HFC 1 -Lo vs Star PBP Commentary

Undercard bout

Co-main event

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between David Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Janusz Gawrolek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Janusz Gawrolek is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Silva
vs
Gawrolek

185 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
23
178 lbs
2 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent knees
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, David Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Janusz Gawrolek!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Paul Tew and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gawrolek stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Gawrolek wants it to stay on the feet.
Silva swats away the attempt to clinch by Gawrolek.
Gawrolek dives in and grabs Silva's left leg, looking for a takedown. Silva pushes down on Gawrolek's head and hops out.
Gawrolek stuffs the takedown.
Silva will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for David Silva. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Gawrolek shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Silva napping and manages to drive through into side control!
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Silva is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Silva gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Gawrolek not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ground and pound from Gawrolek.
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!
Silva wants to get back to his feet.
Gawrolek drops an elbow to the side of Silva's head.
Gawrolek takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Gawrolek lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gawrolek working Silva over with strikes.

Silva is rocked!
Gawrolek scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Oh Silva is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Silva trying to control from the bottom.
Ground and pound from Gawrolek.
Silva is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Gawrolek scores with a couple of nice shots.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gawrolek working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Gawrolek lands a big elbow - Silva is out of it! He's waving his arms around but his eyes are closed and he's not intelligently defending himself - the ref has no choice but to jump in and stop the fight! This one is in the books! A TKO win for Gawrolek!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:39 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Janusz Gawrolek!
A victorious Janusz Gawrolek thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.

C
A

C
B

energy
A | B

hype
A | B

pop
A | B

mgr
A | B

FIGHT
RATING
89%

Main event

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between John Lo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Patric Star (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.

Lo
vs
Star

170 cm
21
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
23
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, John Lo!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Patric Star!
The judges for this bout are Andrew Berry, James Ackerman and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Lo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Lo throws a wild body kick that Star sees coming a mile off.

Lo fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Star to the ground. Lo is now in Star's guard.
Lo postures up in Star's guard and throws a big left but Star blocks it.

Lo gets to his feet - Star follows without any prompting.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Star.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Star is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Lo knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Lo is looking to regain half guard here but Star keeps moving and retains side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Star swings around for an armbar but Lo sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Star's guard.
Lo stays in close to Star's body and controls the position.
Star wants to sweep here but Lo controlling him for the moment.
Lo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Star is keeping the position for now.
Star is trying to keep Lo in close.
Star pulls Lo in close to prevent any damage.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Star looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Star is keeping the position for now.
Star keeping moving, preventing Lo from controlling successfully.
Lo content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Lo slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Star can do anything to dispel that myth.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of John Lo.
Lo pivots, looking for a leg kick but Star is out of range and Lo settles back down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lo tries to clinch up but Star circles away and keeps his distance.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Star enables Lo to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Star manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Star keeping moving, preventing Lo from controlling successfully.
Star can't keep his opponent in guard - Lo advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lo stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Star avoids the body shot from Lo.
Nice sprawl there from Lo as Star shoots in.
Star tries to clinch up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lo tries to clinch but Star moves out of range.
Star tries to close the distance and clinch but Lo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Star fails to land the takedown.
Star defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Lo.
Lo throws a leg kick but Star checks it.
Star throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Star fails with a takedown attempt.
John Lo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Patric Star.
Star looks winded!
This has been an exciting period of action!

Lo moves into range and clinches up with Star.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Lo lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Lo keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Lo dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Star fails with a takedown attempt.

Star 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.

Lo wriggles free and stands up.
Lo shoots in for a takedown but Star shows good takedown defense.
Star fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Lo shoots in but Star avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Lo drops his hands momentarily and Star takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

Lo has Star up against the cage in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lo is trying to pull guard but Star turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Lo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Star controlling the action here for a moment.
Lo throws a head punch that misses.
Star tries for a takedown. No joy.
Star tries to score a body lock takedown but Lo shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Star managing to block the knees to the body from Lo.

Lo gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Star regains guard.

Lo gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Lo clinches up against the cage.

Lo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Lo rushes Star and presses him up against the cage.

Star is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Lo can't fight it off and eventually Star manages to take the fight to the floor. Lo looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Star is breathing heavily.
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!
Star preventing the sweep.
Lo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lo working a defensive guard here.

Lo looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Star with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lo is on top in guard.
Star really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Lo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Star being controlled here, momentarily.
Lo wants to pass the guard but Star is keeping the position.
Star looking for a sweep. Not yet Star, not yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Star keeping moving, preventing Lo from controlling successfully.
Lo advances to half guard.
Lo wants to pass to mount but Star is defending the position.
Star wants to get back to full guard.

Star pushes Lo off and gets back to his feet.
Lo shoots in looking for a takedown but Star manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Lo's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Star looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Lo!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Star tries to move to mount but Lo blocks the move with his legs.
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 John Lo will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Lo tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Star pulls guard effortlessly.
Star tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Lo gets to his feet. Star looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

Lo closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Star quickly recovers to half guard.
Lo is keen to just control but Star is a slippery customer.
Star is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Lo jumps into side control!

Lo stands up and beckons Star to his feet.
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!
Star shoots in looking for a takedown. Lo tries to sprawl out of it but Star keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Lo manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Star takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Star shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Lo as he avoids it easily.
Star with a lazy takedown attempt
and Lo counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
John Lo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Patric Star.
Lo tries to score a power double leg takedown but Star sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Lo somewhat.
Star shoots in for a takedown but Lo shows good takedown defense.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Lo.
Lo is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Lo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Star is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Lo advances nicely into full mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Lo is landing with some decent strikes but Star is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Lo in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Star is looking to improve his position but Lo isn't that keen on the idea.
Lo lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Lo trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Star wants to hold on but Lo pushes him away.
Lo tries to control but Star wriggling away.
Lo takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Lo landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lo prevents Star from getting the reversal.
Lo landing strikes from the mount.
Star regains half guard.
Lo is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Lo is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Star is just riding it out for now. Lo eventually gives up the hold.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Star wants to control but Lo is keeping busy and won't allow it.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Lo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Lo 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 Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:27
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Lo!
John Lo is the new bantamweight champion!