PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Porfirio Francis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johnny Blaze (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.

Francis
vs
Blaze

209 cm
24
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Porfirio Francis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Johnny Blaze!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Chris Downing and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Blaze closes the distance and clinches.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Francis.
Francis really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Blaze gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Francis regains guard.
Blaze tries to free his leg and advance position but Francis is retaining full guard.
Francis striking from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Blaze throwing strikes from guard but Francis blocks nicely.
Francis tries to strike from the bottom.
Blaze is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Francis is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Francis looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Blaze with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Blaze is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Francis's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Francis's back!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Francis is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Blaze has the hooks in. Francis is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blaze punches the canvas rather than the man.
I really don't envy Francis right now.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Blaze has the hooks in. Francis is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Blaze missing with strikes.
Francis rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Blaze is looking to take a break and control but Francis is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Francis is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blaze not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Blaze passes the guard and advances to mount!
Blaze has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Blaze wants to control but instead Francis manages to regain half guard.
Blaze thows a huge punch but Francis dodges it nicely.
Blaze trying to control from half guard but Francis is working away.
Blaze thows a huge punch but Francis dodges it nicely.
Blaze is trying to control the action in half guard but Francis is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Blaze missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francis tries to kick Blaze off in order to stand up. Blaze Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Francis is not content to let Blaze control the position.
Blaze content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

That's four 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.
Francis avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Blaze.
Blaze throws a strike aimed at the side of Francis's head but Francis avoids it well.

Blaze decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Blaze has closed the distance and engaged Francis in a clinch.
Francis misses with a body punch.
Francis misses with a knee strike.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Blaze pulls guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Francis accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Blaze is adopting a defensive guard.
Francis throws a big right hand that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johnny Blaze dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Blaze closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Blaze breaks from the clinch.
Blaze takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.

Blaze throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Francis was covering up waiting for the punch and Blaze finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Blaze lands a couple of digs.
Francis thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Francis keeping moving, preventing Blaze from controlling successfully.
Francis doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Blaze trying to control but Francis is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blaze slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Francis throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Blaze postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Blaze tries to free his leg and advance position but Francis is retaining full guard.
Blaze trying to control the position from guard on top but Francis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Blaze moves into range and clinches up with Francis.
Blaze blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Blaze successfully pulls guard.
Blaze preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Francis is working Blaze over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Francis got a little sloppy there for a moment and Blaze has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Francis has managed to get both his arms back between Blaze's legs - danger averted.
Francis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Francis postures up in Blaze's guard and throws a big left but Blaze blocks it.
Blaze utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Blaze working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Francis doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Francis manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Blaze utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Francis throws a big right hand that misses.

Blaze is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francis postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Francis throws a strike but Blaze rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Blaze wants to control from the top but Francis keeps moving.
Francis wants to stand up but Blaze is controlling him.
Blaze slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Francis.
Blaze missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Francis tries to get to full guard but Blaze has control of the leg.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

Blaze is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Francis kicks off Blaze and gets to his feet.
Blaze has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Blaze gets tackled into the cage by Francis. Francis maintains the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Blaze breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Blaze takes a swing at Francis's ribcage but misses.

Blaze closes the distance and clinches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johnny Blaze showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Blaze throws a body shot but no joy.
Porfirio Francis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Francis takes a kick to the side of the head.

Blaze instigates a clinch.

Blaze has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Francis uses from the top position.
Johnny Blaze has got the better of the ground game so far.
Francis landing some decent shots from guard.
Blaze wants to get back to his feet but Francis is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Francis throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Blaze preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Blaze looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Francis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Francis postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Blaze scrambles and gets back to his feet.

Blaze fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Francis to the ground. Blaze is now in Francis's guard.
Blaze takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Blaze throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Francis works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Blaze is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Blaze wants to control from the top but Francis keeps moving.
Francis manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Blaze manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francis postures up and lands a big shot to Blaze's brow.
Francis in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Francis stands up and waves to Blaze to follow him.

Blaze shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Francis's guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Francis tries to strike from the bottom.
Francis thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Blaze trying to control the position from guard on top but Francis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Francis will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francis tries to strike from the bottom.
Blaze throws an elbow that misses. Francis uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Blaze's guard. Nice move by Francis!

Francis postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Blaze working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Francis.

Blaze working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Francis doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Francis manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Francis throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Blaze works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Blaze 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Francis postures up in Blaze's guard and throws a big left but Blaze blocks it.

Blaze kicks Francis off and gets to his feet.
Blaze misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Blaze throws an overhand right that lands on Francis's shoulder, as Francis tries to avoid the shot.
It looked like Francis was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

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

Francis sneaks out the side door and pushes Blaze away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Johnny Blaze seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Francis tries to clinch but Blaze moves out of range.
Francis looks to clinch
and Blaze counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Blaze swats away the attempt to clinch by Francis.

And that's the end of the fight!
Johnny Blaze comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Blaze has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Johnny Blaze!