PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between David Franklin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tim Riggins (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.

Franklin
vs
Riggins

180 cm
25
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
19
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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, David Franklin!
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, Tim Riggins!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Lou da Vinci and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Riggins throws a right and a left that both miss.
Franklin throwing a counter right hand but Riggins manages to avoid it.
Franklin lands with a nice combination. Riggins backs away looking to recover.
Riggins sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Riggins tries for a takedown but Franklin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Franklin shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Riggins trying to get back to full guard but Franklin takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Franklin postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Riggins looks a forlorn figure.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Franklin tries to control but Riggins wriggling away.
Franklin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Riggins on the ground.
Riggins working to try and regain half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franklin controlling from the full mount.
Franklin lands a nice shot to the head.
Riggins tries to lock up and control but Franklin gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Franklin raining down hammerfists from mount.
Riggins looks winded!
Franklin lands a big shot there that rocks Riggins but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Franklin controlling the position easily from mount.

Riggins defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Franklin.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Franklin looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Riggins is desperately trying to improve his position but Franklin has a good base and remains in mount.

Franklin goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Riggins is on top in guard.
Franklin pulls Riggins in close to prevent any damage.
Riggins tries to stand but Franklin is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Riggins trying to control but Franklin is working from the bottom.
Franklin controls Riggins momentarily but Riggins frees himself.
Franklin wants to stand but Riggins is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Franklin wants to sweep here but Riggins controlling him for the moment.
Franklin not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Franklin holds on and takes a little breather.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Riggins stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Riggins wants it to stay on the feet.
Riggins looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Riggins moves to clinch but Franklin breaks away

and Franklin counters with a shoot takedown. Riggins fights it but they end up in guard.

Riggins manages to escape and get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Franklin dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Riggins gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Franklin counters by clinching up.
The referee is keeping an eye on Riggins - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Franklin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Riggins fails to land the takedown.
Riggins tries to clinch up.
Franklin throws a head kick that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Riggins throws a series of punches but Franklin avoids them all with ease.
Franklin seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Riggins is breathing heavily.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Franklin.

Riggins bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franklin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Riggins is fending him off so far but Franklin persists. Nope, Riggins circles away and we're back to standing.
Riggins tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.

Riggins gets tackled into the cage by Franklin. Franklin maintains the clinch.
Riggins trying to land knees to the body.

Franklin gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Franklin is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Franklin throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Riggins to regain full guard.
Riggins is trying to control the position but Franklin postures up.
Riggins keeping moving, preventing Franklin from controlling successfully.
Riggins keeping full guard, as Franklin tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Franklin gets to his feet - Riggins follows without any prompting.

Riggins gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Riggins manages to escape and get back to his feet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Franklin shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Franklin might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Franklin wants to control from the top but Riggins keeps moving.
Franklin is working Riggins over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franklin stands and steps away. Riggins gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Riggins gets tackled into the cage by Franklin. Franklin maintains the clinch.

Franklin drags the fight down to the ground.
Franklin wants to get back to his feet but Riggins is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Franklin looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Franklin is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Franklin is looking to stand up but Riggins isn't so interested in that idea.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franklin has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Riggins is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Franklin on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Franklin tries to get out of the position.
Franklin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Riggins is one step ahead there.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Franklin instigates a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that David Franklin will probably get the nod.
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!

Franklin shoots in for a double leg but Riggins sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Riggins shoots in for a takedown but Franklin shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Franklin drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Franklin throws a strike but Riggins rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Franklin tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Franklin has control of Riggins's left arm, preventing Riggins from doing any damage.
Franklin continues to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Riggins postures up.
Franklin wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Riggins is now in half guard.
Riggins takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franklin is trying to get back to full guard.
Riggins passes into side control, despite Franklin's attempt to control the position.
Franklin tries to buck Riggins off but Riggins is having none of it.
David Franklin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Riggins throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

Riggins stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
A head kick from Franklin lands but Riggins takes it in his stride.
Franklin stuffs the takedown attempt from Riggins. Riggins gets slowly back to his feet.

Franklin drives through with a takedown into Riggins's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Riggins is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Franklin presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Franklin is struggling to control the position.
Franklin goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Riggins is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Franklin to keep the fight standing.
David Franklin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tim Riggins.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franklin fails to pull guard.

Franklin escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Franklin shoots in for a takedown but Riggins shows good takedown defense.
Franklin throws a right and a left that Riggins avoids nicely.
Riggins let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Franklin fails in his attempt to clinch.
Franklin misses with a takedown
and Franklin takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Riggins is looking to clinch but Franklin is avoiding it.
Franklin throws a body punch but Riggins moves out of range.
Riggins lands a nice shot that snaps Franklin's head back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Riggins closes this distance looking for a takedown but Franklin circles away.
And Franklin counters with a quick kick to the body but Riggins blocks it.
Riggins tries for a takedown but Franklin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Franklin drives through with a takedown into guard.
Riggins lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Franklin managing to control the position.
Franklin controls Riggins momentarily but Riggins frees himself.
Tim Riggins has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
David Franklin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Tim Riggins.
Well Franklin 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 29:29
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 29:28
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... David Franklin!