PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Plebian Franco (ranked 5076 p4p, 4440 weight class) and Sanderson Reliford (ranked 534 p4p, 491 weight class). Sanderson Reliford 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!

Franco
vs
Reliford

205 cm
25
255
1 - 0 - 0

208 cm
25
275
2 - 0 - 0

Basic striking
Granite chin

Great elbows
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Plebian Franco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Sanderson Reliford!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Daniel Franklin and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A chopping leg kick lands by Franco.
Franco on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Reliford getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Franco throws a sloppy head kick and Reliford moves out of range easily.
An inside leg kick lands from Franco.
A left lands for Reliford.
Franco throws a body kick that misses.

Reliford has taken the fight to the clinch.
Reliford scores a nice knee to the body.
Franco misses with a punch on the inside.
Franco lands a hook that snaps the head of Reliford backwards.
Reliford throws a punch but it's blocked by Franco.
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!
Franco trying to land knees to the body.
Franco looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Reliford lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Franco backwards.
Reliford lands a shoulder strike.
Reliford is trying to stall.
Franco stalling in the clinch but Reliford improves position.
Franco comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Sanderson Reliford has been cut.
Reliford lands with a right to the head.
Franco utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Come on Franco - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Nice body punch from Franco.
Franco avoids a wild elbow strike from Reliford.
Franco just leaning against Reliford, taking a breather.
Franco struggles to land a body shot inside as Reliford controls his hands.
Reliford lands with a light punch inside.
Franco lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Reliford misses with some punches.
Reliford scores with a knee to the head.
Reliford managing to block the knees to the body from Franco.
Franco swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Reliford tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Franco avoids it.
Reliford takes a knee right on the jaw!
Franco tries to land a knee to the head but Reliford blocks with his arms.
Reliford looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Reliford dodges an elbow strike from Franco.
Reliford manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Reliford is looking to control Franco's arms but Franco gets an underhook and turns him. Now Reliford has his back to the ropes.
Reliford landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Reliford misses with a knee to the head.
Franco blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Reliford tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Franco avoids it.
Franco tries to throw a body punch but Reliford avoids it by throwing Franco back against the ropes.
Reliford blocks the elbow strike.
Reliford doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Franco tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Reliford's elbow.
Reliford is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Reliford looking to throw knees to the head but Franco is blocking nicely.
Franco tries a knee to the head but Reliford blocks it.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Franco throws an elbow that misses.
Franco lands a shot to the body.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Sanderson Reliford will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Sanderson Reliford's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Reliford misses the shot to the body.
Franco lands the left hand.
Reliford throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Franco on the side of the head.
Franco scores with a spinning back kick!
Franco takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Reliford misses with a straight left.
Franco on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Franco looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Reliford crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Franco - the referee stops the clock and Reliford gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Franco. Reliford manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Reliford takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Sanderson Reliford seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A good leg kick by Franco.

Reliford tries to keep at a distance but Franco has taken the fight into the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Franco is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Reliford is defending well for now.
Franco misses with a punch on the inside.
Franco looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Reliford misses with a hook to the ribs.
Franco blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Reliford makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Franco dodges an elbow strike from Reliford.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco tries to land knees in the clinch but Reliford avoids the damage to the body.
Franco struggles to land a body shot inside as Reliford controls his hands.
Reliford misses with a punch on the inside.
Reliford misses with an elbow strike.
Franco with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Reliford tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Franco avoids it.
Franco tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Reliford avoids it.
Reliford lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Reliford swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Reliford misses with a hook from the clinch.
Reliford lands a nice elbow.

It looks like Plebian Franco has been cut.
Nice body punch from Franco - that landed with a thud.
A head punch on the inside from Reliford fails to land.
Franco blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Reliford blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Franco throws a knee to the head but misses.
Reliford creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Reliford as Franco tries to tie him up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Reliford's elbow.
Reliford is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Franco is defending well for now.
Franco lands with a light punch inside.
Sanderson Reliford seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Reliford wants to stall.
Reliford throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Franco blocks it with crossed arms.
Franco blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Reliford lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Franco backwards.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Franco pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
Franco lands an elbow inside.
Reliford blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Reliford misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Reliford avoids a wild elbow strike from Franco.
Franco can't find room to land a body shot as Reliford controls the action.
Franco looking to throw knees to the head but Reliford is blocking nicely.
Franco tries to land knees in the clinch but Reliford avoids the damage to the body.
Franco misses with a knee to the head.
Reliford throws an elbow but it misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Plebian Franco will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

A head kick misses from Franco.
Franco throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Reliford stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Franco throws a sloppy head kick and Reliford moves out of range easily.
Reliford steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Franco.
Reliford scores with a nice strike.
Reliford lands a body shot.
Reliford comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Reliford works Franco's body with a nice hook.
Franco takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Franco staying out of range there.
A telegraphed right hand from Reliford misses the target.
Jab by Reliford.
Reliford takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Franco clinches up with Reliford and pushes him back against the ropes.
Reliford can't find room to land a body shot as Franco controls the action.
Reliford scores with a hook to the body.
Reliford lands a shoulder strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Franco.
Franco blocks an elbow strike from Reliford.
Reliford tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reliford using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Franco has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Franco is looking to control Reliford's arms but Reliford gets an underhook and turns him. Now Franco has his back to the ropes.
Franco misses with a hook to the ribs.
Franco working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Franco throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Reliford tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Franco tries a knee to the head but Reliford blocks it.
A nice left hand lands by Reliford.
Reliford swings wildly with an uppercut but Franco uses good head movement to avoid it.
Reliford throws an elbow that misses.
Franco trying to land knees to the body.
Reliford lands an elbow inside that Franco shrugs off.
Franco tries a knee to the head but Reliford blocks it.
Reliford lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Franco.
Franco misses with a body punch.
Franco throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Reliford blocks it with crossed arms.
Franco lands an uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Franco.
Reliford tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Franco connects with a nasty looking knee right to Reliford's face.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Franco blocks a body shot from Reliford.
Reliford lands a body punch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Reliford scores with a knee to the head.
Reliford lands a nice elbow.
Reliford misses with the head strike.
Reliford goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Reliford tries to land a knee to the head but Franco blocks with his arms.
Reliford lands an elbow inside that Franco shrugs off.
Franco is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Reliford is keeping busy.
Franco blocks a body shot from Reliford.
Reliford lands with a left to the head.
Reliford lands with a light punch inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Reliford is working Franco over against the ropes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sanderson Reliford comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Reliford 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 David Hoff scores the fight 29:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!