PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Israel Gordon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Love (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.

Gordon
vs
Love

192 cm
22
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

193 cm
22
260 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Israel Gordon!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Brandon Love!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Roosa Järviläinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Love shoots in but no luck this time.
Gordon shoots for a double leg takedown but Love sprawls well. He's pushed Gordon's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Israel Gordon seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gordon throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Love's waist but Love gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Gordon off to one side.
Gordon avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Love looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Gordon is fending him off so far but Love persists. Nope, Gordon circles away and we're back to standing.
Gordon shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Israel Gordon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Love fails with an attempt to clinch.
Gordon throws a hook but Love blocks it.
Gordon blocks a head kick by Love.
Gordon blocks a head kick by Love.
Love shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Gordon gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Love counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gordon shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Love pinned against the cage. Love gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Love has a takedown stuffed.
Love tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Gordon paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Love shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Love looking to ground and pound but Gordon is blocking nicely.
Gordon can't escape the position.
Love with a couple of short strikes.
Gordon wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Love.
Gordon tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gordon wants to hold on but Love pushes him away.
Love punching from mount but Gordon doing a good job of avoiding damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gordon is squirming around, avoiding Love's attempts to control the action.
Love lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gordon tries to lock up and control but Love gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gordon is wriggling around trying to escape.
Gordon gets back to half guard.
Love is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Love content just to control the position here.
Gordon is in all sorts of trouble here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gordon is working hard here to advance position.
Gordon is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Gordon is looking to escape.
Love is trying to stand up but he's being controlled by his opponent.
Love wants to control the pace but Gordon is squirming around nicely.
Love is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Gordon is bucking up trying to escape but Love cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's four 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.
Gordon reaches up to try and control the position but Love seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Gordon rolls and tries to escape and now Love has his back!
Love should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Gordon looking very determined here, making life difficult for Love.
Gordon tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Gordon gets back to half guard.
Love trying to control from Gordon's half guard. Gordon has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

Gordon looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Love trying to control the position from guard on top but Gordon is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Love tries to free his leg and advance position but Gordon is retaining full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Brandon Love will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Nice sprawl there from Gordon as Love shoots in.
Love shoots in and drives through. Gordon sprawls well.
Love throws a head kick that misses.
Love stuffs the takedown.
Gordon changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Love tries to avoid it but Gordon manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Love to the ground. Love escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Love tries to clinch up but Gordon circles away and keeps his distance.
Love will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Israel Gordon has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Brandon Love.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Gordon.

Gordon is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Love is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Love wants to control but Gordon postures up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Love really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gordon. 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 one minute gone in the round.
Love is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Gordon is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Love is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Love keeping his opponent close.
Love is trying to get back to his feet.

Gordon looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

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.
Love struggling a bit here.
Gordon tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

Gordon working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Love tries to bench press Gordon off him but Gordon keeps the position.
Love struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gordon prevents Love from escaping the position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Love looks for a takedown but Gordon sprawls well.
Gordon looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Gordon shoots for a double leg takedown but Love sprawls well. He's pushed Gordon's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Love shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Gordon as he jumps to the side.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Love.
Gordon fails with the takedown.
Love shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Gordon pinned against the cage. Gordon gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's four 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.
Love misses with a low kick.
Gordon has a takedown stuffed.
Love shoots in but Gordon avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Love has his takedown stuffed
and Gordon counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Love keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Love throws a push kick but Gordon slaps the foot to one side.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Love shoots in for a double leg but Gordon sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Love scores with a nice strike.
Love keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
No luck for Love with that takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Israel Gordon dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Gordon shoots in but Love avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Love shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Gordon pinned against the cage. Gordon gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Gordon fails with the takedown.
Love tries to clinch but Gordon is having none of it.
Gordon blocks a head kick by Love.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gordon gets caught flat footed, as Love shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Love is in close to Gordon's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Love has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Gordon is proving hard to escape from.
Love must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Gordon trying to strike off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Love lands a couple of elbows.
Love stopping the sweep attempt from Gordon.

Gordon looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Love has picked Gordon up and slammed him! Gordon can't keep hold of the triangle and Love manages to pass to side control!
Gordon is not content to let Love control the position.
Love is working Gordon over with some ground and pound from side control.
Love is looking to take a break and control but Gordon is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

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.
Gordon struggling a bit here.
Gordon is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Love scores with a takedown into Gordon's guard.
Love wanted to stand there but Gordon had control of the position.
Gordon keeping moving, preventing Love from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Love stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gordon swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gordon looking to control.
Love preventing the sweep.
Gordon is looking to stand up but Love isn't so interested in that idea.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Love wants to clinch up but Gordon keeps it at a distance.

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.
Love closes the distance and clinches up with Gordon, looking for a takedown. Love pushes Gordon against the cage but Gordon circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A head kick by Love misses

and Gordon counters with a nice double leg into side control. Love won't be happy with that.
Love tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Gordon is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Love knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Gordon tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Gordon has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Love tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Gordon wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Israel Gordon.
Well Gordon has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Israel Gordon!
Israel Gordon is the new heavyweight champion!