PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Gabriel McDonald (ranked 6116 p4p, 6079 weight class) and Yuri Blanco (ranked 561 p4p, 560 weight class). Yuri Blanco has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

McDonald
vs
Blanco

190 cm
21
225
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
25
255
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gabriel McDonald!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yuri Blanco!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Jonathan Paton and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McDonald closes this distance looking for a takedown but Blanco circles away.
McDonald shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Blanco pinned against the cage. Blanco gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Blanco unleashes a big counter combination but McDonald bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
McDonald throws a leg kick but Blanco sees it coming and moves out of range.
Some wild striking there from Blanco.
McDonald is looking to clinch.
Blanco throws a right and a left that McDonald avoids nicely.
Blanco takes a head kick and keeps coming.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blanco looking to land some kicks to the body here.
McDonald shoots for a double leg takedown but Blanco sprawls well. He's pushed McDonald's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gabriel McDonald. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Blanco shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. McDonald eats them both and turns towards Blanco to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Blanco throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Blanco lands with a kick to the ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanco throws a series of punches but McDonald moves out of range.
Blanco fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
McDonald seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
McDonald has his takedown stuffed
and Blanco counters with a two punch combo.
Blanco thows a body kick. McDonald tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Sloppy strikes from Blanco. Those never looked like landing.
McDonald throws a right hand that Blanco ducks under and follows up with a left that Blanco also avoids with ease.
McDonald avoids the head kick by Blanco.
McDonald throws a half hearted mid kick.
McDonald looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Blanco shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Blanco connects with an inside leg kick.
Blanco looking to land some kicks to the body here.
A slapping body kick lands there for Blanco.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McDonald moves out of range as Blanco throws a body kick.
Blanco scores with a spinning back kick!
McDonald is breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
McDonald showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Blanco.
Blanco lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but McDonald circles away quickly and effectively.
McDonald chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Blanco can pounce on him.
Yuri Blanco seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Blanco pulls out of a head kick attempt.
McDonald shoots for a takedown but Blanco saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
McDonald throws the left hand but Blanco avoids the punch easily.
Blanco misses with the combination.
McDonald moves in looking to clinch but Blanco pushes him off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanco throws a body kick that misses.

Blanco clinches up with McDonald and pushes him back against the cage.

Blanco escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Blanco swats away the attempt to clinch by McDonald.
McDonald shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Blanco counters with a left and a right that stings McDonald.
Blanco will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Blanco will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Blanco throws a quick inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McDonald has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Blanco misses with a two punch combination.
Blanco checks the leg kick.
Blanco lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but McDonald circles away quickly and effectively.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
McDonald blocks a head kick by Blanco.
No luck for McDonald with that takedown attempt.
McDonald shoots in for a takedown but Blanco shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Blanco lands a head kick!
Nice sprawl there from Blanco as McDonald shoots in.
Blanco moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
McDonald misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Blanco.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Blanco dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

McDonald fails with an attempt to clinch.
Blanco is looking for the big counter here.
McDonald shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Blanco throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Blanco scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Blanco scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
McDonald is looking to clinch but Blanco is avoiding it.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from McDonald is defended easily by Blanco.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blanco fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and McDonald has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Blanco lands with a kick to the ribs.
Yuri Blanco seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanco throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

McDonald is rocked!
McDonald walks forward, straight into a front kick from Blanco.
Blanco throws an overhand right from the outside, which connects and sends McDonald stumbling backwards into the cage! McDonald bounces back off the cage towards Blanco, who cracks him with a two punch combination that drops him to his knees! Blanco lands two more shots before the referee has chance to intervene - what a finish! Blanco celebrates with his corner as the crowd cheer loudly.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:12 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Yuri Blanco!
After winning the bout, Yuri Blanco thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.