PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aremana Luku (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Axelrod (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Luku might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Rancid - Things To Come (Dancehall Remix). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Luku
vs
Axelrod

185 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

192 cm
22
200 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Aremana Luku!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, David Axelrod!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Luku closes the distance and clinches.
Axelrod is pressed up against the cage. Luku has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Axelrod down to the mat. Axelrod avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Luku tries to clinch but Axelrod moves out of range.
Axelrod throws a series of punches but Luku moves out of range.
Axelrod misses with a jab, cross combination.
Axelrod chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Luku can pounce on him.
Axelrod cracks Luku with a right hand to the side of the head.
The fight stays on the outside here - Axelrod looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Axelrod misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Axelrod throws a right and a left that Luku avoids nicely.
Axelrod throws a head kick but Luku moves out of range.
Axelrod stuffs the takedown.
Axelrod tries to close the distance and clinch but Luku swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Luku looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aremana Luku. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Luku is breathing heavily.

Axelrod clinches up against the cage.

Luku pulls guard effortlessly.
Luku striking off his back but it's not causing Axelrod any problems.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Axelrod won't allow Luku to sweep him here.
Axelrod postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Axelrod wants to stand and escape but instead Luku has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Axelrod can't keep his opponent in guard - Luku advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Axelrod wants to get back to full guard.
Axelrod really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Luku. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Luku throwing shots but Axelrod is blocking nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Axelrod tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Luku is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Axelrod missing with punches from the bottom.

That's two 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.
Luku passes to full mount!
Axelrod wants to try and get back to his feet.
Luku unloading with bombs!
Luku sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luku tries to control but Axelrod wriggling away.
Luku throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Axelrod working to try and regain half guard.
Luku throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Luku looking to control and managing it successfully.
Axelrod working to try and regain half guard.

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.
Axelrod wants to control but Luku is having none of it.
Luku punching from mount but Axelrod doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Luku content just to control the position here.
Luku can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Axelrod is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aremana Luku 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.

A thudding body kick lands there by Axelrod!
Axelrod keeps the fight on the outside.
Luku misses with a straight left.
A head kick from Axelrod lands but Luku takes it in his stride.
Axelrod throws a series of punches but Luku moves out of range.
Axelrod misses with a series of wild punches.
Luku has a takedown stuffed.
Axelrod fails with an attempt to clinch.
Axelrod is looking to clinch but Luku is avoiding it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Luku shoots in but Axelrod avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Axelrod lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Luku shoots in but Axelrod avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aremana Luku. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Axelrod tries to close the distance and clinch up but Luku swats him away and circles back towards the center.
David Axelrod seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Axelrod lands a slapping body shot.
Luku is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
A nice leg kick lands there from Axelrod.
Axelrod throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Luku stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Axelrod looks to land a combination. Luku sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Axelrod misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Axelrod wants to clinch.
Luku blocks a leg kick.
Luku swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Axelrod counters with a one-two to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Axelrod tries to clinch there but Luku circles away.
Axelrod's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Axelrod duly obliges.
A combination from Axelrod does no damage.
Aremana Luku is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Luku throws a nice outside leg kick.

Luku shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Luku trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Luku 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luku looking to finish with strikes here!
Axelrod is trying desperately to improve position.
Luku can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Axelrod is looking to escape.
Axelrod is trying to stand.
Axelrod is in a horrible position here. Luku smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Luku looking to finish with strikes here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Axelrod has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.
Axelrod covering up well and avoiding damage.
Luku is trying to stick to Axelrod's back but Axelrod is turning into Luku. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Luku's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Axelrod.
Luku pulls Axelrod in close to his closed guard and prevents Axelrod from doing any damage or advancing position.
Axelrod is working Luku over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Axelrod showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Luku takes one on the button.
Axelrod throws a combination that misses

and Luku counters by moving into the clinch.

Luku pulls guard successfully.

Luku has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Axelrod can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Axelrod wants to get up but he can't break Luku's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Luku is on top in guard.

Axelrod looking for a guillotine here but Luku defends easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Luku trying to control but Axelrod is working from the bottom.
Luku's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Luku postures up.
Axelrod tries to strike from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Axelrod keeping moving, preventing Luku from controlling successfully.
Luku trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Axelrod wants to stand and escape but Luku is having none of it.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Axelrod closes the distance and clinches up with Luku, looking for a takedown. Axelrod pushes Luku against the cage but Luku circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Horrible takedown by Luku or perhaps it was just good defense by Axelrod which made him look bad.
Axelrod looks to land a combination but Luku avoids it well.
Luku is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Axelrod scores with a one two! Luku had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Luku throws a leg kick but Axelrod sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Axelrod shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Luku but Luku pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Axelrod wants to clinch

and Luku counters with a nice double leg into side control. Axelrod won't be happy with that.
Luku takes a little break here. Axelrod wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

Luku tries for a kimura but Axelrod is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Luku looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Luku in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Axelrod is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Axelrod tries to buck Luku off but Luku is having none of it.
Luku throws a strike aimed at the side of Axelrod's head but Axelrod avoids it well.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Axelrod lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Axelrod will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Luku circles away from the clinch attempt

and Luku counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Axelrod's guard now.
Luku controlling from the top position.
Axelrod wants to improve his position but instead Luku has moved into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aremana Luku showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Luku has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aremana Luku!