PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Richard Breaksiron (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Todd Flanders (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Flanders has chosen Star Spangled Banner as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Todd Flanders was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Breaksiron
vs
Flanders

150 cm
28
155 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

195 cm
22
170 lbs
7 - 0 - 1

Powerful takedowns
Good knees
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Richard Breaksiron!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Todd Flanders!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Donatello Bradman and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Flanders misses with a low kick.
Breaksiron fails with a takedown attempt.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Breaksiron checks a leg kick.
Todd Flanders seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Flanders lands a head shot.

Breaksiron moves into the clinch.
Flanders lands a left hand that snaps the head of Breaksiron backwards.
Flanders struggles to land a body shot inside as Breaksiron controls his hands.
A head punch on the inside from Flanders fails to land.
Flanders struggles to land a body shot inside as Breaksiron controls his hands.
Breaksiron wants a takedown but no success here.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Flanders creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flanders lands with a short head shot on the inside.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Breaksiron.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Flanders swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Flanders is fighting off a takedown attempt but Breaksiron is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Flanders to the mat. Flanders regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Breaksiron wants to control from the top but Flanders keeps moving.
Flanders utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Breaksiron trying to control but Flanders is working from the bottom.
Breaksiron lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Flanders is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Flanders is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Breaksiron trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Breaksiron stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Flanders swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Breaksiron in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Flanders controlling the position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Flanders wants to hit a switch here but Breaksiron passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Flanders there!
Breaksiron is landing with some decent strikes but Flanders is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Breaksiron throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Breaksiron avoids the attempt from Flanders to control.
Breaksiron can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Flanders is looking to escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Flanders blocking the ground and pound.
Flanders is wriggling around trying to escape.
Breaksiron 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.
Breaksiron throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron is landing with some decent strikes but Flanders is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Flanders tries to hold on but Breaksiron postures up.
Breaksiron misses with a head shot.
Breaksiron looking to control but Flanders is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Breaksiron lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Breaksiron fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
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!
Flanders is bucking up trying to escape but Breaksiron cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Breaksiron looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Flanders is rocked!
Flanders is looking to improve his position but Breaksiron isn't that keen on the idea.
Flanders is still in real trouble! Can Breaksiron finish him?
Breaksiron avoids the attempt from Flanders to control.
Flanders taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Richard Breaksiron dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Flanders keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Flanders misses with a left hand

and Breaksiron counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Breaksiron trying to control but Flanders is working from the bottom.
Flanders controls Breaksiron momentarily but Breaksiron frees himself.
Breaksiron throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Flanders works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Breaksiron working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Breaksiron throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Flanders working a defensive guard here.
Breaksiron trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Breaksiron looking to sit in guard and control but Flanders gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Flanders wants to pass the guard but Breaksiron is keeping the position.

Breaksiron is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Flanders defends well.
Flanders seems to have recovered his senses.

Breaksiron is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Flanders defends well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Breaksiron looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Flanders passes into side control.
Breaksiron is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Breaksiron is working hard here to advance position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron can't do much from the bottom here.
Flanders in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Breaksiron is trying to improve his position.
Flanders is a very stocky fighter. Infact he's such a weird shape that he's almost like some sort of comedy character - it's hard to believe he's real.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Flanders stalls from top position.
Richard Breaksiron overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Breaksiron tries to improve position but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flanders wants to control but Breaksiron is keeping him busy.
Breaksiron is trying to get back to half guard.
Flanders wants to lay and pray for a moment but Breaksiron keeps working.
Breaksiron tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Flanders tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Flanders has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Richard Breaksiron dominated that second 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.

Flanders throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Breaksiron shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Flanders as he avoids it easily.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Breaksiron.
Flanders cracks a nice hook into Breaksiron's ribs.
Flanders fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Breaksiron manages to avoid it.
Flanders tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Flanders scores with a nice strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flanders lands a right hook to the body.

