PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marcus Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabriel Whitaker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Griffin
vs
Whitaker

185 cm
22
185 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

185 cm
20
190 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Fishy Fighting
KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marcus Griffin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gabriel Whitaker!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Reed Andrews and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Griffin scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Whitaker misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Griffin.
Whitaker needs to keep his hands up - Griffin had a free shot at his head there.

It looks like Gabriel Whitaker has been cut.
Griffin shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Whitaker as he jumps to the side.
Griffin fails to land the takedown.
Griffin with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Griffin slips a straight right by Whitaker.
Griffin fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcus Griffin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Griffin shoots in looking for a takedown. Whitaker tries to sprawl out of it but Griffin keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Whitaker manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Some bone on bone action there as Griffin checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Whitaker's waist but Whitaker gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Griffin off to one side.
Griffin shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Whitaker sprawls well. Whitaker wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Griffin gets slowly back to his feet.
Griffin throws a shot to the body.
Griffin misses with a straight right.

Griffin closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Griffin lands in his opponent's guard.
Griffin trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Griffin throwing strikes from guard but Whitaker blocks nicely.
Griffin preventing the sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin lands a couple of digs.
Whitaker preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Griffin throws a strike but Whitaker rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Whitaker postures up in Griffin's guard and throws a big left but Griffin blocks it.
Whitaker wants to control from the top but Griffin keeps moving.
Griffin looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Griffin preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Griffin on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Griffin tries to get out of the position.
Griffin is pulling down on Whitaker's head to control his posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker preventing the sweep.
Griffin can't keep his opponent in guard - Whitaker advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Griffin tries to roll over but Whitaker keeps him under control.
Griffin is working hard here to advance position.
Whitaker winds up and cracks Griffin with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Griffin is trying to control but can't.
Whitaker looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Griffin blocking the ground and pound attempt from Whitaker.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffin is looking to improve his position.
Whitaker looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Whitaker drops an elbow to the side of Griffin's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Whitaker wants to pass to mount but Griffin is defending the position.
Griffin is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Whitaker scores with a couple of nice shots.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Griffin is looking for a sweep. Whitaker is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Whitaker sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Griffin defending well though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Griffin dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Gabriel Whitaker's cut.
That's time! Griffin's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Griffin ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Whitaker avoids the body shot from Griffin.
Griffin shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Whitaker eats them both and turns towards Griffin to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Griffin with a nice cross.
Griffin with a hook.

Whitaker is rocked!
Marcus Griffin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Some bone on bone action there as Griffin checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Whitaker is still on wobbly legs! Can Griffin finish him?
Whitaker throws a jab but it's blocked by Griffin.
Whitaker seems to have recovered his senses.
Griffin fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Griffin moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Griffin throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Griffin bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Whitaker thows a body shot but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin throws a right and a left that Whitaker avoids nicely.
Whitaker takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Whitaker throws a solid leg kick but Griffin takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Whitaker.

Griffin drops Whitaker with a left and a right! Oh, Whitaker is hurt - Griffin dives into side control looking to finish!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Whitaker tries to improve position but can't.
Griffin connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Whitaker some visible discomfort.
Griffin misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Marcus Griffin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Whitaker tries to bench press Griffin off him but Griffin keeps the position.
Griffin wants to lay and pray for a moment but Whitaker keeps working.
Whitaker wants to control but Griffin postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin scoring with punches and elbows.
Griffin throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Whitaker defending against the ground and pound.
Whitaker is looking to reverse the position.
Griffin lands an elbow.
Griffin blocks the strikes from Whitaker.
Whitaker parries the strikes from Griffin easily there. Griffin is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Whitaker to escape.
Griffin wants to control for a moment but Whitaker uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Whitaker manages to get to full guard.
Whitaker has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Griffin throws an elbow that misses. Whitaker uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Griffin's guard. Nice move by Whitaker!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin is pulling down on Whitaker's head. It's preventing any offense from Whitaker, at least for the moment.
Whitaker throwing strikes but missing.
Whitaker cracks Griffin with a solid left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Griffin wants to stand but Whitaker is controlling the position.
Griffin looking for a sweep. Not yet Griffin, not yet.
Whitaker wants to control from the top but Griffin keeps moving.
Whitaker pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Griffin is keeping the position for now.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Griffin keeping moving, preventing Whitaker from controlling successfully.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Whitaker does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Griffin dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Gabriel Whitaker'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. This is the final round!

Griffin moves out of range of the strikes.

Whitaker is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Griffin's half guard.
Whitaker is nestled in close to Griffin, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Whitaker tries to pass the half guard into mount. Griffin knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Griffin tries to get to full guard but Whitaker has control of the leg.
Griffin is trying to maintain the position but Whitaker is very close to passing his half guard.
Whitaker wants to control but Griffin is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin is trying to stand.
Whitaker seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Griffin does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Griffin is trying to control but can't.

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

and Whitaker counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Whitaker throwing shots but Griffin is blocking nicely.
Whitaker is pressing down on Griffin's thigh, looking to free his foot. Griffin is holding on for now.
Griffin is looking to improve his position.
Griffin keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gabriel Whitaker has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker trying to control from half guard but Griffin is working away.
Whitaker sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Griffin defending well though.
Griffin tries to roll over but Whitaker keeps him under control.
Griffin is staying active underneath Whitaker, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Whitaker is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Griffin is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Gabriel Whitaker!
Gabriel Whitaker gave a mention to Fishy Fighting in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).