragon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Yup lands a glancing blow to the side of Dragon's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dragon tries to clinch there but Yup circles away.
Dragon changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Yup tries to avoid it but Dragon manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Yup to the ground. Yup escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Yup lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Dragon is looking to clinch.
Yup defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Dragon.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Yup lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Decent striking displayed by Yup there.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Yup.
Yup listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Yup throws a leg kick which misses Dragon's front leg but catches the back leg as Dragon tries to avoid it.
Dragon shoots for a takedown but Yup saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Dragon is breathing heavily.
Yup takes a swing at Dragon's ribcage but misses.
James Yup is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Yup moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dragon looks to score with a jab to the body but Yup is just out of range.
Yup works Dragon's body with a nice hook.
Yup scores with a punch to the head.
Dragon shoots in for a takedown but Yup shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Dragon looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Dragon misses with a body kick.
Yup stuns Dragon with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Dragon crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Yup - the referee stops the clock and Dragon gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Yup. Dragon manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Dragon wants to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dragon tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Yup manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Yup unleashes a big counter combination but Dragon bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Yup connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Yup is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Dragon had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Dragon fails with the takedown
and Yup counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Nice uppercut lands for Yup. That snapped Dragon's head back.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Yup stuffs the takedown.
Yup feints a counter leg kick.
Dragon is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Yup turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Yup throws a nice outside leg kick.
Yup moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Dragon tries to clinch but Yup moves out of range.
Yup is looking to slow Dragon down with leg kicks.
A nice inside leg kick there by Yup. That's going to slow Dragon down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Yup dominated that round.
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.

Dragon fails with an attempt to clinch.
Dragon fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Yup works the jab nicely.
Dragon misses with a series of wild punches.
Yup connects with a solid leg kick.
Yup throws a quick inside leg kick.
Dragon takes a shot to the body in his stride.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yup ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Yup tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Dragon manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Yup misses with an elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
With the fighters up against the cage, Yup throws an elbow but misses.
Dragon blocks the elbow strike.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Dragon swings wildly with an uppercut but Yup uses good head movement to avoid it.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Yup.
Dragon has had enough of the clinch but Yup keeps him there for the moment.
Yup pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Dragon letting Yup take a breather here.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Dragon has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Yup uses from the top position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Dragon is on top in guard.

Dragon tries to stand but Yup is controlling from the bottom.
Dragon won't allow Yup to get back to his feet.
Yup has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Dragon trying to control but Yup is working from the bottom.
Yup wants to stand but Dragon is controlling the position.
Yup really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Dragon. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dragon working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Dragon wants to control from the top but Yup keeps moving.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Yup thumps Dragon with a low kick.
Yup throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Yup is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Dragon wants to clinch.
James Yup seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Yup misses with a wild body shot.
Yup connects with an inside leg kick.
Yup swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
The fight stays on the outside here - Dragon looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Dynamo Dragon is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Dragon misses with a takedown attempt - Yup sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Dragon avoids the body shot from Yup.
Yup throws a front kick aimed at Dragon's knee but Dragon avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Yup showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Dragon throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Yup was covering up waiting for the punch and Dragon finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Yup has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Dragon is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Dragon misses with a short punch on the inside.
Dragon is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Yup is keeping busy.
Yup tries for a takedown. No joy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yup stalling in the clinch but Dragon improves position.
Yup pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Yup is trying to push Dragon away but Dragon has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Yup holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Yup takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Dragon is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Yup is defending well.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Dragon tries to score a body lock takedown but Yup shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Dragon has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Yup avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dynamo Dragon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yup is stalling here.
Yup tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Yup.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by James Yup.
Dragon shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Yup defends it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Dragon tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Yup manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Dragon throws a hook but Yup blocks it.
Dragon slips a straight right by Yup.
Yup lands a nice looking body kick.
Yup throws a series of strikes that have Dragon backpedaling.
Dragon shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Yup as he avoids it easily.
Yup fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Dragon has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Dragon takes the fight into the clinch.
Yup drops down looking for an ankle pick but Dragon pulls his leg out and moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yup leaves Dragon with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Yup looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Jab, jab by Yup - just one landing.
Dragon fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Yup avoids it really well and circles away.
Yup misses with a body shot.
Dragon tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Yup defends well and Dragon ends up having to push Yup into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
A little jabbing left from Yup on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Yup feints and then cracks Dragon's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Dragon down.
Dragon shoots for a double leg takedown but Yup sprawls well. He's pushed Dragon's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Yup cracks Dragon with an open hand slap.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head kick from Yup lands but Dragon takes it in his stride.
Yup throws an overhand right that lands on Dragon's shoulder, as Dragon tries to avoid the shot.
Horrible takedown attempt by Dragon or perhaps it was just good defense by Yup, which made it look bad.
Dragon fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
James Yup is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Yup connects with a solid leg kick.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Dragon shoots in but no luck this time.
Yup swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Yup lands a jab to the nose.
Dynamo Dragon has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Dragon tries to clinch
and Dragon takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Yup comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Yup winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 James Atkins scores the fight 26:30
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 26:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Yup!
James Yup seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.