PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Paul Phoenix (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andru Albrecht (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Phoenix comes to the cage accompanied by WorldWide Gunnin'. Albrecht has chosen No Sunshine by DMX as his entrance music. Paul Phoenix could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Andru Albrecht's chin.

Phoenix
vs
Albrecht

180 cm
20
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
22
185 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Intelligent

9mm Semtex Clothing

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, Paul Phoenix!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Andru Albrecht!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Lombardi, Joseph Jones and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Albrecht shoots in looking for a takedown. Phoenix tries to sprawl out of it but Albrecht keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Phoenix manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Phoenix throws a solid leg kick but Albrecht takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Phoenix.

Albrecht closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Phoenix trying to control from the bottom.
Phoenix moves into full guard.

Phoenix pushes Albrecht off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Albrecht looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Albrecht shoots for a double leg takedown but Phoenix sprawls well. He's pushed Albrecht's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Paul Phoenix has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andru Albrecht.
Phoenix tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Phoenix clinches.
Albrecht has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Phoenix is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Phoenix decides to pull guard.
Phoenix on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Phoenix tries to get out of the position.
Albrecht postures up.
Albrecht is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Phoenix can't keep his opponent in guard - Albrecht advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albrecht trying to control from half guard but Phoenix is working away.
Albrecht trying to control the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Albrecht's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Albrecht is keen to just control but Phoenix is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Phoenix is looking to control Albrecht's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Phoenix avoid being mounted?
Albrecht wants to lay and pray for a moment but Phoenix keeps working.
Phoenix wants to control but Albrecht is keeping busy.
Albrecht prevents Phoenix from improving his position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Albrecht shoots for a double leg takedown but Phoenix sprawls well. He's pushed Albrecht's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Albrecht shoots in for a takedown but Phoenix shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Albrecht looks gassed!
Albrecht fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Phoenix avoids it really well and circles away.
Phoenix throws a nice looking combination but Albrecht bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Albrecht lands a slapping body shot.
Albrecht swats away the attempt to clinch by Phoenix.
Phoenix throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Phoenix scores with a three punch combo!
Phoenix throws a series of punches but Albrecht avoids them all with ease.
Phoenix fails with an attempt to clinch.
Phoenix throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Albrecht fails to land the takedown.
Phoenix goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Phoenix shoots for a takedown but Albrecht saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
No joy there for Phoenix, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Phoenix shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Albrecht pinned against the cage. Albrecht gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Albrecht checks a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix tries to clinch but Albrecht is having none of it.
A shot to the body from Phoenix misses
and Albrecht counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The fight stays on the outside here - Phoenix looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Phoenix fails with the takedown
and Albrecht counters with a left and a right that stings Phoenix.
Albrecht looks for a takedown but Phoenix sprawls well.
Phoenix misses with a double jab

and Albrecht counters with a takedown into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Albrecht wants to lay and pray for a moment but Phoenix keeps working.
Phoenix is trying to control Albrecht's posture but Albrecht avoids it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Albrecht trying to control the action but Phoenix is working from the bottom.
Phoenix is trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Phoenix dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Phoenix fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Albrecht moves out of range of the body kick.
Phoenix shoots for a takedown but Albrecht saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Phoenix walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.

Albrecht closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Phoenix did well to prevent Albrecht getting side control.
Phoenix is trying to maintain the position but Albrecht is very close to passing his half guard.
Still in half guard, Albrecht seems content to control.
Albrecht is trying to control. Phoenix wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Albrecht is taking a breather. Phoenix says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Albrecht is thwarting Phoenix's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albrecht is looking to take a break and control but Phoenix is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Albrecht shoots in for a takedown but Phoenix shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Albrecht stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Albrecht wants it to stay on the feet.
Albrecht leaves Phoenix with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Phoenix. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Albrecht feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Albrecht trying to control but Phoenix is working from the bottom.
Albrecht tries to free his leg and advance position but Phoenix is retaining full guard.
Phoenix is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Albrecht is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Albrecht is fighting to break Phoenix's control of his arms but Phoenix is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Phoenix keeping moving, preventing Albrecht from controlling successfully.
Phoenix looking for a sweep. Not yet Phoenix, not yet.
Albrecht slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Albrecht trying to control but Phoenix is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
A punch combination from Phoenix misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix misses the shot to the body.
Phoenix lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Albrecht circles away quickly and effectively.
Phoenix tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Albrecht paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Phoenix ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Albrecht moves away.
Andru Albrecht seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Albrecht drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Albrecht decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Phoenix, up you get!
Phoenix misses with a takedown attempt

and Albrecht counters with a nice double leg into side control. Phoenix won't be happy with that.
Albrecht taking a breather here.
Phoenix is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albrecht trying to control the action but Phoenix is working from the bottom.
Phoenix can't do much from the bottom here.
Phoenix regains half guard.
Albrecht seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Phoenix is trying to get back to full guard.
Albrecht trying to control from half guard but Phoenix is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andru Albrecht 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. This is the final round!

Phoenix wants to clinch up but Albrecht keeps it at a distance.
Phoenix throws a series of punches but Albrecht moves out of range.
Phoenix lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Albrecht circles away quickly and effectively.
Phoenix doesn't manage to clinch there - Albrecht circles away.
Albrecht fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Phoenix avoids it really well and circles away.
Phoenix fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Albrecht shoots in for a double leg but Phoenix sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Phoenix wants to clinch up but Albrecht keeps it at a distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Phoenix misses with a takedown attempt - Albrecht sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Albrecht changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Phoenix tries to avoid it but Albrecht manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Phoenix to the ground. Phoenix escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Paul Phoenix has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andru Albrecht.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Phoenix is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Albrecht cracks Phoenix with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Phoenix doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Albrecht counters with a takedown into side control.
Phoenix wants to get back to his feet but Albrecht drags him back down.
Phoenix can't do much from the bottom here.
Phoenix seems a little lost for a moment, as Albrecht dominates the positioning.
Let's hope that Albrecht has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Phoenix has one of Albrecht's arms on lockdown, trying to prevent him from doing any damage.
Phoenix is letting Albrecht control him for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Albrecht trying to control the action but Phoenix is working from the bottom.
Phoenix is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Albrecht trying to control the position but Phoenix is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Phoenix wants to improve his position but Albrecht is controlling well.
Phoenix is working hard here to advance position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Albrecht drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Phoenix is not content to let Albrecht control the position.
Albrecht working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albrecht trying to control the position but Phoenix is working away.

Albrecht looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Phoenix sneaks back into half guard.
Albrecht slows the pace down in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Phoenix wants to get back to full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andru Albrecht comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Albrecht has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 28:29
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andru Albrecht!