PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Corey McKennedy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank Mir (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Frank Mir will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

McKennedy
vs
Mir

185 cm
20
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

215 cm
19
185 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Corey McKennedy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Frank Mir!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Lou da Vinci and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McKennedy misses with a head kick.
McKennedy shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Mir pinned against the cage. Mir gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
McKennedy shoots in for a double leg but Mir sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Mir swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

McKennedy moves into the clinch.
McKennedy tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Corey McKennedy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McKennedy can't get the takedown.
Mir wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Mir wants to get back to striking at distance but McKennedy won't allow it.
Mir blocks an elbow strike.
Mir prevents a takedown attempt there.

Mir pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Mir misses with a straight left.
A clash of legs there as McKennedy blocks the low kick.
Mir throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

Mir moves into the clinch.
McKennedy avoids the elbow strike from Mir, against the cage.
McKennedy is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Mir is looking to control McKennedy's arms but McKennedy gets an underhook and turns him. Now Mir has his back to the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McKennedy is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
McKennedy jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Mir walks away with a smile on his face. McKennedy gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
McKennedy slips a jab and a cross from Mir.
Mir tries to clinch up

and McKennedy counters by clinching up.

Mir lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Mir thows a huge punch but McKennedy dodges it nicely.

Mir escapes and gets back to his feet.
McKennedy swats away the attempt to clinch by Mir.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Mir blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Mir can't break the clinch.
Mir wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Mir escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

McKennedy clinches up with Mir and pushes him back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McKennedy tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Mir just stands there and leans against the cage.
McKennedy tries to pull guard but Mir won't allow it.
McKennedy trying to control the position but instead, Mir has worked for underhooks and has pushed McKennedy into the cage.
Mir slows down the pace here.
McKennedy keeps control of Mir as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Mir breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from McKennedy.
McKennedy wants to clinch up but Mir keeps it at a distance.
McKennedy shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Mir pinned against the cage. Mir gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
McKennedy misses with a double jab.
McKennedy dodges the punch combination from Mir.

Mir instigates a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mir is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Mir looks gassed!

Mir pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
McKennedy throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Mir's waist but Mir gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing McKennedy off to one side.
McKennedy will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
McKennedy wants to clinch.

Mir gets a clinch.
McKennedy gets underhooks to prevent Mir's takedown attempt.
McKennedy tries to score a body lock takedown but Mir shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

McKennedy decides to pull guard.
McKennedy is looking to stand up but Mir isn't so interested in that idea.
Mir is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Mir looking to pass the guard.

McKennedy looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McKennedy trying to control the position.
McKennedy preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Mir controlling from the top position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now McKennedy is on top in guard.
McKennedy trying to control the position from guard on top but Mir is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Mir 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.

McKennedy misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Nice sprawl there from Mir as McKennedy shoots in.
McKennedy misses with a jab, cross combination.

Mir closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
McKennedy moves into full guard.
Mir is looking to stand up but McKennedy won't let him.
McKennedy is adopting a defensive guard.
McKennedy wants to get back to his feet but Mir is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
McKennedy might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Mir is breathing heavily.

Mir decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mir avoids a punch combination nicely.
Mir is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Mir tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
McKennedy will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Corey McKennedy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mir with a lazy takedown attempt
and McKennedy counters with a body kick that stops Mir in his tracks momentarily.
Mir stuffs the takedown attempt from McKennedy. McKennedy gets slowly back to his feet.
McKennedy misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
McKennedy tries to close the distance and clinch but Mir swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
McKennedy moves in looking to clinch but Mir pushes him off.
McKennedy tries for a takedown but Mir sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Mir drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Mir must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
McKennedy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Mir preventing the sweep.
Mir trying to control the position from guard on top but McKennedy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
McKennedy trying to keep a closed guard but Mir is proving a slippery customer.
Mir wants to stand but McKennedy has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Mir throwing strikes from guard but McKennedy blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McKennedy avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
McKennedy tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mir swats him away and circles back towards the center.
McKennedy throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
McKennedy doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Mir counters with an outside leg kick.
Mir swats away the attempt to clinch by McKennedy.
McKennedy will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
McKennedy missing with a left hand there. Mir was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
McKennedy throws a shot to the body.
Mir takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
McKennedy tries for a takedown but Mir circles away easily

and Mir counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for McKennedy!
Mir looking to finish with strikes here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McKennedy is looking to improve his position but Mir isn't that keen on the idea.
McKennedy manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Mir tries to stand but his hand is stuck under McKennedy.
McKennedy gets full guard.
McKennedy trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

McKennedy working for a triangle but Mir defends it easily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
McKennedy looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Mir showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Mir walks into a jab.
Mir avoids the head kick by McKennedy.
Mir tries to clinch up but McKennedy circles away and keeps his distance.
McKennedy throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Mir's head.
Frank Mir seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McKennedy looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
McKennedy takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
McKennedy shoots in but no luck this time.
McKennedy closes the distance and clinches up with Mir, looking for a takedown. McKennedy pushes Mir against the cage but Mir circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Corey McKennedy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mir tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but McKennedy paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Mir has closed the distance and engaged McKennedy in a clinch.
McKennedy letting Mir take a breather here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
McKennedy goes for a takedown in the clinch but Mir prevents it.
McKennedy tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Mir smiles and moves away.
Mir swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mir fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
McKennedy tries for a takedown but Mir circles away easily

and Mir decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in McKennedy's guard.
Frank Mir has got the better of the ground game so far.
Mir preventing the sweep.
McKennedy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
McKennedy is adopting a defensive guard.
Mir trying to control the position from guard on top but McKennedy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
McKennedy tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McKennedy controls Mir momentarily but Mir frees himself.

Mir is sitting in close to McKennedy's body. McKennedy has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Mir is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Mir is tapping! That was a very nice submission by McKennedy.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:25 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Corey McKennedy!