PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Aaron Gardner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fresenius James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Gardner might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Stavesacre - Minuteman. Fresenius James will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Gardner
vs
James

163 cm
28
161 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

177 cm
29
165 lbs
14 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Very quick

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Aaron Gardner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Fresenius James!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Lou da Vinci and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
James throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gardner misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gardner throws a series of punches but James avoids them all with ease.
Gardner shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. James defends it nicely.
Gardner shoots in but James avoids the takedown attempt easily.
James dodges the punch combination from Gardner.
James's corner calls for a 1-2. James obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
James bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Gardner's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Gardner misses.
Gardner misses with a double jab
and Gardner takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like Aaron Gardner has been cut.
Gardner looks to land a right hand but James moved out of range.
James misses with a hook. Gardner ducked under it nicely.
Gardner avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
James scores with a hook to the body. Gardner takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
James rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Gardner moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
James lands with a shot to the body.
Gardner throws a right and a left that James avoids nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Gardner on the side of the head.
James throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Gardner waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract James.
James pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Gardner throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

James moves into the clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Gardner tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
James misses with a shot to the kidneys.
James misses with a hook to the ribs.

James's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Gardner, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
James loads up on a big right hand but Gardner slips the punch.
Gardner misses with a double jab.
Gardner shoots for a takedown but James saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aaron Gardner. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gardner missing with a left hand there. James was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Fresenius James is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Gardner throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and James counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

James gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Gardner tries to stall but James uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from James.
James lands a right hand that snaps the head of Gardner backwards.
A nice right hand lands inside from James.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A hook to the body from James.
James lands a nice shot to the body.
James has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A nice left hand lands by James.

James escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
James throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
James lands with a hook. Gardner tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Some bone on bone action there as James checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
James lands a right hook to the body.
Gardner misses with a left hand
and James counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gardner fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
James punishes Gardner's body with a nice straight punch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fresenius James dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Aaron Gardner's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

James moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
James showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Gardner.
Gardner throws a combination that misses
and James counters with a right hand to the body.
James is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Gardner slips a jab from James.
James defending well as Gardner loads up on a big left hand.
Gardner shoots in looking for a takedown. James tries to sprawl out of it but Gardner keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. James manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Gardner shoots in looking for a takedown but James manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gardner's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Gardner throws an off balance right hand
and James counters with a straight right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gardner misses with a double jab
and James counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Gardner thinking.
James lands with a shot to the body.
Gardner shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says James as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aaron Gardner. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Gardner misses with a few strikes there.
Sloppy strikes from Gardner. Those never looked like landing.
Gardner misses with a takedown attempt - James sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
James connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
James ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gardner misses with a looping right.

Gardner dives in and scores a takedown into James's guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
James wants to sweep here but Gardner controlling him for the moment.
James controlling Gardner's posture.
James manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gardner manages to get himself to full guard.
James trying to stand up but can't free himself from Gardner's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

James stands and steps away. Gardner gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Gardner throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and James connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Gardner throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Gardner swings widly with a right hand
and James makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

Gardner closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
James is trying to get back to half guard.
Gardner fails to land a wild elbow strike.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
James is trying to improve his position.
James parries the strikes from Gardner easily there. Gardner is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable James to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gardner connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused James some visible discomfort.
Gardner wants to lay and pray for a moment but James keeps working.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The ground and pound from Gardner seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
James is trying to get back to half guard.
Gardner in side control, throwing shots but James defends.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
James tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Fresenius James will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Aaron Gardner'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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Gardner shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Sloppy strikes from Gardner. Those never looked like landing.
James goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
James is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Aaron Gardner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
James digs a good body shot into Gardner's ribs.

James instigates a clinch.
James goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
James tries to break the clinch but Gardner is controlling the position.
James tries to throw a body punch but Gardner avoids it by throwing James back against the cage.
Gardner is trying to maintain a safe position but James gets an underhook and turns Gardner into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James misses with a body punch.
James cracks Gardner with a nice body shot.
Gardner pressing his opponent against the cage.
James struggles to land a body shot inside as Gardner controls his hands.
Gardner is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Gardner is really struggling to find his range with his punches. James's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Gardner prevents a body shot from James.
James scores with a nice hook to the head.
Gardner is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but James is keeping busy.
A nice right hand lands inside from Gardner.

James breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gardner works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Fresenius James seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Gardner looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
James cracks Gardner with a right hand to the side of the head.
James connects with a good right hand that stumbles Gardner. Gardner circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
James avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
James misses with a shot to the body

and Gardner counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
James wants to control but Gardner is keeping busy.
James wants to control but Gardner passes into side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gardner is looking to take a break and control but James is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
You can see the frustration on James's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Gardner working the ground and pound but James is defending the strikes.
James tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Gardner presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Gardner throws some wild stikes that James manages to avoid easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gardner misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Aaron Gardner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gardner throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if James can do anything to dispel that myth.
James is trying to escape the mount.
Gardner landing shots from mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Gardner working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Gardner unloads with some shots from mount but James bucks and avoids them well.

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 Aaron Gardner.
I think James has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 28:29
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 28:29
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Fresenius James!