PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Saquad Saquad (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Conner Gray (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Saquad
vs
Gray

170 cm
20
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
19
195 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Merciless Gladiators

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Saquad Saquad!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Conner Gray!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Donald Grub and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Gray as Saquad shoots in.

Gray looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Saquad utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Gray controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Gray postures up.
Gray stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Saquad swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gray controls from within his opponent's guard.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Conner Gray wasn't active enough on the ground.
Gray looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saquad tries to close the distance and clinch but Gray swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Saquad.
Saquad uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Gray.
Nice takedown defense from Saquad. No joy for Gray on that attempt.

Gray looking to score a takedown here. Saquad is defending well but Gray drives through and ends up in Saquad's guard.
Saquad avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Gray postures up in Saquad's guard and throws a big left but Saquad blocks it.
Gray being controlled here momentarily.
Saquad working a defensive guard here.

Saquad escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Gray gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray distracts Saquad with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Gray throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Saquad works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Saquad could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Gray tries to free his leg and advance position but Saquad is retaining full guard.
Gray throwing strikes but missing.
Gray trying to control the position from guard on top but Saquad is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gray scoring with punches to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gray throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Saquad is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saquad avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Saquad working a defensive guard here.
Gray trying to control but Saquad is working from the bottom.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Saquad working for a triangle but Gray defends it easily.
Gray makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Gray postures up in Saquad's guard and throws a big left but Saquad blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gray slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Gray really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Saquad. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Gray stands up over Saquad, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gray content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gray scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Gray is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Gray postures up and lands a big shot to Saquad's brow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gray trying to control but Saquad is working from the bottom.

Gray gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Saquad is breathing heavily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gray shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Saquad Saquad has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Conner Gray.
The fight stays on the outside here - Saquad looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conner Gray dominated that 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.

Saquad ducks right into an uppercut from Gray.
A punch combination from Gray misses.
Gray tries to close the distance and clinch but Saquad swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gray throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Gray darts in looking for a takedown but Saquad gets double underhooks and turns Gray into the cage.

Saquad breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Gray dives in and scores a takedown into Saquad's guard.

Saquad is looking for a triangle but Gray pushes his legs off easily.

Gray avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Gray with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray distracts Saquad with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Conner Gray has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gray working some strikes from top position.
Saquad keeping moving, preventing Gray from controlling successfully.
Gray keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Saquad's head.
Gray wants to get up but he can't break Saquad's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Gray's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Gray postures up in Saquad's guard and throws a big left but Saquad blocks it.

Saquad has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Gray can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Gray is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saquad keeping moving, preventing Gray from controlling successfully.
Gray postures up and lands a big shot to Saquad's brow.
Saquad looking to hit a scissor sweep but Gray is one step ahead there.
Gray is working Saquad over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gray postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Saquad manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gray manages to get himself to full guard.
Saquad prevents Gray from getting back to his feet.
Gray looking for a sweep. Not yet Gray, not yet.
Gray is looking to stand up but Saquad isn't so interested in that idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saquad wants to get up but he can't break Gray's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gray looking to control.
Gray 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.

Gray pushes Saquad off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Saquad closes this distance looking for a takedown but Gray circles away.
Some wild striking there from Gray.
Saquad throws a body punch but Gray moves out of range.
Gray shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Saquad as he avoids it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gray dives in and grabs Saquad's left leg, looking for a takedown. Saquad pushes down on Gray's head and hops out.
Saquad Saquad has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Conner Gray.
Saquad misses with a straight left.
Saquad lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gray circles away quickly and effectively.
Saquad slaps away a takedown attempt from Gray, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Gray darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Saquad is not content to let Gray control the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nice strikes from Gray there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Saquad trying to control here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conner Gray 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. This is the final round!

Gray tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Saquad defends well and Gray ends up having to push Saquad into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Saquad breaks from the clinch.
Gray shoots in and drives through. Saquad sprawls well.
Saquad tries to close the distance and clinch but Gray swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Gray closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Gray wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Saquad, who protects the arm well.
Saquad manages to work his way to half guard, despite Gray's best efforts.
Gray is looking to take a break and control but Saquad is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Gray with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Gray takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saquad is refusing to be controlled, as Gray sits in half guard.
Saquad moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Saquad is looking for a triangle but Gray pushes his legs off easily.
Saquad bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gray's guard.
Gray controlling the position.
Saquad wants to stand but Gray has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Saquad throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Saquad prevents Gray from getting back to his feet.
Gray keeping moving, preventing Saquad from controlling successfully.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Gray scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Gray drops an elbow to the side of Saquad's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Gray is working for a submission of some sort.
Gray thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Saquad's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gray prevents Saquad from improving his position.
Gray trying to control from half guard but Saquad is working away.
Saquad looks like he's trying to stand up.
Saquad taking some punishment here, with Gray in his half guard.

Gray is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Saquad doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Gray.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gray is working for a submission of some sort.
Gray scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Saquad might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Gray is looking for a kimura here.
Gray working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Saquad's thigh. Saquad counters though and makes it back to full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Conner Gray comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Gray winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 James Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Conner Gray!
Conner Gray seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.