PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ludvig Ericsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lefteris Papaioanou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lefteris Papaioanou told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Ericsson
vs
Papaioanou

186 cm
27
212 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

190 cm
32
205 lbs
16 - 7 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Urban Fighter
Voodoo Nutrition

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 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ludvig Ericsson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Lefteris Papaioanou!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Robert Twigg and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Ericsson.
A chopping leg kick lands by Ericsson.
Papaioanou will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Papaioanou throws a leg kick but Ericsson sees it coming and moves out of range.
Ericsson feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Papaioanou's calf.
Ericsson feints and then cracks Papaioanou's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Papaioanou down.
Papaioanou connects with a right hand. Ericsson shakes it off.
Papaioanou misses with a wild body shot.
A big left from Papaioanou misses.
Ericsson lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Ericsson misses with a straight left.
Papaioanou rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Ericsson counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Papaioanou!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Papaioanou is not content to let Ericsson control the position.
Papaioanou is trying to escape the position but Ericsson is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ericsson wants to control but Papaioanou is keeping him busy.
Papaioanou sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Papaioanou has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Ericsson is working away from the top position though.
Ericsson works his way into side control.
Papaioanou is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Ericsson grinds an elbow into Papaioanou's temple.
Ericsson looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Papaioanou is avoiding damage well.
Papaioanou is not content to let Ericsson control the position.
Ericsson controlling from side mount.
Ericsson grinds an elbow into Papaioanou's temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ericsson working the ground and pound from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Papaioanou is looking for a sweep.
Papaioanou taking a bit of punishment here - Ericsson scoring with strikes.
Papaioanou can't do much from the bottom here.
Papaioanou is looking for a sweep.
Papaioanou is still trying to improve position.
Papaioanou is trying to work for a sweep but Ericsson has mounted him!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Papaioanou bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Ericsson trying to keep a closed guard but Papaioanou is proving a slippery customer.
Papaioanou wants to control from the top but Ericsson keeps moving.
Ericsson keeping full guard, as Papaioanou tries to pass.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ericsson pulls Papaioanou in to control the position.
Papaioanou postures up.
My spies in LOD: Better Alternative inform me that Papaioanou has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Papaioanou trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ludvig Ericsson dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Papaioanou takes a jab right on the kisser.
Papaioanou fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Ericsson manages to avoid it.
Papaioanou misses with a leg kick.
Papaioanou throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Papaioanou lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Ericsson lands a nice hook to Papaioanou's body. Papaioanou takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Ericsson lands the left hand.
Papaioanou finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Papaioanou misses with an uppercut.
A slow jab from Papaioanou misses its intended target.
Ericsson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Papaioanou can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters circle momentarily. Ericsson darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Papaioanou throws out a leg kick but Ericsson moves out of range and Papaioanou only half commits.
Ericsson scores with a leg kick.
Ericsson jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ericsson lands a front kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Papaioanou 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.
Ericsson scores with a jab to the body.
Ericsson fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
A clash of legs there as Papaioanou blocks the low kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Ericsson.
Ericsson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Papaioanou moves away.
Ericsson lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Papaioanou tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ericsson was well out of range. Poor timing from Papaioanou.
Ericsson sizes up Papaioanou with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
A nice leg kick lands there from Papaioanou.
Papaioanou misses with a hook. Ericsson ducked under it nicely.
Ericsson uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Papaioanou has time to react.
Papaioanou throws a big shot that misses.
Papaioanou throws a body punch but Ericsson moves out of range.
Papaioanou takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Ludvig Ericsson is winning the standup battle so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A decent looking cross lands there for Ericsson.
Papaioanou throws a low kick, looking for Ericsson's leg but Ericsson calmly moves out of range.
A thudding body kick lands there by Ericsson!
Ericsson throws a nice inside leg kick.
Papaioanou's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Ericsson throws a head kick but Papaioanou moves out of range.

Ericsson rushes Papaioanou and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Ericsson throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Papaioanous head.
Ericsson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
I was talking to Ericsson's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Papaioanou tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Ericsson's elbow.
Papaioanou tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Papaioanou can't find room to land a body shot as Ericsson controls the action.
Papaioanou misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ericsson.
Ericsson lands a nice uppercut.

Ericsson turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Ericsson manages to end up in side control.
Papaioanou keeps Ericsson under control for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ericsson with the ground and pound but Papaioanou regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Ericsson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Ericsson in particular looking to stall.
Ludvig Ericsson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Papaioanou trying to hold on to Ericsson's head to control him but Ericsson postures up.
Ericsson is looking to take a break and control but Papaioanou is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Papaioanou looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Papaioanou won't allow Ericsson to pass to mount.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Papaioanou lands a right hook to the body.
Ericsson misses with a jab to the body
and Papaioanou counters with a left to the body.
Papaioanou steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ericsson.
Papaioanou misses with a low kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ludvig Ericsson 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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

A swing and a miss from Papaioanou.
Papaioanou avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A little jabbing left from Papaioanou on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Ericsson missing with a left hand there. Papaioanou was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Ericsson closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Papaioanou quickly recovers to half guard.
Ericsson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Papaioanou does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Ericsson controlling the action here.
Papaioanou controlling the position for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ericsson misses with a head shot. Papaioanou uses the momentum to regain guard.
Papaioanou seems keen to control Ericsson's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ericsson lands a couple of digs.
Papaioanou is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Papaioanou keeping full guard, as Ericsson tries to pass.
Ericsson chips away with some ground and pound.
Papaioanou looking for a sweep. Not yet Papaioanou, not yet.
Lefteris Papaioanou has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ericsson passes Papaioanou's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Ericsson not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ericsson not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ericsson is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Papaioanou!
Ericsson wants to control the pace but Papaioanou is squirming around nicely.
Papaioanou tries to reverse the position but Ericsson maintains control.
Ericsson breaks from Papaioanou's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Ericsson with a couple of short strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ericsson connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Ericsson putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Papaioanou is in a horrible position here. Ericsson smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Papaioanou is looking to get to half guard.
Papaioanou takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ericsson landing punches.

Papaioanou is rocked!
Ericsson cracks Papaioanou with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ludvig Ericsson!