PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rickie Trigger (ranked 4200 p4p, 3951 weight class) and Matthew Griffin (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.

Trigger
vs
Griffin

190 cm
18
200
0 - 0 - 0

189 cm
21
212
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rickie Trigger!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Matthew Griffin!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Ben Hemmingworth and Ron Honeybunn.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Trigger drives through and clinches with Griffin against the cage.

Griffin breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Trigger gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Griffin counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Griffin.

Griffin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Trigger takes one to the chin there.
Griffin scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Griffin!
Trigger shoots in for a double leg but Griffin sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Trigger drops his hands momentarily and Griffin takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

Griffin clinches.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Griffin breaks the clinch.
Trigger misses the shot to the body.
Trigger shoots in for a takedown but Griffin shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickie Trigger. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Trigger shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice leg kick from Griffin, right into the meat of the thigh.
Trigger shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Trigger tries to clinch but Griffin is having none of it.
Griffin scoring well with a low kick there.
No joy there for Griffin, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Griffin looks to land a combination but Trigger avoids it well.
Griffin scores with a jab.
Trigger takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?

Trigger rushes Griffin and presses him up against the cage.
Griffin lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Griffin escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Griffin avoids the body shot from Trigger.
Griffin misses with a jab, cross combination.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice body kick there by Griffin.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Trigger tries to close the distance and clinch but Griffin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Griffin feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Triggers jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Trigger shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
As Trigger backs off Griffin throws a huge counter combo but Trigger manages to avoid it all.

Griffin takes the fight into the clinch.

Griffin breaks the clinch.
Trigger tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

Griffin shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Griffin was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Griffin decides to stand back up. Griffin steps back and let's Trigger get back to his feet.
Griffin cracks a nice hook into Trigger's ribs.
Griffin lands with a hook. Trigger tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Griffin scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Trigger is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Griffin bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Trigger is looking to reverse the position.
Griffin is staying tight to Trigger's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Griffin working away.
Trigger tries to buck Griffin off but Griffin is having none of it.

Griffin stands up and beckons Trigger to his feet.

Griffin clinches up against the cage.

Griffin manages to break the clinch.

Griffin closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Griffin decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Griffin lands a head kick!
Griffin lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Griffin.

Griffin closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Trigger quickly recovers to half guard.
Griffin is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Griffin decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Griffin stalks Trigger and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Trigger's face. Trigger staggers backwards, shaken.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Griffin clobbers Trigger with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Griffin!
Griffin tries to bum rush Trigger with a series of wild strikes but Trigger uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Griffin dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Griffin closes the distance and pushes Trigger back into the cage.
Griffin dodges an elbow strike from Trigger.

Griffin breaks from the clinch.
Trigger shoots for a double leg takedown but Griffin sprawls well. He's pushed Trigger's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Griffin scores with a kick to the body.
Trigger closes this distance looking for a takedown but Griffin circles away.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Griffin.

Griffin has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Trigger throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Trigger avoids a punch combination nicely.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Trigger tries for a takedown but Griffin manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickie Trigger. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Trigger wants to break the clinch but can't.
Trigger working hard to break the clinch.

Griffin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Griffin lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Griffin fakes the leg kick and cracks Trigger in the body.
Trigger misses with an uppercut. Griffin saw that one coming.
Griffin moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
A punch combination from Griffin misses.
Rickie Trigger is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Griffin will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin lands with a nice combination. Trigger backs away looking to recover.
Matthew Griffin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Trigger misses with a two punch combination.

Griffin gets a double leg takedown into Trigger's guard.
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!
Griffin controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Griffin stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Griffin has Trigger up against the cage in a clinch.

Griffin breaks from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Trigger looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Trigger tries to keep at a distance but Griffin has taken the fight into the clinch.

Griffin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Griffin darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Griffin stands up from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Trigger on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Trigger is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Griffin.

Griffin looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Griffin controlling the action here.
Griffin has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Griffin postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Trigger to stand up.
Trigger takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Griffin scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Griffin throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Trigger fires out a quick counter leg kick but Griffin just manages to avoid it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Griffin showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Griffin lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Griffin scores with a jab to the head.
Trigger fails with an attempt to clinch.
Trigger on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Jab from Griffin.
Griffin circles away from the clinch attempt.
Griffin swats away the attempt to clinch by Trigger.
A nice side step and Griffin releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Trigger slips a jab and a cross from Griffin.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Trigger shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Griffin counters with a series of strikes. Trigger will be more careful next time no doubt.
Trigger takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Griffin throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Trigger on the side of the head.
Trigger fails to land the takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Griffin closes the distance and pushes Trigger back into the cage.
Trigger is trying to break the clinch but Griffin is controlling him.
Trigger tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Griffin smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickie Trigger. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Griffin moves into the clinch.

Griffin breaks from the clinch.
Griffin lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Griffin.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Trigger. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
A low kick lands for Griffin.
Horrible takedown attempt by Trigger or perhaps it was just good defense by Griffin, which made it look bad.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin scores with a leg kick.
Trigger walks forward, straight into a front kick from Griffin.
Griffin lands a jab-cross combination.
Griffin throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Trigger.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Griffin feints a jab promting Trigger to slip. Griffin then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Trigger slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

Griffin shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Trigger napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Griffin decides to stand back up. Griffin steps back and let's Trigger get back to his feet.
Griffin lands a high kick!
Trigger pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Griffin back to the cage. Trigger follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Griffin throws a leg kick which misses Trigger's front leg but catches the back leg as Trigger tries to avoid it.

Griffin gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Trigger to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Trigger drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Trigger jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Griffin is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Griffin pushes Trigger off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Trigger tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Griffin swivels and escapes.

Griffin has closed the distance and engaged Trigger in a clinch.
Trigger looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Griffin breaks the clinch.
Matthew Griffin seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Griffin with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Griffin shoots in and gets a takedown into Trigger's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Griffin stands up and waves to Trigger to follow him.
Griffin misses with the combination.
Griffin scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Trigger shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Griffin but Griffin pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Griffin shoots in and bounces Trigger off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matthew Griffin comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Griffin has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ron Honeybunn scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matthew Griffin!