PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between George Francisco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Luigi Fatto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Francisco
vs
Fatto

181 cm
20
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
20
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight 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, George Francisco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Luigi Fatto!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, John Kavanagh and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Francisco throws a one two combo.
Fatto thows a body shot but no joy.
Francisco shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Fatto defends it nicely.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Francisco.
Fatto tries to clinch but Francisco is having none of it.
Francisco scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Fatto chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Fatto tries to land a leg kick but Francisco saw it coming and moves away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Francisco tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
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!
Fatto is looking to take this one to the mat.

Fatto breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Francisco tries for a takedown but Fatto sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for George Francisco. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fatto is trying hard to land a takedown here. Francisco sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Francisco clinches up with Fatto and pushes him back against the cage.
Francisco trying to stall but Fatto improves his position.
Fatto is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Francisco is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Fatto is defending well for now.
Fatto is looking to take this one to the mat.
Fatto throws a knee to the head but misses.

Fatto pulls guard successfully.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Fatto keeping moving, preventing Francisco from controlling successfully.
Fatto wants to sweep here but Francisco controlling him for the moment.
Francisco looking to pass the guard.
Fatto working a defensive guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francisco postures up in Fatto's guard and throws a big left but Fatto blocks it.

Fatto pushes Francisco off and gets back to his feet.
Fatto fails with the takedown.
Francisco wants to clinch but Fatto slips to the side
and Fatto counters with a right hand to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Francisco. No joy for Fatto on that attempt.
Fatto looks winded!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Francisco swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Nice takedown defense from Francisco. No joy for Fatto on that attempt.
Fatto showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Francisco.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fatto smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

Fatto gets tackled into the cage by Francisco. Francisco maintains the clinch.
Fatto is trying to pull guard but Francisco has him pressed against the cage.
Fatto doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Francisco jumps guard but Fatto stands there with Francisco around his waist. Francisco gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
A short right from Francisco.
Francisco using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Fatto has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Francisco lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Fatto breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Francisco is looking to clinch.
Francisco tries to clinch there but Fatto circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Francisco rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Fatto moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Francisco moves into the clinch.
Francisco is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Francisco just leaning against Fatto, taking a breather.

Francisco jumps guard and drags Fatto to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Francisco wants to sweep here but Fatto controlling him for the moment.
Fatto prevents Francisco from getting back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Fatto postures up in Francisco's guard and throws a big left but Francisco blocks it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Fatto is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Francisco is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Francisco has escaped and now he's on top!
Fatto looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Francisco 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.

Fatto tries to clinch but Francisco moves out of range.
Fatto shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Fatto lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Francisco lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

It looks like Luigi Fatto has been cut.
Sloppy strikes from Francisco. Those never looked like landing.
Fatto closes the distance and clinches up with Francisco, looking for a takedown. Fatto pushes Francisco against the cage but Francisco circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Francisco looks to land a combination but Fatto avoids it well.
Fatto is trying hard to land a takedown here. Francisco sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
George Francisco has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Luigi Fatto.
Fatto avoids a punch combination nicely.
Francisco fails with a takedown attempt.
Francisco tries to clinch but Fatto is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Francisco shoots in but no luck this time.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Fatto clinches.
Fatto pushes off an throws an elbow but Francisco leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Fatto goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Fatto has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Francisco is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Fatto misses with a punch on the inside.
Fatto jumps guard but Francisco stands there with Fatto around his waist. Fatto gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Francisco managing to block the knees to the body from Fatto.
Fatto tries to pull guard but Francisco forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Francisco working hard to break the clinch.
Fatto is looking to control Francisco's arms but Francisco gets an underhook and turns him. Now Fatto has his back to the cage.
Francisco looking to slow down the pace here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fatto trying to control the position but instead, Francisco has worked for underhooks and has pushed Fatto into the cage.
Francisco is stalling here.
Francisco tries for a takedown but Fatto manages to get underhooks.
Francisco is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Francisco wants to get back to striking at distance but Fatto won't allow it.
Francisco taking a breather.
Francisco misses with the head strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francisco is looking to break free of the clinch but Fatto has double underhooks.
Francisco avoiding damage.
Francisco tries to break free but Fatto pushes him back against the cage.
Francisco tries to circle away but Fatto has him pinned against the cage.
Fatto jumps guard but Francisco stands there with Fatto around his waist. Fatto gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Fatto tries to pull guard but Francisco won't allow it.
Francisco is trying to push Fatto away but Fatto has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Francisco struggles to land a body shot inside as Fatto controls his hands.
Fatto lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Francisco gets through Fatto's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fatto can't get the takedown.
Fatto tries to pull guard but Francisco forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Fatto letting Francisco take a breather here.
George Francisco has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Fatto stalling.
Francisco taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Francisco is trying to maintain a safe position but Fatto gets an underhook and turns Francisco into the cage.

Fatto breaks the clinch.
Francisco moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fight stays on the outside here - Fatto looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Francisco misses with a double jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Francisco dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Luigi Fatto's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Francisco swats away the attempt to clinch by Fatto.
George Francisco is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nice takedown defense from Francisco. No joy for Fatto on that attempt.
Francisco swinging wildly here.
Fatto avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Fatto slips a jab and a cross from Francisco.
Francisco fails in his attempt to clinch.
Francisco tries to clinch up but Fatto circles away and keeps his distance.
Fatto shoots for a takedown but Francisco saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Fatto fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
George Francisco has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Luigi Fatto.
Fatto fails with the takedown.
Fatto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fatto gets tackled into the cage by Francisco. Francisco maintains the clinch.
Fatto tries to stall but Francisco uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Fatto breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Fatto.
Francisco lands a jab.
Francisco bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Fatto's head.
Fatto shoots in looking for a takedown. Francisco tries to sprawl out of it but Fatto keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Francisco manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Francisco clinches with his opponent.
Francisco is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francisco looking to stall.
Francisco is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Francisco scores with a shoulder strike.

Francisco pulls guard effortlessly.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Francisco manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Fatto manages to get himself to full guard.
Fatto is looking to stand up but Francisco isn't so interested in that idea.
Francisco throws a strike but Fatto rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Francisco escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Fatto gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Francisco holds on and takes a little breather.
Francisco wants to get back to his feet but Fatto is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Francisco keeping moving, preventing Fatto from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Francisco is trying to keep Fatto in close.
Fatto looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Luigi Fatto.
Francisco takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Luigi Fatto has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
George Francisco is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Francisco avoids the head kick by Fatto.

And that's the end of the fight!
George Francisco showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Francisco has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... George Francisco!
George Francisco decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.