PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Max Power (ranked 24663 p4p, 4112 weight class) and Boyd Fitzgerald (ranked 622 p4p, 474 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Power
vs
Fitzgerald

200 cm
19
277
2 - 4 - 0

192 cm
26
220
2 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

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 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Max Power!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Boyd Fitzgerald!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Bart Greer and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Power is looking to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Power looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Power is looking to clinch but Fitzgerald is avoiding it.
Power is looking to clinch.
Max Power seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Power drives through and clinches with Fitzgerald against the cage.
Power throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Fitzgerald blocks it with crossed arms.
Power has Fitzgerald pressed against the cage, preventing Fitzgerald from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Fitzgerald breaks from the clinch.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Power tries to clinch there but Fitzgerald circles away.
Despite the aggression on Fitzgerald's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.

Power closes the distance and pushes Fitzgerald back into the cage.
Power keeps control of Fitzgerald as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Power tries a knee to the head but Fitzgerald blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Power looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Fitzgerald has had enough of the clinch but Power keeps him there for the moment.
Power misses with a knee to the head.
Power with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Power misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fitzgerald.
Power missing with knees to the body.
Fitzgerald blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Power throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Fitzgerald blocks it with crossed arms.
Power throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Fitzgerald blocks it with crossed arms.
Fitzgerald looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Power tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Power pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Our sources have told us that Power has been working on his elbows in the gym.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Power just misses with a elbow thrown towards Fitzgerald's brow.
Power keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Fitzgerald's efforts to push away.

Fitzgerald pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Power is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Fitzgerald looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Fitzgerald thumps Power with a low kick.
Power moves to clinch but Fitzgerald breaks away
and Fitzgerald counters with a three punch combo that has Power backing up. Power nods at Fitzgerald to acknowledge the strikes.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Fitzgerald with a nice calf kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt.
Power tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Fitzgerald counters with a series of strikes. Power will be more careful next time no doubt.
Power tries to clinch up but Fitzgerald circles away and keeps his distance.
Power doesn't manage to clinch there - Fitzgerald circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch but Fitzgerald swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Power fails with an attempt to clinch.
Fitzgerald lands a nice leg kick that just misses Power's sensitive parts.
Power is looking to clinch.
Power moves in looking to clinch but Fitzgerald pushes him off.
Power tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Fitzgerald counters with a one-two to the body.
Danga de danga de dang - Fitzgerald scores with a four punch combination!
The fight stays on the outside here - Power looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Power tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Fitzgerald manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Fitzgerald swats away the attempt to clinch by Power.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt
and Fitzgerald counters with a head kick.
Power throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Fitzgerald.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Power takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Power wants to clinch up but Fitzgerald keeps it at a distance.
Power moves in looking to clinch but Fitzgerald pushes him off.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Power is looking to clinch.
Fitzgerald is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Fitzgerald throws a nice inside leg kick.
Power tries to clinch up
and Fitzgerald counters with a nice uppercut.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Boyd Fitzgerald dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Power fails in his attempt to clinch.
Fitzgerald appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Fitzgerald swats away the attempt to clinch by Power.
Max Power is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Power wants to clinch.
Fitzgerald lands with a thumping leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt
and Fitzgerald counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Power fails in his attempt to clinch.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Power closes the distance but Fitzgerald moves to the side
and Fitzgerald counters with a one-two to the body.
Power fails with an attempt to clinch.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch but Fitzgerald swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Power tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt.
Power tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Fitzgerald manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Power wants to clinch up but Fitzgerald keeps it at a distance.
Fitzgerald connects with an inside leg kick.
Power looks to clinch
and Fitzgerald makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Power tries to clinch up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Power tries to clinch up
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Fitzgerald scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Fitzgerald. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Power tries to clinch up but Fitzgerald circles away and keeps his distance.
Power is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Fitzgerald has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Power tries to clinch up
and Fitzgerald counters with an inside leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Fitzgerald swats away the attempt to clinch by Power.
Fitzgerald is trying to counter with his kicks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Power tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Fitzgerald manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Fitzgerald scores with a leg kick.
Power takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Boyd Fitzgerald seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Power moves in looking to clinch but Fitzgerald pushes him off.
The fight stays on the outside here - Power looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Fitzgerald appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Fitzgerald throws a head kick but Power moves out of range.
Power seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Power misses with a wild combination.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fitzgerald swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Power moves into the clinch.
Power taking a breather.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Power trying to land knees to the body.
Power misses with a knee to the head.
Power using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Fitzgerald has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Power looking to throw knees to the head but Fitzgerald is blocking nicely.
Power comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Boyd Fitzgerald has been cut.
Power throws an elbow but it misses.
Power tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Fitzgerald escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Power tries to clinch but Fitzgerald moves out of range.
Power wants to clinch up but Fitzgerald keeps it at a distance.
Power fails with an attempt to clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Boyd Fitzgerald showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Boyd Fitzgerald's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Power tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Fitzgerald misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Power fails with an attempt to clinch.
Fitzgerald throws a counter combo.
Power tries to clinch up
and Fitzgerald counters with a leg kick.
Fitzgerald circles away from the clinch attempt
and Fitzgerald counters with a nice leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Power tries to clinch up.
Power is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Power on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Power tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Fitzgerald manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Fitzgerald throws a counter combo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Power tries to clinch up.
Power misses with a combination
and Fitzgerald counters with a nice leg kick.
Power tries to clinch there but Fitzgerald circles away.
Power wants to clinch but Fitzgerald slips to the side
and Fitzgerald counters with a nice low kick that buckles Power's knee momentarily.
Good leg kick by Fitzgerald.

Power clinches up against the cage.
Fitzgerald on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Power tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Fitzgerald blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
With the fighters up against the cage, Power throws an elbow but misses.
Power with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Power is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Fitzgerald is keeping busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Power throws a knee to the head but misses.
Power tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Fitzgerald avoids it.
Fitzgerald wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Power has him pressed against the cage.
Power throws a knee to the head but misses.
Power tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Fitzgerald breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Fitzgerald.
Power fails in his attempt to clinch.
Power tries to clinch but Fitzgerald moves out of range.
Fitzgerald lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Power tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Fitzgerald paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Fitzgerald keeps the fight on the outside.
Fitzgerald is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald keeps the fight on the outside.
Fitzgerald steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.

Fitzgerald moves into the clinch.
Max Power has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Fitzgerald manages to break the clinch.
Power is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Power tries to clinch there but Fitzgerald circles away.
Power fails with an attempt to clinch.
Fitzgerald swats away the attempt to clinch by Power.
Fitzgerald only half commits to the counter leg kick.
Fitzgerald scores with a leg kick.
Sloppy strikes from Power. Those never looked like landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Power tries to clinch up.
Power tries to clinch there but Fitzgerald circles away.
Power doesn't manage to clinch there - Fitzgerald circles away.
Power tries to clinch but Fitzgerald is having none of it.
Fitzgerald throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Power.
Fitzgerald connects with a leg kick.
That kick from Fitzgerald tenderised Power's leg. Power is trying to keep his angry face on.
Fitzgerald fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Power.
A solid leg kick lands there for Fitzgerald.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Power tries to clinch
and Fitzgerald counters with a series of strikes. Power will be more careful next time no doubt.
Fitzgerald scores with a hook to the body. Power takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Max Power has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Power misses with a body punch
and Fitzgerald counters with a stiff right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Boyd Fitzgerald comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Fitzgerald winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Sandra Marshall scores the fight 27:30
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Boyd Fitzgerald!