PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Erin Blanchard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Grady Froelich (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Blanchard
vs
Froelich

165 cm
18
193 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

190 cm
18
175 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Good in bed

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Erin Blanchard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Grady Froelich!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, George Francis and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Blanchard fails with a takedown attempt.
Blanchard really is a fat lump.
Blanchard swats away the attempt to clinch by Froelich.

Froelich closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Blanchard did well to prevent Froelich getting side control.
Blanchard might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Blanchard manages to escape and get back to his feet!

Blanchard moves into the clinch successfully.

Froelich tightens his grip and picks Blanchard up, before dumping him to the ground. Blanchard manages to land in guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Blanchard has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Froelich can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Blanchard throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Froelich escapes and throws Blanchard's legs to the side, diving into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Froelich stalls from top position.
Blanchard is looking for a sweep.

Froelich tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Blanchard is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Froelich stands up and beckons Blanchard to his feet.
Froelich circles away from the clinch attempt.

Froelich drives through with a takedown into Blanchard's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Froelich really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Blanchard. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Blanchard wants to sweep here but Froelich controlling him for the moment.
Froelich is fighting to break Blanchard's control of his arms but Blanchard is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Blanchard manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Froelich manages to get himself to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froelich working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Blanchard.
Froelich looking to hit a scissor sweep but Blanchard is one step ahead there.
Froelich has control of Blanchard's left arm, preventing Blanchard from doing any damage.
Froelich looks winded!
Blanchard with a nice head shot there.
Blanchard working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Froelich is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Blanchard throwing strikes from guard but Froelich blocks nicely.
Blanchard throwing strikes but missing.
Blanchard distracts Froelich with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Blanchard throwing strikes from guard but Froelich blocks nicely.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Blanchard sitting in guard here, content to control.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Erin Blanchard will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Froelich closes the distance and pushes Blanchard back into the cage.
Blanchard tries to score a body lock takedown but Froelich shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Froelich pulls guard successfully.
Froelich looking for a sweep. Not yet Froelich, not yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Blanchard stands and steps away. Froelich gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Blanchard fails with an attempt to clinch.
Grady Froelich seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Froelich shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Blanchard is trying to defend but Froelich finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Blanchard is looking to get back to is feet but Froelich passes into side control.
Froelich is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanchard is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Froelich off and has taken his back!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Blanchard.
Froelich is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Froelich manages to reverse the position and now he's in Blanchard's guard. Nice work there by Froelich.
Blanchard looking for a sweep. Not yet Blanchard, not yet.
Froelich wants to stand and escape but instead Blanchard has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Froelich trying to control the position.
Blanchard scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Blanchard missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Blanchard throws a strike but Froelich rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Froelich looking to sit in guard and control but Blanchard gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Froelich throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Blanchard escapes and throws Froelich's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Blanchard scores with punches from side control.

Blanchard decides to stand up, so the ref orders Froelich to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froelich avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Blanchard clinches up against the cage.
Blanchard is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Froelich gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Froelich is fighting off a takedown attempt but Blanchard is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Froelich to the mat. Froelich regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Froelich looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Blanchard cracks Froelich with a solid left hand.
Blanchard works over Froelich with some ground and pound from guard.

Blanchard drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Froelich manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Blanchard has Froelich in his guard.

Blanchard not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Blanchard has his foot on Froelich's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Froelich works his way back into a safe position though.

Blanchard throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Erin Blanchard overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Froelich wants to control from the top but Blanchard keeps moving.
Froelich stopping the sweep attempt from Blanchard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erin Blanchard dominated that second round.
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!

Blanchard fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Nice straight punches there by Froelich. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Froelich.
Blanchard throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Froelich's waist but Froelich gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Blanchard off to one side.

Froelich scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Froelich passes the guard and advances to mount!
Froelich won't let Blanchard get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Froelich looking to control but Blanchard is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Froelich looking to control and managing it successfully.
Froelich takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanchard is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Froelich sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Blanchard wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Froelich.
Blanchard holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Froelich tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

That's two 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.

Froelich goes for an armbar but Blanchard turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Blanchard.
Froelich looking to control but Blanchard passes into half guard.
Blanchard missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Froelich keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Blanchard looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Froelich with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Froelich trying to control from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Blanchard decides to stand up.
Froelich misses with an attempted mid kick.
Blanchard will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Erin Blanchard. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Blanchard scores with a head kick.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Blanchard enables Froelich to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Blanchard manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Froelich must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Froelich wants to control from the top but Blanchard keeps moving.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Blanchard is on top in guard.

Froelich looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Blanchard puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Froelich is trying to control but can't.
Blanchard lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Blanchard scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Blanchard in particular looking to stall.
Blanchard lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Froelich is trying to control but can't.
Blanchard drops an elbow to the side of Froelich's head.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Erin Blanchard.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Blanchard, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 28:29
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Erin Blanchard!