PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bryan Franco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Robin Linner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the fighters buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Franco
vs
Linner

190 cm
25
214 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

183 cm
24
210 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid 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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Bryan Franco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Robin Linner!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Yuuki Gou and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Linner tries to clinch up.

Franco looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Linner!
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Linner avoids a series of strikes thrown by Franco.
Franco punching from mount but Linner doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Franco thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Franco landing punches.
BOOM! Franco connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Franco working the ground and pound effectively.
Linner avoids a series of strikes thrown by Franco.
Franco with shots to the head and body - Linner looks very uncomfortable down there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Franco throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Linner because Franco loaded up on that one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Franco has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Linner's face.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Franco raining down hammerfists from mount.
Franco misses with a head shot.
Franco lands a big elbow.
Linner avoids a series of strikes thrown by Franco.
Franco lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Linner hang on?
Linner avoids a series of strikes thrown by Franco.
Franco 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.
BOOM! Franco connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Franco is landing with some decent strikes but Linner is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Franco thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Franco thowing shots but they're missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco scoring with strikes but Linner is staying in there.
Franco connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Franco thowing shots but they're missing.
Franco raining down hammerfists from mount.
Linner looks gassed!
Franco misses with a head shot.
Franco raining down shots from the mount!
Franco lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Linner hang on?
Linner tries to hold on but Franco postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Linner is bucking up trying to escape but Franco cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Franco sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Franco misses with a head shot.
Franco unloading with bombs!
Franco lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Linner hang on?
Linner holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Franco tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Franco with shots to the head and body - Linner looks very uncomfortable down there.
Linner wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Franco.
Franco lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franco looking to finish Linner with some ground and pound. This is bad for Linner!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Franco thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Franco throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Franco pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Franco lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Franco scores with a couple of good head shots there.
A nice elbow there by Franco.
Franco landing punches.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Franco in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Linner takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bryan Franco dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Linner slaps away a takedown attempt from Franco, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Linner looks to land a body kick but Franco moved away.
Linner throws a head kick but Franco moves out of range.
Franco checks a low kick from Linner.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Linner misses with a head kick.
Linner tries to clinch up but Franco circles away and keeps his distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Linner enables Franco to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Linner manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Franco trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Franco is working hard here to advance position.
Franco is pushing down on Linner's leg trying to pass to half guard. Linner is fighting to maintain full guard but Franco has managed to sneak the leg through.
Linner is breathing heavily.
Franco wants to pass to mount but Linner is defending the position.
Franco works his way into side control.
Linner on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Bryan Franco overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Linner taking a bit of punishment here - Franco scoring with strikes.
Franco tries to advance to mount but Linner denies him.
Franco lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Linner down.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Franco throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Franco is chipping away with strikes.
Franco in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Franco cracks Linner with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco tries to advance to mount but Linner denies him.
Linner is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Franco creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Franco misses with the ground and pound.
Linner dodges the ground and pound from Franco.
Linner taking punishment in the form of punches.
Franco misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Franco tries to move into full mount but can't pass Linner's legs.
Franco misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Linner prevents Franco from improving position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franco working the ground and pound from side control.
Franco lands some shots froms side control.
Linner prevents Franco from moving into mount.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Franco in side control, throwing shots but Linner defends.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Franco advances to mount.
Franco with a couple of short strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bryan Franco dominated that second round.
That's time! Franco's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Franco shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Linner but Linner pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Franco closes this distance looking for a takedown but Linner circles away.
Linner tries to clinch but Franco is having none of it.
Franco fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bryan Franco. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Linner throws a nice looking combination but Franco bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Linner doesn't manage to clinch there - Franco circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco swats away the attempt to clinch by Linner.
Linner tries to clinch up.
Linner throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Franco looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Franco looks for a takedown but Linner sprawls well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco shoots for a double leg takedown but Linner sprawls well. He's pushed Franco's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Franco has a takedown stuffed.
Linner tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Linner tries to clinch there but Franco circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Linner, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Franco throws a head kick that misses.
Robin Linner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Linner moves in looking to clinch but Franco pushes him off.
Linner tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Franco manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Linner wants to clinch up but Franco keeps it at a distance.
Franco tries for a takedown but Linner sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Linner throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Linner misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Linner takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Linner goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Linner tries to sprawl but Franco drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Franco passes to side control.
Franco advances to mount.
Franco throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

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 Bryan Franco.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Franco, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:25
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bryan Franco!