PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Fink McIllhenny (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rick Ross (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). McIllhenny comes to the cage accompanied by Revolution. Ross has chosen Show me how to live as his entrance music. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

McIllhenny
vs
Ross

182 cm
31
165 lbs
20 - 5 - 1

179 cm
35
168 lbs
25 - 14 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

//buriedALIVE// Fight Gear
Milwaukee's Best 160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 5 - 1, fighting out of New York, Fink McIllhenny!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rick Ross!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McIllhenny throws a hook to the side of Ross's head but Ross sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
McIllhenny ducks under a wild hook from Ross.
Ross throws a nice inside leg kick.
Ross throws a poor cross that misses
and McIllhenny counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Ross lands with a nice body punch.
McIllhenny gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Ross counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. McIllhenny is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Ross bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
McIllhenny throws a looping overhand right but Ross ducks down to avoid it.
Ross lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Ross throws a body kick that misses
and McIllhenny counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Rick Ross seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ross misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nice body punch from McIllhenny.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
McIllhenny missing with a left hand there. Ross was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Ross has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
McIllhenny misses with an uppercut.
We've been hearing reports that McIllhenny has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
McIllhenny takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Ross tries a head kick but it misses.
McIllhenny ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ross moves away.
Ross feints and then cracks McIllhenny's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow McIllhenny down.
McIllhenny moves away from the strike by Ross.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McIllhenny misses with a looping right.
McIllhenny throws a lazy right hand but Ross sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Rick Ross is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ross listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
McIllhenny checks a low kick from Ross.
Ross misses with a hook.

McIllhenny closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Ross quickly recovers to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

McIllhenny is trying to work for a kimura but Ross is defending well.
McIllhenny stalling away here and it's allowed Ross to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
McIllhenny wants to control from the top but Ross keeps moving.
McIllhenny showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McIllhenny in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ross preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

McIllhenny drops back, looking for a kneebar! Ross looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Ross looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Ross!
Ross happy to just control the position for now.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McIllhenny is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Ross's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross trying to control from half guard but McIllhenny is working away.
McIllhenny gets back to full guard.
McIllhenny wants to sweep but no luck.
McIllhenny is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

McIllhenny has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Ross can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
McIllhenny working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

McIllhenny had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Ross defends it easily.

McIllhenny looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Ross has picked McIllhenny up and slammed him! McIllhenny can't keep hold of the triangle and Ross manages to pass to side control!
Ross just content to control the position.
McIllhenny can't do much from the bottom here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ross wants to stand but McIllhenny has his arm trapped.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Fink McIllhenny will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

McIllhenny throws a lazy right hand but Ross sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Ross ducks under a wild hook from McIllhenny.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Ross, as that shot connected.
Ross misses with a jab to the body
and Ross takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Ross catches McIllhenny with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Ross has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from McIllhenny.
McIllhenny throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A jab from Ross misses.
McIllhenny changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ross tries to avoid it but McIllhenny manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ross to the ground. Ross escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Ross misses with a low kick.
A leg kick checked by McIllhenny.
A big right from McIllhenny misses.
Rick Ross seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ross slips under a jab from McIllhenny.
Ross throws the left hand but McIllhenny avoids the punch easily.
McIllhenny lands with a good body shot.
McIllhenny throws a jab but it's blocked by Ross.
McIllhenny bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McIllhenny showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ross.

McIllhenny throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ross was covering up waiting for the punch and McIllhenny finishes the takedown easily into guard.
McIllhenny pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Ross is keeping the position for now.
McIllhenny is working hard here to advance position.
Ross preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
McIllhenny trying to control the position from guard on top but Ross is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McIllhenny is looking to work some ground and pound but Ross has wrist control.
McIllhenny trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
McIllhenny is fighting to break Ross's control of his arms but Ross is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
McIllhenny with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ross to score with a decent uppercut.
McIllhenny takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Ross tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
McIllhenny cracks a nice hook into Ross's ribs.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ross throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ross tried to score with a low kick but McIllhenny checks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McIllhenny looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Ross tests McIllhenny's chin there with a solid looking shot.
McIllhenny throws a jab when Ross was well out of range.
McIllhenny throws a body punch but Ross moves out of range.
McIllhenny swings and misses with a hook to the body.
McIllhenny on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
McIllhenny connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Ross momentarily.
Ross uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from McIllhenny.
McIllhenny uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Ross.
McIllhenny sizes up Ross with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Ross lands with a right hand.
Ross misses with a hook. McIllhenny ducked under it nicely.
McIllhenny swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ross walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Ross feints a jab promting McIllhenny to slip. Ross then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. McIllhenny slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
McIllhenny misses with a lunging right hand
letting Ross counter with a right hand.
Some bone on bone action there as McIllhenny checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
McIllhenny misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ross.
McIllhenny throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Ross fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but McIllhenny is out of range.
Ross keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
McIllhenny with a nice cross.
McIllhenny missing with a left hand there. Ross was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Ross slips a jab from McIllhenny.
McIllhenny has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Ross.
Ross throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nice defenses there by Ross.
Ross scores with a hook to the body. McIllhenny takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Ross moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
McIllhenny fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Fink McIllhenny will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

McIllhenny moves out of range of the body kick from Ross.
A bone on bone clash there as McIllhenny blocks the leg kick.

McIllhenny throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ross was covering up waiting for the punch and McIllhenny finishes the takedown easily into guard.
McIllhenny stops Ross from standing up.
Fink McIllhenny overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
McIllhenny trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ross keeping moving, preventing McIllhenny from controlling successfully.
McIllhenny trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McIllhenny with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
McIllhenny wants to control from the top but Ross keeps moving.
McIllhenny stands and throws Ross's legs to the side, diving into side control.
McIllhenny is looking to take a break and control but Ross is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rick Ross has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross tries to get back to half guard but can't.
McIllhenny taking a breather here.
McIllhenny tries to advance to mount but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Ross controls the position for a moment.
McIllhenny wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ross keeps working.

McIllhenny tries for a kimura but Ross is defending well.
Fink McIllhenny is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McIllhenny controls the position.
McIllhenny working the head and body with strikes.
McIllhenny is trying to move to mount but Ross reverses beautifully and ends up in McIllhenny's guard.
McIllhenny looking to control.
Ross's corner is telling him to maintain position.
McIllhenny avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Fink McIllhenny showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for McIllhenny, 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Fink McIllhenny!
An out of breath Fink McIllhenny thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.