PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Eddie Young (ranked 2020 p4p, 2376 weight class) and Luc Balland (ranked 146 p4p, 168 weight class). 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.

Young
vs
Balland

170 cm
22
142
6 - 2 - 0

168 cm
21
145
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Decent wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Eddie Young!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Luc Balland!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, John Roberts and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
Balland unleashes a big counter combination but Young bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Balland checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Balland lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Balland takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Young throws a hook to the side of Balland's head but Balland sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Balland is looking for the big counter here.
Balland moves away from the strike by Young.
Balland unleashes a big counter combination but Young bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Young throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Balland is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Young with a body shot.
Young throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big left from Young misses.
Young throws an off balance right hand
and Balland cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Balland dodges the punch combination from Young.
Balland doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Young throws a leg kick
and Young takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Young throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Balland.
Young swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Young misses with a two punch combination.
Balland is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Young throws a lazy head kick
and Young takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Eddie Young seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Young throws a series of punches but Balland avoids them all with ease.
A little jabbing left from Balland on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Young throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Balland counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Young misses with the combination.
Young misses with an uppercut.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Balland!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young misses with a body kick.
A low kick from Young is predictable there
and Balland counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Young misses with a double jab
and Balland counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Young pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
Balland takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Young fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Young fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Balland.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young throws a left and a right that both miss
and Balland counters with a stiff right hand.
Balland tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Young manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Young lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Young rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Balland moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Balland has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Young looks to score with a jab to the body but Balland is just out of range.
Young is looking to slow Balland down with leg kicks.
Young tries to bum rush Balland with a series of wild strikes but Balland uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Balland looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Young misses with a lunging right hand
and Balland counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Young misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Balland appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Young ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Balland moves away.
Balland avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young throws a right and a left that Balland avoids nicely.
Young misses with a looping right.
A combination from Young does no damage.
Balland unleashes a big counter combination but Young bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
A nice side step and Balland releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Young fails to land with a series of punches.
Balland fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Young throws the left hand but Balland avoids the punch easily.
Young misses with a combination
and Balland counters with a series of strikes. Young will be more careful next time no doubt.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Eddie Young dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Balland checks a leg kick nicely.
Young throws a right hand that misses
and Balland counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Balland slips a jab from Young.
Balland lands a nice hook to Young's body. Young takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Young swings for the body but Balland moves out of range.

Balland instigates a clinch.
Balland misses with a punch on the inside.

Young breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balland dodges the punch combination from Young.
Young throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Balland counters with a left and a right that stings Young.
Young throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Balland.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Young lands a nice leg kick that just misses Balland's sensitive parts.

Balland moves into range and clinches up with Young.

Young's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Young misses with a lunging right hand
and Balland connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Eddie Young is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Young swinging wildly here.
A low kick lands for Young.
Young throws a left and a right that both miss
and Balland counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

Balland rushes Young and presses him up against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Balland.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
I was talking to Young's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Balland connects with a knee to the head.
Young wants to get back to striking at distance but Balland won't allow it.
Balland throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Youngs head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Young on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Young wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Young blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Balland tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Balland is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Young is defending well for now.
Balland scores with a shoulder strike.
Balland gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Young prevents a body shot from Balland.

Young breaks from the clinch.
Young lunges at Balland with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Balland's hand.
Young throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Balland counters with a nice body shot.
Eddie Young is winning the standup battle so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Balland.
Young ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Balland moves away.
Balland throws out a counter right but Young avoids it with no problem.
Young with a hook.
Young scores with a three punch combo!
Good exchange - Young coming out on top.
Some wild striking there from Young.
Young throws an off balance right hand
letting Balland counter with a right hand.

Balland closes the distance and clinches.
A frustrated look appears on Young's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Balland misses with the head strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balland throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Youngs head.
Balland lands with a left to the head.
Luc Balland seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A head punch blocked on the inside by Young.
Balland lands an elbow that stopped Young in his tracks for a moment.
Young blocking some punches.
Young blocks an uppercut.
Young managing to block the knees to the body from Balland.
Balland swings wildly with an uppercut but Young uses good head movement to avoid it.
Young tries to break the clinch but Balland is controlling the position.
Young blocks an uppercut.
Balland makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Balland working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Balland throws a punch but it's blocked by Young.
A head punch on the inside from Balland fails to land.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Luc Balland showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Young moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Young misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A swing and a miss from Young.
Balland looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
An inside leg kick lands from Young.
Young misses with a two punch combination.
Balland unleashes a big counter combination but Young bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Young lands a leg kick that knocks Balland off balance momentarily.
Some bone on bone action there as Balland checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Despite the aggression on Balland's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Young falls off balance throwing a combination
and Balland cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Young looks to land a combination but Balland avoids it well.
Balland is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Young misses with a hook. Balland ducked under it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balland showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Young.
Young missing with a left hand there. Balland was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Young lands a nice looking body kick.
Young is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Balland.
Balland looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Balland swings for the body but Young moves out of range.
Young misses with a body shot
and Balland counters with a straight right hand.
Young tried to score with a low kick but Balland checks it.
Decent striking displayed by Young there.
Young throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young misses with a few strikes there.
Balland looks like he wants to counter punch here.
A nice leg kick lands there from Young.
Young misses with a few strikes there.
Balland slips a jab and a cross from Young.
Balland keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Young waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Balland.
A decent looking cross lands there for Young.
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!
Young throws a leg kick but Balland moved away.
Young misses with a kick to the body
and Balland counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Young throws a lazy right hand but Balland sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Young throws a body shot but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young is looking to chop away at Balland's legs.
Young misses with a jab, cross combination.

Balland has Young up against the cage in a clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Balland.

Young breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Young misses with the combination.
Young finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Young misses with a leg kick
and Balland counters with a straight right hand.
Young throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Balland counters with a straight right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head kick by Young misses
letting Balland counter with a right hand.
Young misses with a straight left.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Young lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Balland has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Balland and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Young swings widly with a right hand
and Balland counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Young misses with a two punch combination.
Young dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Balland. That did some damage!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Balland lands with a nice body punch.
Balland feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Youngs jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Young throws out a leg kick but Balland moves out of range and Young only half commits.
Young misses with a straight right.
Balland throws out a counter right but Young avoids it with no problem.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eddie Young showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Young has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 29:28
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eddie Young!