PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Cornell Obrien (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Josh Freeman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Obrien
vs
Freeman

165 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

224 cm
25
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Good elbows
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Cornell Obrien!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Josh Freeman!
The judges for this bout are Chris Dean, Hugh Johnson and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Freeman fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Obrien sprawls well initially but Freeman persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Obrien is trying to get back to full guard.
Freeman wants to stand up but Obrien has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Obrien moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Freeman avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Freeman is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Obrien lands a couple of decent looking body shots there.
Freeman trying to control the position from guard on top but Obrien is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Obrien has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Freeman off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Obrien gets tackled into the cage by Freeman. Freeman maintains the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Freeman has Obrien pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Obrien manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Obrien fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Obrien has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Freeman is trying to keep an underhook but Obrien manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Freeman wants to get back to full guard.

Obrien stands up from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freeman tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Obrien manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Freeman misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Obrien.
Freeman fails with the takedown

and Obrien counters with a nice double leg into guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Obrien is looking to stand up but Freeman won't let him.
Obrien is in close to Freeman's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Freeman not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Freeman wants to improve his position but instead Obrien has moved into half guard.
Obrien is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Freeman missing with punches from the bottom.
Obrien scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Obrien slips a nice elbow through Freeman's hands, connecting with Freeman's forehead.
Freeman trying to control but Obrien postures up.
Obrien prevents Freeman from improving his position.
Obrien thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Freeman's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Freeman wants to control but Obrien is keeping busy.

Freeman actively working from the bottom here.
Freeman looks winded!
Obrien working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Freeman has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Obrien is working away from the top position though.

Obrien stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Freeman throws a body punch but Obrien moves out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Freeman with a lazy takedown attempt

and Obrien counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Obrien lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Obrien is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Obrien wanted to stand there but Freeman had control of the position.
Freeman has his hands on Obrien's head, controlling the position.
Obrien working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Freeman is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Obrien trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Obrien wants to stand but Freeman is controlling his posture from full guard.
Obrien might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Obrien is in close to Freeman's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Freeman controls Obrien momentarily but Obrien frees himself.
Obrien postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Obrien lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Obrien throws a big elbow that misses.
Freeman is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Freeman wants to stand and escape but Obrien is having none of it.
Freeman is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freeman working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Obrien.
Obrien is looking to work some ground and pound but Freeman has wrist control.
Obrien wants to stand and escape but instead Freeman has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Freeman won't allow Obrien to sweep him here.

Obrien is looking for a triangle here but Freeman uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Obrien is not content to let Freeman control the position.
Obrien tries to buck Freeman off but Freeman is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Obrien bucks up and tries to throw Freeman off but instead Freeman has got his back!
Obrien turns into Freeman and is now in his guard.
Freeman wants to get back to his feet but Obrien is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Obrien postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Freeman is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Obrien is controlling him.
Obrien wants to get up but he can't break Freeman's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Freeman is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Obrien working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Obrien works over Freeman with some ground and pound from guard.

Obrien gets to his feet. Freeman looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Sloppy strikes from Freeman. Those never looked like landing.
Freeman shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Obrien counters with a takedown into side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Obrien decides to stand back up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Obrien closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Freeman quickly recovers to half guard.
Obrien lands strikes from half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cornell Obrien 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Freeman tries to clinch up

and Obrien counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Cornell Obrien overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Obrien stands up from half guard.
Freeman goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

Obrien closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Freeman is trying to get back to his feet.
Freeman takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Freeman taking a bit of punishment here - Obrien scoring with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Obrien looks up at the clock and then as Freeman takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Obrien smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Freeman is looking to reverse the position.

Obrien stands up and beckons Freeman to his feet.
Freeman stuffs the takedown attempt from Obrien. Obrien gets slowly back to his feet.
Freeman tries to clinch there but Obrien circles away.

Obrien scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Freeman trying his best to control but Obrien has mounted him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freeman is desperately trying to improve his position but Obrien has a good base and remains in mount.
BOOM! Obrien connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Obrien controlling the pace for now.
Obrien with shots to the head and body - Freeman looks very uncomfortable down there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Obrien scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Freeman?
Obrien punishing his opponent with strikes.
Freeman prevents Obrien from taking his back.
Obrien landing strikes from the mount and Freeman is in trouble!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Obrien working Freeman over with strikes here.
Obrien with shots to the head and body - Freeman looks very uncomfortable down there.
Freeman is trying to stand up.
Freeman can't escape the position.
Obrien breaks from Freeman's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Obrien lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Obrien cracks Freeman with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Obrien looking to control and managing it successfully.
Freeman tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Obrien lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Freeman hang on?
Obrien is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Freeman can do to turn this around?
Freeman is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Obrien wants to take Freeman's back here but Freeman is holding on to an arm, himself looking to escape.
Obrien scoring with strikes but Freeman is staying in there.

Freeman is rocked!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Obrien lands a big shot there that rocks Freeman but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Freeman is still in real trouble! Can Obrien finish him?
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Obrien is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Freeman can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Obrien with good strikes from the mount here!
Josh Freeman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cornell Obrien is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Obrien landing strikes from the mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cornell Obrien showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Obrien, 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 Chris Dean scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cornell Obrien!