Breaksiron tries to keep at a distance but Flanders has taken the fight into the clinch.
A short uppercut from Flanders.
Flanders scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Breaksiron tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Flanders prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Breaksiron. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Flanders misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Flanders goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Breaksiron tries for a takedown. No joy.
Flanders makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Flanders.
Flanders is leaning against Breaksiron and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Flanders swings wildly with an uppercut but Breaksiron uses good head movement to avoid it.
Flanders swings wildly with an uppercut but Breaksiron uses good head movement to avoid it.
Flanders lands a body shot.
Breaksiron is trying to drag Flanders to the mat but Flanders just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Breaksiron is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Flanders is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flanders is leaning against Breaksiron and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Flanders tries to work over Breaksiron's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Breaksiron tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Breaksiron takes a shot to the head.
Flanders lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Flanders scores with a shot to the side of Breaksiron's head.
Flanders lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Flanders misses with a short punch on the inside.
Flanders misses with the head strike.
Flanders tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Breaksiron tries for a takedown but Flanders manages to get underhooks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flanders working aggressively here.
Breaksiron is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Flanders softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Breaksiron blocks an uppercut.
Flanders fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Flanders leaning his opponent against the cage.
Flanders works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
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!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Flanders misses with some punches.
Flanders lands with a short shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Todd Flanders really dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A looping hook to the body misses from Flanders. Breaksiron does a little dance to reset his feet.
Flanders misses with an attempted mid kick.
Flanders is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Breaksiron rather than just go for the knockout.
Flanders lands with a good body shot.
Flanders looks to land a body kick but Breaksiron moved away.
Flanders scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Breaksiron checks a leg kick.
Breaksiron has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Breaksiron there as he acknowledges the shot.
Breaksiron slips under a jab.

Flanders closes the distance and clinches.
Flanders lands with a short shot to the head.
Breaksiron blocks a body shot from Flanders.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flanders misses with a hook to the ribs.
Breaksiron drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Breaksiron is trying to drag Flanders to the mat but Flanders just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Breaksiron prevents a body shot from Flanders.
Breaksiron is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Breaksiron. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Breaksiron is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Flanders pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Flanders has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Breaksiron drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Flanders gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice left hand lands by Flanders.
Flanders misses with a punch on the inside.
Flanders throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Flanders fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Flanders doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Flanders lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Breaksiron tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Flanders smiles and moves away.
Flanders lands a head shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Flanders misses with a body shot.
Flanders lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Breaksiron blocks a head kick by Flanders.
Flanders lands with a kick to the ribs.
Flanders thows a leg kick but Breaksiron checks it

and Breaksiron counters with a shoot takedown. Flanders fights it but they end up in guard.
Flanders keeping moving, preventing Breaksiron from controlling successfully.
Breaksiron might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Breaksiron pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Flanders is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Flanders wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Breaksiron postures up and lands a big shot to Flanders's brow.
Breaksironis looking to pass into half guard but Flanders pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Flanders is in guard.

Breaksiron looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Flanders won't allow Breaksiron to sweep him here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Flanders wants to pass the guard but Breaksiron is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Todd Flanders dominated that fourth round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A head kick misses from Flanders.
Flanders is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Flanders throws a leg kick which misses Breaksiron's front leg but catches the back leg as Breaksiron tries to avoid it.
Breaksiron takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Breaksiron takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Todd Flanders seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Flanders looks to throw the jab but Breaksiron is out of range.
Flanders swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Breaksiron.
Breaksiron uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Flanders.
No luck for Breaksiron with that takedown attempt.
Breaksiron shoots in for a takedown but Flanders shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flanders throws a head kick that misses.
Breaksiron is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Flanders fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Breaksiron manages to avoid it.

Flanders closes the distance and clinches.
Todd Flanders seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Breaksiron tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Flanders smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Breaksiron. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Flanders throws a quick inside leg kick.
Flanders connects with a looping right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Flanders misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Breaksiron counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Breaksiron missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Flanders is looking to improve his position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Flanders keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Breaksiron wants to free his trapped foot but Flanders is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Breaksiron throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Flanders trying to control but Breaksiron postures up.

Breaksiron is working for a kimura here but Flanders manages to reverse the position and he's now in Breaksiron's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Flanders wants to stand but Breaksiron has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Breaksiron bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Flanders's guard.
Breaksiron throws a strike but Flanders rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Breaksiron trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Breaksiron looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Breaksiron looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Flanders puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Flanders is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Breaksiron tries to roll over but Flanders keeps him under control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Todd Flanders.
I think Flanders 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 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 48:47
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 47:48
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 47:48

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Todd Flanders! Todd Flanders retains his lightweight title!
Todd Flanders was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.