PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Paul Cicero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Iain Durrant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cicero comes into the arena with Woke Up This Morning blaring out of the sound system. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Cicero
vs
Durrant

162 cm
31
158 lbs
16 - 8 - 0

170 cm
36
148 lbs
23 - 26 - 0

Good wrestling
Decent elbows
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Paul Cicero!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 26 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Iain Durrant!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Marco Blurström and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Durrant swinging wildly here.
Durrant scores with a punch to the head.
Durrant will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Durrant stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Durrant wants it to stay on the feet.
Paul Cicero seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Durrant swinging wildly here.
Cicero with a poor takedown
and Durrant counters with a left and a right that stings Cicero.
Cicero shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Durrant as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Cicero. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cicero misses with a combination
and Durrant counters with a left and a right that stings Cicero.

Cicero gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Durrant to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Durrant throwing strikes from guard but Cicero blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Durrant trying to control the position from guard on top but Cicero is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Durrant is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Cicero is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Cicero has escaped and now he's on top!
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Cicero wants to control from the top but Durrant keeps moving.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Durrant preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Cicero working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Durrant working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cicero.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Durrant not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Cicero is in close to Durrant's body, working some short punches and elbows.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cicero accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Durrant avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Cicero throws a strike but Durrant rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Durrant scoring with some ground and pound.

Durrant has gone for a leg lock! Cicero slips out almost immediately though and dives into Durrant's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cicero throws a strike but Durrant rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Durrant stays in close to Cicero's body and controls the position.

Cicero had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Durrant defends it easily.
Durrant advances position into side control!

Durrant is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cicero has escaped the position, nice work there.

Cicero throws Durrant to one side and escapes!
Cicero looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Durrant is fending him off so far but Cicero persists. Nope, Durrant circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Durrant slaps away a takedown attempt from Cicero, before circling back to the center of the mat.
A combination from Durrant does no damage.
Cicero has his takedown stuffed
and Durrant counters with a nice body shot.
A left lands for Durrant.
Durrant misses with a double jab.
A shot to the liver by Durrant. Beautiful body shot.
Cicero fails with a takedown attempt.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Durrant swats away the attempt to clinch by Cicero.
Durrant keeps the fight on the outside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Iain Durrant will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Durrant misses with a double jab.
Durrant lands with a nice combination. Cicero backs away looking to recover.
Cicero fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cicero shoots in for a takedown but Durrant shows good takedown defense.
Cicero shoots in looking for a takedown. Durrant tries to sprawl out of it but Cicero keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Durrant manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Cicero. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cicero doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Cicero throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Durrant.
Cicero takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

Durrant closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Cicero quickly recovers to half guard.

Durrant is looking for a kimura but Cicero is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Durrant to get the leverage.
Cicero gets back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Durrant in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Durrant wants to control from the top but Cicero keeps moving.
Durrant wants to pass the guard but Cicero is keeping the position.
Durrant trying to control the position from guard on top but Cicero is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Durrant working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Durrant trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Durrant throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Durrant trying to control the position from guard on top but Cicero is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Durrant is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Iain Durrant hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Cicero tries to close the distance and clinch but Durrant swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cicero will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cicero tries to clinch but Durrant moves away
and Durrant counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Cicero wants to clinch but Durrant slips to the side
and Durrant counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Cicero gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Durrant counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Cicero thinking.
Cicero tries to bum rush Durrant with a series of wild strikes but Durrant uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cicero throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cicero takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Cicero tries to clinch there but Durrant circles away.
Durrant shoots for a double leg takedown but Cicero sprawls well. He's pushed Durrant's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Cicero tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Durrant misses with a jab, cross combination.
Cicero fails with an attempt to clinch.

Durrant feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Durrant chips away with some ground and pound.
Durrant trying to control but Cicero is working from the bottom.
Durrant looking to pass the guard.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Durrant wants to pass the guard but Cicero is keeping the position.

Durrant is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Durrant drops back, looking for a kneebar! Cicero looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Cicero looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Cicero!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cicero in side control, throwing shots but Durrant defends.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Iain Durrant showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Cicero looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cicero falls off balance throwing a combination
and Durrant counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Cicero shoots and misses

and Durrant counters with a shoot takedown. Cicero fights it but they end up in guard.
Durrant is working Cicero over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Durrant passes into half guard.
Durrant tries to pass the half guard into mount. Cicero knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Cicero actively working from the bottom here.
Durrant drops an elbow to the side of Cicero's head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Durrant is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cicero sees it coming and defends easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cicero is refusing to be controlled, as Durrant sits in half guard.
Durrant trying to mount his opponent but Cicero defends it.
Durrant moves nicely into side control.

Durrant is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cicero has escaped the position, nice work there.
Cicero gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

Durrant is working for a submission of some sort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Durrant is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Cicero tries to kick Durrant off but Durrant keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Durrant seems to be looking for submissions.
Cicero pushes Durrant off looking to stand but Durrant dives back in and keeps control.
Durrant missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Durrant is nestled in close to Cicero, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cicero is looking for a sweep. Durrant is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Durrant looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Durrant is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Durrant is looking for a kimura but Cicero is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Durrant to get the leverage.
Cicero is trying to stand.
Cicero is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Durrant's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Durrant's back!
Cicero lands a punch that was close to the back of the head but the ref thinks it's OK.
Durrant is trapped and Cicero is scoring with shots to the head and body.
Cicero is trying to stick to Durrant's back but Durrant is turning into Cicero. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Cicero's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Durrant.
Iain Durrant has got the better of the ground game so far.
Durrant showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Paul Cicero has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Durrant throws a big elbow that misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Durrant postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Durrant pushes down on Cicero's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Durrant throws a strike but Cicero avoids it easily and moves to full guard.

Durrant drops back, looking for a kneebar! Cicero looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Cicero looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Cicero!
Cicero working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

And that's the end of the fight!
Iain Durrant comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Durrant has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight for Iain Durrant!
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight for Iain Durrant!
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight for Iain Durrant!

Iain Durrant wins by unanimous decision!