PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Alex Hauler (ranked 5167 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pope Francis (ranked 5534 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Francis's choice of entrance music: Pope- Prince. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Hauler
vs
Francis

175 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
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 Helsinki, Alex Hauler!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Pope Francis!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Anni Minnemäki and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Francis scores with a decent looking hook.

It looks like Alex Hauler has been cut.
Hauler on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Francis. Francis obviously looking to wear him down.
Hauler moves out of range of the body kick.
Francis tries to close the distance and clinch but Hauler swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Francis looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Hauler is fending him off so far but Francis persists. Nope, Hauler circles away and we're back to standing.

Francis shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Hauler is trying to defend but Francis finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Hauler is trying to escape back to his feet but Francis uses the scramble to pass into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hauler is trying to control Francis's posture but Francis avoids it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hauler is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Francis moves into full mount!
Hauler tries to lock up and control but Francis gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Francis scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Hauler?
Hauler is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Francis lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Hauler hang on?
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Francis cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hauler working to try and regain half guard.
Francis throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Hauler knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Francis on the ground.
Francis landing strikes, looking to finish!

Hauler is rocked!
Francis postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Hauler looks a forlorn figure.
Oh Hauler is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whack. That's a big, big shot from Francis! Hauler is out cold! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:44 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Pope Francis!
Pope Francis took some time post fight to say the following; 'Gotta thank the big man upstairs for this one'.