PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Frankie Ross (ranked 7916 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chafia Habiba (ranked 6222 p4p, 0 weight class). Chafia Habiba will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Ross
vs
Habiba

218 cm
18
140 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

169 cm
19
133 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Frankie Ross!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Chafia Habiba!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Dillan Fox and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Habiba's jab looks to have found its range, popping Ross under the eye.
A nice inside leg kick there by Habiba. That's going to slow Ross down.

Ross feints and as Habiba raises his hands in defense, Ross changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Habiba avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Habiba working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ross.
Ross content to stall in guard here.
Habiba is looking to sweep but instead, Ross has passed into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Habiba looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross drops an elbow to the side of Habiba's head.
Ross throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Ross sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Habiba defending well though.
Habiba blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ross.
Ross not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ross throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Habiba has hold of Ross's hands but Ross slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ross prevents Habiba from improving his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Ross lands with a punch from half guard.
Ross thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Ross prevents Habiba from improving his position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Habiba looks to land a combination but Ross avoids it well.
Chafia Habiba seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A big left from Habiba misses.
Ross throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Habiba's waist but Habiba gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Ross off to one side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross ducks under a wild hook from Habiba.
Ross moves out of range as Habiba strikes.
Ross appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Habiba misses with the body kick

and Ross counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Habiba pushes Ross off and scrambles back to his feet.
Habiba looks to score with a jab to the body but Ross is just out of range.
Habiba throws a right and a left that both miss.
Habiba looks winded!
Habiba throws a shot from downtown. Ross moves away and avoids it.

Ross gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Ross wriggles free and stands up.
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!
Ross moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Habiba throws a leg kick

and Ross counters with a nice double leg into side control. Habiba won't be happy with that.
Ross controlling from side mount.
Ross really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Check out the look on Ross's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Ross in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Ross working the ground and pound from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frankie Ross dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ross looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Habiba!

Habiba throws Ross to one side and escapes!
Habiba throws a quick inside leg kick.
Habiba gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Ross counters by moving into the clinch.
Ross fails to pull guard.
Habiba trying to stall but Ross improves his position.
Ross tries for a takedown. No joy.
Ross working hard to break the clinch.
Habiba looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Ross is trying to pull guard but Habiba turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frankie Ross. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Habiba's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ross stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Habiba.
A low kick from Habiba misses

and Ross decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Habiba's guard.
Ross throws a big elbow that misses.
Ross won't allow Habiba to get back to his feet.
Ross 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.
Habiba is breathing heavily.
Ross works over Habiba with some ground and pound from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Habiba is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ross postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Ross takes a body punch but keeps moving.

Ross drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Habiba wants to get back to his feet but Ross passes into half guard.
Ross 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.

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!
Habiba pushes Ross off looking to stand but Ross dives back in and keeps control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Habiba with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Habiba has hold of Ross's hands but Ross slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ross working over Habiba with some ground and pound. Habiba looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ross 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.
Nice strikes from Ross there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ross scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Ross working the head and body with strikes.
Habiba is looking for a sweep. Ross is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ross landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ross lands strikes from half guard.
Habiba wants to get back to his feet.
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 Frankie Ross will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Ross closes the distance and clinches.
Habiba is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

Habiba escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Ross tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Habiba paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Frankie Ross is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Habiba throws a body shot but no joy.

Ross shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Ross showed some decent athleticism there.
Habiba is trying to escape back to his feet but Ross uses the scramble to pass into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Habiba is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Ross asserts his dominance and retains side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Habiba is looking for a sweep.
Habiba takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Habiba tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Ross working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Ross has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Habiba's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Habiba wants to control but Ross is having none of it.
Ross connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Habiba sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Ross controlling the action here.
Ross lands with a punch from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Ross connects with a nice short shot to Habiba's temple.
Ross slips a nice elbow through Habiba's hands, connecting with Habiba's forehead.
Habiba avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Ross.
Ross thows a huge punch but Habiba dodges it nicely.
Ross lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Ross lands a nice short elbow.
Ross is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Habiba can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Habiba taking some punishment here, with Ross in his half guard.
Habiba really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ross. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Ross is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Chafia Habiba has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ross is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Ross working Habiba over with strikes.
Frankie Ross is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ross controlling the action here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Frankie Ross showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ross, 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frankie Ross!