PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Magnus Pyke (ranked 868 p4p, 121 weight class) and Aito Lager (ranked 1736 p4p, 235 weight class). Pyke comes to the cage accompanied by Magnus Pyke. Lager has chosen Army Of The Pharaohs - Seven as his entrance music. Aito Lager has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Pyke
vs
Lager

190 cm
27
193 lbs
17 - 7 - 0

178 cm
27
199 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class MT
Insanely flexible

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Blue Moon

Bee Krazy

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 17 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Magnus Pyke!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Aito Lager!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Patrick Alders and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lager checks a low kick from Pyke.
Lager lands a two punch combo.

It looks like Magnus Pyke has been cut.
Pyke will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Lager jabs Pyke to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Pyke just misses with a punch to the body.
Lager connects with a body shot that sends Pyke's belly button to the back.
Pyke lands a head shot.
Lager pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Pyke lands with a nice body punch.
Lager swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Lager has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.

Pyke gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Lager to score an easy takedown into full guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Lager scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Lager trying to control the position from guard on top but Pyke is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Pyke has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Lager can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Pyke wants to sweep here but Lager controlling him for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lager connects with a couple of short punches.
Lager postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Pyke looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Lager trying to control but Pyke is working from the bottom.
Lager content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Pyke has his hands on Lager's head, controlling the position.
Lager is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pyke trying to control the position here.
Lager controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Pyke keeping moving, preventing Lager from controlling successfully.
Lager tries to free his leg and advance position but Pyke is retaining full guard.
Lager is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Lager connects with a couple of short punches.
Lager has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Pyke looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Lager won't allow Pyke to sweep him here.
Lager postures up and lands a big shot to Pyke's brow.
Lager wants to control from the top but Pyke keeps moving.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Pyke wants to sweep here but Lager controlling him for the moment.
Lager is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lager is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Pyke is controlling Lager's posture.
Lager wants to control from the top but Pyke keeps moving.
Pyke being controlled here, momentarily.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Lager wants to control from the top but Pyke keeps moving.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Aito Lager seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Decent striking displayed by Lager there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Lager lands with a nice body punch.
Lager's corner calls for a 1-2. Lager obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Pyke takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Lager.
Pyke manages to get back to half guard.
Lager with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Lager throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Lager is thwarting Pyke's attempts to control the position.
Lager wants to lay and pray for a moment but Pyke keeps working.
Pyke is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aito Lager dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Magnus Pyke's cut.
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.

Pyke fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Lager is out of range.
Lager throws a body shot but no joy.
Pyke throwing a counter right hand but Lager manages to avoid it.
Lager throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Lager thuds a left hand into Pyke's body.
Lager cracks a nice hook into Pyke's ribs.
Lager takes a swing at Pyke's ribcage but misses.
Lager displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Pyke throws out the jab.
Lager now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Pyke misses with an attempted mid kick.
Pyke misses with a wild body shot.
Lager lands a body shot.
Lager has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Pyke.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big right from Lager misses.
Lager takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Lager dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Lager takes a swing at Pyke's ribcage but misses.
Pyke with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Lager to score with a decent uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A shot to the liver by Lager. Beautiful body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lager swings for the body but Pyke moves out of range.
Pyke swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Pyke lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Lager is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Pyke.
Pyke lands a jab to Lager's midsection.
Lager scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Lager pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
A quick step to the side and Pyke tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Lager throws a lazy right hand but Pyke sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Lager thows a left - swing and a miss!
Lager fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Lager scores with a nice head shot.
Lager fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Pyke looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Lager dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Lager throws a big shot that misses.
Lager takes a swing at Pyke's ribcage but misses.
Pyke slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Pyke is looking to wear down Lager with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Lager shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Pyke napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Lager wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Pyke, who protects the arm well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lager wants to lay and pray for a moment but Pyke keeps working.
Lager scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Pyke to see if he's OK.
Lager lands a decent elbow from side control.
Pyke is not content to let Lager control the position.
Pyke manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Lager is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lager is continuing to stall.
Pyke taking some punishment here, with Lager in his half guard.
Lager looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Pyke with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Lager takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Lager working Pyke over with strikes.
Lager tries to pass the half guard into mount. Pyke knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Aito Lager has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lager working over Pyke with some ground and pound. Pyke looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Lager controlling the action here.
Pyke slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lager is looking to work some ground and pound but Pyke has wrist control.
Pyke is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Lager engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Lager has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Lager trying to control the position from guard on top but Pyke is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Pyke not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Pyke working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Lager.
Lager is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aito Lager showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Magnus Pyke's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - 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.

Lager looks to score with a jab to the body but Pyke is just out of range.
Pyke half committed to a counter leg kick.
Pyke looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Pyke doesn't manage to clinch there - Lager circles away.
Lager lands a nice shot to the body.
Lager misses the shot to the body.
Lager with a nice cross.
Lager bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Pyke's head backwards.

Pyke is rocked!
Aito Lager seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Lager closes the distance and lands a vicious right hand that drops Pyke! Lager dives in looking to finish! Pyke is still trying to defend himself but he's taking too many shots and the referee has no choice but to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:28 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Aito Lager!
An out of breath Aito Lager thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.
Magnus Pyke was interviewed post fight and said 'If it squirms, it's biology. If it stinks, it's chemistry. If it doesn't work, it's physics. And if you can't understand it, it's mathamatics.'.