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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ikemba Onazi (ranked 2454 p4p, 288 weight class) and Luiz Franca (ranked 1165 p4p, 159 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Onazi might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Harrysong - Samankwe. Franca has chosen The Greatest Showman as his entrance music. Luiz Franca is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.
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| 193 cm
21
203 lbs
4 - 2 - 0 |
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188 cm
31
185 lbs
11 - 6 - 0 |
BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine |
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Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank |
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of
4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ikemba Onazi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Luiz Franca!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Chris Downing and Wesley Smith.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Onazi throws a hook to the side of Franca's head but Franca sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Franca tries to close the distance and clinch but Onazi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Franca rushes Onazi and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Franca misses with a hook from the clinch.
Franca tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Franca tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Franca working aggressively here.
Franca throws a punch but it's blocked by Onazi.
Our sources have told us that Onazi has been working on his elbows in the gym.
Franca swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A short right from Franca on the inside.
Onazi blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Franca turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Onazi tries to buck Franca off but Franca is having none of it.
Franca working away.
Onazi is looking to reverse the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Franca landing a few strikes.
Franca is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Onazi knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Franca is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Onazi is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
My spies in CrossFit Sydney inform me that Franca has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Franca working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Franca working the ground and pound.
Franca working the head and body with strikes.
Onazi can't do much from the bottom here.
Franca is working Onazi over with some ground and pound from side control.
Franca throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Onazi is trying to improve his position.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Onazi parries the strikes from Franca easily there. Franca is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Onazi to escape.
Franca thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Franca is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Onazi has escaped the position, nice work there.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Onazi regains half guard.
Onazi is defending against the submission attempts here by Franca.
Franca moves nicely into side control.
Franca tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Franca has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Onazi is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Franca is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Onazi has escaped the position, nice work there.
Franca misses with the ground and pound.
Onazi tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Franca misses with the ground and pound.
You can see the frustration on Onazi's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Onazi tries to bench press Franca off him but Franca keeps the position.
Franca has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Franca throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Onazi works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
Franca passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Onazi!
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franca fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Franca with shots to the head and body - Onazi looks very uncomfortable down there.
Onazi tries to reverse the position but Franca maintains control.
Franca throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Franca postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Onazi looks a forlorn figure.
Onazi is rocked!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Franca dominating with strikes here.
Oh Onazi is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Onazi is wriggling around trying to escape.
Franca looking for a guillotine from mount but Onazi is having none of it.
Franca postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Onazi in real trouble here! The ref calls for Onazi to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!
Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Luiz Franca!
A less than humble Luiz Franca misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
42% |
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