PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alfonzo Acosta (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alfonzo Acosta has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Acosta
vs
Griffin

213 cm
18
214 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

185 cm
18
214 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alfonzo Acosta!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Matt Griffin!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Igor Prikhodko and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Acosta defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Griffin.
Sloppy strikes from Griffin. Those never looked like landing.
Griffin misses with a few strikes there.
Griffin misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Griffin circles away from the clinch attempt.
Acosta avoids a punch combination nicely.
Acosta seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Acosta throws a right and a left that Griffin avoids nicely.
Acosta really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Griffin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Acosta.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffin is looking to land body kicks.

Griffin clinches with his opponent.
Acosta tries to throw a body punch but Griffin avoids it by throwing Acosta back against the cage.
Acosta keeps control of Griffin as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Acosta manages to pull guard.
Acosta pulls Griffin in to control the position.
Griffin with a flurry of punches that miss.
Acosta has control of Griffin's left arm, preventing Griffin from doing any damage.
Griffin wants to get up but he can't break Acosta's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Griffin postures up.
Griffin really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Acosta. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Griffin won't allow Acosta to get back to his feet.
Acosta trying to control the position here.
Acosta doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Acosta is adopting a defensive guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Alfonzo Acosta is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Acosta uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Griffin.
Acosta throws a counter high kick but Griffin was just alert enough to avoid it.
Griffin throws a right and a left that both miss.
Griffin connects with a nice looking jab.
Acosta misses with a wild body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Acosta tries to pull guard but Griffin holds him up against the cage and eventually Acosta drops back down to his feet.
Acosta jumps guard but Griffin stands there with Acosta around his waist. Acosta gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Acosta has a couple of punches blocked by Griffin.

Acosta successfully pulls guard.
Griffin stopping the sweep attempt from Acosta.
Acosta lands with a heel strike from the guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Acosta holds on and takes a little breather.
Griffin throws a big elbow that misses.
Acosta trying to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin wants to stand but Acosta is controlling his posture from full guard.
Acosta is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Acosta throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Acosta is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Acosta has a closed guard, preventing Griffin from standing up.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Acosta is trying to control the position but Griffin postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Acosta throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Acosta working a defensive guard here.
Acosta utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Griffin postures up in Acosta's guard and throws a big left but Acosta blocks it.
Griffin stopping the sweep attempt from Acosta.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Acosta is on top in guard.

Acosta lands a couple of digs.
Acosta missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Acosta throwing strikes from guard but Griffin blocks nicely.
Acosta throwing strikes but missing.
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 Alfonzo Acosta will probably get the nod.
That's time! Acosta's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Acosta fails in his attempt to clinch.
Griffin wants to counter with a clinch but Acosta pushes him away.
Griffin throws a right and a left that both miss.
Acosta went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Griffin fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Acosta, pushing him back against the cage.
Griffin is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Acosta is defending well.
Acosta is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Griffin to keep the fight standing.
A nice right hand lands inside from Griffin.
Acosta tries to pull guard but Griffin forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Acosta goes for a takedown attempt but Griffin pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alfonzo Acosta. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Griffin has Acosta up against the cage in a clinch.
Acosta has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Acosta jumps guard but Griffin stands there with Acosta around his waist. Acosta gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Acosta keeps control of Griffin as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Griffin is looking to take this one to the mat.
Griffin lands a left hand that snaps the head of Acosta backwards.
Acosta is trying to pull guard but Griffin has him pressed against the cage.

Acosta pulls Griffin into guard.
Acosta can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Griffin controls the pace.
Griffin is fighting to break Acosta's control of his arms but Acosta is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Griffin trying to control but Acosta is working from the bottom.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Acosta manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Acosta tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Griffin smiles and moves away.
Griffin throws a head kick that misses.
Matt Griffin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Acosta moves into the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

Griffin jumps guard and drags Acosta to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Griffin tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Acosta with a nice head shot there.
Griffin wants to get back to his feet but Acosta passes into half guard.
Griffin is breathing heavily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Acosta seems to be working for a kimura but Griffin defends the submission attempt.
Acosta throwing shots but Griffin is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Acosta is taking a breather. Griffin says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Griffin trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Acosta has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Acosta lands a big elbow.
Acosta working Griffin over with strikes here.
Griffin working to try and regain half guard.
Acosta lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Griffin hang on?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Acosta controlling from mount.
Griffin tries to lock up and control but Acosta gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Griffin wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Griffin is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Griffin covers up after that shot from Acosta.
Griffin looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Griffin is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alfonzo Acosta dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Griffin gets tackled into the cage by Acosta. Acosta maintains the clinch.
Griffin drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Acosta gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Acosta slows down the pace here.

Griffin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Griffin throws a series of punches but Acosta moves out of range.
Acosta wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffin throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Acosta misses with an uppercut. Griffin saw that one coming.
Griffin lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Acosta circles away quickly and effectively.
A combination from Griffin does no damage.
Griffin takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Griffin throws a leg kick but Acosta moved away.
As Griffin looks to move away, Acosta throws a big counter combo but Griffin just gets out of the way.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Acosta.
Acosta fails to land with a series of punches.
Griffin looks for a takedown but Acosta sprawls well.
Griffin misses with a few strikes there.
Acosta misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Griffin feints the counter takedown.
Griffin shoots in for a takedown but Acosta shows good takedown defense.
Alfonzo Acosta has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Matt Griffin.
Acosta lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Griffin circles away quickly and effectively.
Acosta throws a right hand that Griffin ducks under and follows up with a left that Griffin also avoids with ease.
Griffin wants to counter the offense by Acosta and move into the clinch position.
Acosta avoids the head kick by Griffin.
Acosta thinks about countering with a head kick.
Acosta misses with a kick to the body.
Acosta just misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin fails with the takedown
and Acosta counters with a head kick.
Acosta will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Acosta has taken the fight to the clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Acosta on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Acosta prevents Griffin from breaking the clinch.

Acosta jumps into guard, dragging Griffin to the mat.
Griffin loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Griffin must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Griffin trying to control the position from guard on top but Acosta is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Acosta has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Griffin can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Acosta 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.

Acosta is looking for a triangle but Griffin pushes his legs off easily.
Griffin wants to control from the top but Acosta keeps moving.
Acosta is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Griffin can do to turn this around?
Griffin cracks Acosta with a solid left hand.
Griffin trying to control the position from guard on top but Acosta is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Acosta trying to control the position here.
Griffin wants to stand but Acosta has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Acosta striking from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Acosta trying to control the position here.
Griffin wants to stand but Acosta has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Acosta lands an upkick as Griffin stands over him.
Acosta is pulling down on Griffin's head to control his posture.

Acosta is working for submissions here. He's thrown up his legs looking for a triangle but Griffin frees his head nicely. Oh but Acosta has switched to an armbar! Griffin is tapping furiously! Lovely submission there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:46 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Armbar). Alfonzo Acosta!