PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Josh Glick (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mia Balzonia (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.

Glick
vs
Balzonia

175 cm
19
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
22
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Josh Glick!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mia Balzonia!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Jorge Garcia and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Glick shoots in and bounces Balzonia off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Glick trying to control but Balzonia is working from the bottom.
Balzonia keeping full guard, as Glick tries to pass.
Glick trying to control but Balzonia is working from the bottom.
Balzonia utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Balzonia is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Glick won't allow Balzonia to sweep him here.
Balzonia is trying to control the position but Glick postures up.
Glick postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

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

Glick drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Glick might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balzonia pulls Glick in close to his closed guard and prevents Glick from doing any damage or advancing position.
Glick looking to pass the guard.
Glick trying to control the position from guard on top but Balzonia is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Glick is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Balzonia is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Glick with a flurry of punches that miss.
Balzonia keeping moving, preventing Glick from controlling successfully.
Balzonia looking to control.

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.
Glick throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Balzonia works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Glick closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Balzonia to the mat! Balzonia manages to get full guard.
Balzonia has control of Glick's left arm, preventing Glick from doing any damage.
Glick scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Glick trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Glick throws a strike but Balzonia rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Glick is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Glick is breathing heavily.
Balzonia trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Glick is pulling down on Balzonia's head to control his posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balzonia preventing the sweep.
Glick is trying to control the position but Balzonia postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balzonia wants to stand but Glick is controlling his posture from full guard.
Glick pulls Balzonia in close to prevent any damage.
Glick looking to hit a scissor sweep but Balzonia is one step ahead there.
Glick is trying to keep Balzonia in close.

That's four 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.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Glick closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Balzonia tries to kick Glick off but Glick keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Glick knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Balzonia on the ground.
Glick works his way into full mount!
Glick throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Balzonia is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Balzonia keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Glick pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Glick dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Glick drives through with a takedown into guard.
Glick thows a big elbow that misses.
Glick thows a big elbow that misses.
Glick postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Glick missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Glick makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Glick accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Balzonia is trying to control the position but Glick postures up.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Glick wants to clinch up but Balzonia keeps it at a distance.

Glick closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Glick postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Glick is staying tight to Balzonia's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balzonia takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Glick lands a nice forearm strike.
Balzonia regains half guard, as Glick was trying to land strikes.
Balzonia pushes Glick off looking to stand but Glick dives back in and keeps control.
Balzonia makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Balzonia.
Glick working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Balzonia's head.
Balzonia working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Glick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Glick wants to control from the top but Balzonia keeps moving.
Glick working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Glick throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Balzonia works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Glick trying to control but Balzonia is working from the bottom.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Glick looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Balzonia!
Glick punching from mount but Balzonia doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Glick throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Balzonia wants to control but Glick is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balzonia sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Glick winds up and cracks Balzonia with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Glick is keen to just control but Balzonia is a slippery customer.
Glick trying to mount his opponent but Balzonia defends it.
Glick prevents Balzonia from standing back up.
Glick not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Balzonia keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Glick working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Glick performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Glick keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Glick shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Glick showed some decent athleticism there.
Balzonia missing with punches from the bottom.
Glick not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Glick thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Balzonia to regain full guard.
Balzonia has momentary wrist control but Glick slips an elbow through the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Glick dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Glick doesn't manage to clinch there - Balzonia circles away.
Josh Glick seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Glick changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Balzonia tries to avoid it but Glick manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Balzonia to the ground. Balzonia escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Glick closes this distance looking for a takedown but Balzonia circles away.

Balzonia has taken the fight to the clinch.
Glick has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Balzonia is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Josh Glick. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Good body shot from Balzonia.
Glick is trying to drag Balzonia to the mat but Balzonia just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Balzonia looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balzonia is pressed up against the cage. Glick has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Balzonia down to the mat. Balzonia avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Balzonia shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Balzonia showed some decent athleticism there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Glick trying to control but Balzonia postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Glick misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Glick on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Glick tries to get out of the position.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Balzonia in particular looking to stall.
Josh Glick overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Glick trying to hold on to Balzonia's head to control him but Balzonia postures up.
Glick is looking to escape.
Glick trying to control here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Balzonia lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

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.
Glick fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Balzonia avoids it really well and circles away.
Glick misses with a takedown attempt
and Balzonia counters with a three punch combo that has Glick backing up. Glick nods at Balzonia to acknowledge the strikes.
Balzonia with a poor takedown

and Glick decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Balzonia's guard.
Glick postures up in Balzonia's guard and throws a big left but Balzonia blocks it.

Glick has gone for a leg lock! Balzonia slips out almost immediately though and dives into Glick's guard.
Glick is trying to control the position but Balzonia postures up.
Glick looking to hit a scissor sweep but Balzonia is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Glick is trying to keep Balzonia in close.
Balzonia is working Glick over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Glick wants to sweep but no luck.
Balzonia stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Glick swivels though and keeps the full guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Glick throws a left and a right that both miss
and Balzonia counters with a nice uppercut.
Glick shoots in but no luck this time.
Balzonia tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Glick shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balzonia is looking to improve his position.
Josh Glick is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Balzonia wants to get back to his feet.
Glick with the ground and pound but Balzonia uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Glick working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Glick slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Glick with a flurry of punches that miss.
Glick stays in close to Balzonia's body and controls the position.
Mia Balzonia has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Mia Balzonia.
I think Glick 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 30:28
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Josh Glick!