PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Joeseph Ballin (ranked 7382 p4p, 558 weight class) and Aiden Khan (ranked 7583 p4p, 566 weight class). Khan has chosen Simply the Best. as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Ballin
vs
Khan

200 cm
20
170 lbs
2 - 1 - 1

190 cm
22
169 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 2 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joeseph Ballin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Aiden Khan!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Steven Brown and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ballin shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Khan defends it nicely.
Ballin takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Khan lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ballin circles away quickly and effectively.
Khan will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Khan tries to bum rush Ballin with a series of wild strikes but Ballin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Ballin dodges the punch combination from Khan.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khan misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Ballin tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Khan manages to circle out of the way.

Ballin 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.
Khan is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Khan wriggles free and stands up.
Khan throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Ballin.
Khan works over Ballin's head and body with a nice combination.
Khan has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Ballin takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Khan displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Khan misses with a wild combination.
Khan looks to throw the jab but Ballin is out of range.
Khan throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Khan throws a nice looking combination but Ballin bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ballin looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ballin circles away quickly and effectively.
Khan lands with a cross.
Khan throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Ballin on the side of the head.
Khan feints a jab promting Ballin to slip. Khan then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Ballin slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Ballin bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Ballin seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Khan uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Khan throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Ballin.
Ballin shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Khan but Khan pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joeseph Ballin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Khan moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Khan misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ballin moves in looking to clinch but Khan pushes him off.
Khan lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan lands a two punch combo.
Ballin gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Ballin will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ballin shoots in and drives through. Khan sprawls well.
A little jabbing left from Khan on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Khan misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ballin shoots in for a double leg but Khan sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Ballin is breathing heavily.
Khan connects with a jab.
Khan throws a series of punches but Ballin avoids them all with ease.
Khan is working the combinations to good effect here.
Khan scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
A punch combination from Khan misses.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Horrible takedown attempt by Ballin or perhaps it was just good defense by Khan, which made it look bad.
Sloppy strikes from Khan. Those never looked like landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Khan misses.
Ballin wants to clinch up but Khan keeps it at a distance.
Ballin misses with a takedown attempt - Khan sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Khan will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Khan with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Khan lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
No joy there for Khan, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Ballin tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Khan manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Ballin tries to close the distance and clinch up but Khan swats him away and circles back towards the center.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aiden Khan dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Khan scores with a three punch combo!
Khan scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Ballin looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Despite the aggression on Khan's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Joeseph Ballin is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Khan stuffs the takedown attempt from Ballin. Ballin gets slowly back to his feet.
Khan misses with a double jab.
Khan throws a right and a left that both miss.
No joy there for Khan, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Ballin appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khan connects with a body shot that sends Ballin's belly button to the back.
Khan connects with a crisp jab.
Khan throws a combination. Ballin tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ballin takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Khan rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Ballin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khan throws a nice looking combination but Ballin bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Khan has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Khan looks to score with a jab to the body but Ballin is just out of range.

Ballin closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Khan looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Ballin lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Khan can't break the clinch.
Ballin taking a breather.
Ballin holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Ballin tries to pull guard but Khan forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joeseph Ballin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ballin is looking to control Khan's arms but Khan gets an underhook and turns him. Now Ballin has his back to the cage.
Ballin looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan working hard to break the clinch.
I was talking to Ballin's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Ballin stalling against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Joeseph Ballin.
Khan's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Khan duly obliges.
Khan throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ballin moves forwards but Khan connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Khan scores with a body shot.
A punch combination from Khan misses.
Khan digs a good hook to Ballin's body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Khan scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Khan throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Khan misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan throws a combination. Ballin tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Khan lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Khan scores with a one two! Ballin had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Ballin closes this distance looking for a takedown but Khan circles away.
Khan rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Ballin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Khan throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Ballin counters with a one-two to the body.
Ballin really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Khan is breathing heavily.
Khan throws a right hand that Ballin ducks under and follows up with a left that Ballin also avoids with ease.
Ballin closes the distance and clinches up with Khan, looking for a takedown. Ballin pushes Khan against the cage but Khan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Khan stuffs the takedown attempt from Ballin. Ballin gets slowly back to his feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ballin shoots in for a double leg but Khan sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Khan shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Ballin eats them both and turns towards Khan to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Khan.
Ballin seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Khan misses with a series of wild punches.
A shot to the liver by Khan. Beautiful body shot.
Khan ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Ballin dodges the punch combination from Khan.
Khan fails to land with a series of punches.
Khan swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Ballin counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Ballin.
Ballin looking to slow down the pace here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aiden Khan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Khan lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ballin circles away quickly and effectively.
Khan throws a right hand that Ballin ducks under and follows up with a left that Ballin also avoids with ease.
Ballin wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Ballin slips a jab and a cross from Khan.
Ballin is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Khan.
Aiden Khan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ballin tries to clinch but Khan is having none of it.
Ballin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Khan is fending him off so far but Ballin persists. Nope, Khan circles away and we're back to standing.
Khan scores with a hook.
Ballin takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Aiden Khan seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ballin is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Khan.
Ballin on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Khan misses with a few strikes there.
Khan throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Khan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Khan misses with a few strikes there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Khan misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballin avoids a punch combination nicely.
Ballin tries to score a power double leg takedown but Khan sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Ballin somewhat.
Some wild striking there from Khan.
Khan defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ballin.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joeseph Ballin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ballin bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Ballin fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Khan avoids it really well and circles away.
As Ballin backs off Khan throws a huge counter combo but Ballin manages to avoid it all.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan scores with a one two! Ballin had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Khan stuffs the takedown attempt from Ballin. Ballin gets slowly back to his feet.
Khan swinging wildly here.
Khan scores with a three punch combo!
Aiden Khan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sloppy strikes from Khan. Those never looked like landing.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Khan connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Ballin's hands.
Ballin is trying hard to land a takedown here. Khan sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Khan stalks Ballin and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Ballin's face. Ballin staggers backwards, shaken.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Ballin is defended easily by Khan.
Khan throws a combination. Ballin tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Khan bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Ballin's head backwards.
Khan will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Ballin is looking to counter the offense by Khan and move into the clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Khan. Those never looked like landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khan misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ballin seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Khan looks to land a combination but Ballin avoids it well.
Ballin tries to counter by clinching up but Khan breaks away and moves out of range.
Khan defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ballin.
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!

Ballin fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Khan, pushing him back against the cage.
Khan has had enough of the clinch but Ballin keeps him there for the moment.
Khan can't break the clinch.
Ballin tries for a takedown. No joy.
Ballin misses with a punch on the inside.
Khan wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Khan's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Joeseph Ballin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Aiden Khan is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Khan can't break the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aiden Khan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Khan winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 25:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 25:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aiden Khan!
Aiden Khan seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.