PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Graham Mantle (ranked 113 p4p, 298 weight class) and Suriyan Sitsongrit (ranked 9 p4p, 28 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.

Mantle
vs
Sitsongrit

169 cm
37
145
30 - 14 - 1

178 cm
28
152
13 - 7 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Kersikov's Vitamin Clinic (160)
NARCOS

Kersikov's Vitamin Clinic (160)
30th Century Beer Store

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 30 - 14 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Graham Mantle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Suriyan Sitsongrit!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mantle checks the leg kick.
A left lands for Sitsongrit.
Mantle thuds a left hand into Sitsongrit's body.
Sitsongrit lands with a thumping leg kick.
Sitsongrit throws a sloppy head kick

and Mantle counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Mantle stops Sitsongrit from getting back to his feet.
Mantle performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Sitsongrit trying to control here.
Sitsongrit tries to kick Mantle off but Mantle keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Mantle scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Mantle frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Mantle trying to control but he's not successful this time.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sitsongrit wants to control but Mantle is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sitsongrit is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Mantle is staying active.
We've been hearing that Mantle has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Sitsongrit squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

Sitsongrit bucks Mantle off and manages to get back to his feet!
Mantle misses with a straight left.
Sitsongrit waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Mantle.
Sitsongrit moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Mantle takes a swing at Sitsongrit's ribcage but misses.
Sitsongrit looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Mantle blocks a head kick by Sitsongrit.
Mantle misses with a straight right.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sitsongrit. Mantle does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sitsongrit connects with a right hand. Mantle shakes it off.
Sitsongrit lands with a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sitsongrit keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Mantle swings for the body but Sitsongrit moves out of range.
Sitsongrit throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sitsongrit lands with a thumping leg kick.
Mantle shoots in for a takedown but Sitsongrit shows good takedown defense.
A countering left hand to the body from Sitsongrit misses.
Suriyan Sitsongrit is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sitsongrit cracks Mantle with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Mantle takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Mantle takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Sitsongrit misses the shot to the body.

Mantle shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mantle wants to pass the guard but Sitsongrit is defending well.
Mantle is trying to control the action in half guard but Sitsongrit is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Sitsongrit makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Mantle.

Mantle shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Mantle was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Sitsongrit wants to get back to his feet but Mantle is dominant here and he's now got Sitsongrit's back!
Mantle lands shots from the back.
Mantle punches Sitsongrit on the ear.
Mantle lands a punch that was close to the back of the head but the ref thinks it's OK.
Sitsongrit wants to get back to his feet.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Sitsongrit is trapped and Mantle is scoring with shots to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sitsongrit is trying to get back to his feet but Mantle has full control of the position and if anything, Sitsongrit has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Mantle not allowing Sitsongrit to control his hands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sitsongrit is trying to remain composed but Mantle is hammering down strikes to the side of his head.
I really don't envy Sitsongrit right now.
Sitsongrit is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sitsongrit wants to control his opponent's hands but Mantle gets his hands free.
Sitsongrit tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Sitsongrit trying desperately to get to his feet.
Mantle lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Sitsongrit hang on?
Mantle lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sitsongrit tries to hold on but Mantle postures up.
Sitsongrit is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Graham Mantle will probably get the nod.
That's time! Mantle's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Sitsongrit displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Mantle throws out the jab.
Mantle avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

Mantle closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Sitsongrit pushes Mantle away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Mantle gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Mantle tries to move into full mount but can't pass Sitsongrit's legs.
Mantle works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Sitsongrit is trying to get back to his feet.
Sitsongrit wants to control but Mantle postures up.
Mantle lands some shots froms side control.
Mantle scores with punches from side control.
Mantle scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Sitsongrit to see if he's OK.
Mantle in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Sitsongrit tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Mantle wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Sitsongrit really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mantle. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sitsongrit is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Mantle has just dragged him back down to the mat.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sitsongrit takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Mantle working away.
Mantle wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sitsongrit keeps working.
Sitsongrit gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Mantle working over Sitsongrit with some ground and pound. Sitsongrit looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Sitsongrit can do anything to dispel that myth.
Mantle winds up and cracks Sitsongrit with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Mantle wants to pass to mount but Sitsongrit is defending the position.
Sitsongrit taking some punishment here, with Mantle in his half guard.

Sitsongrit makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Mantle cracks Sitsongrit with an open hand slap.
Suriyan Sitsongrit seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mantle shoots in looking for a takedown. Sitsongrit tries to sprawl out of it but Mantle keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Sitsongrit manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Sitsongrit misses with a hook. Mantle ducked under it nicely.
Sitsongrit throws a leg kick but Mantle sees it coming and moves out of range.
Sitsongrit swings for the body but Mantle moves out of range.
Sitsongrit moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
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!
Sitsongrit takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Mantle fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Sitsongrit scores with the left hand. Mantle knows he should have avoided that one.
Mantle uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Sitsongrit.
Sitsongrit misses with a looping right.
Mantle tries to counter with a takedown but Sitsongrit is quick to defend against it.
Mantle keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Sitsongrit.
Mantle uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sitsongrit.
Mantle has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Mantle there as he acknowledges the shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mantle throws a body shot but no joy.
No luck for Mantle with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Graham Mantle. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The fight stays on the outside here - Mantle looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sitsongrit misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Mantle.
Mantle slips a jab from Sitsongrit.
Suriyan Sitsongrit seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Mantle shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Sitsongrit wants to get back to full guard.
Sitsongrit avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Mantle.
Mantle drops an elbow to the side of Sitsongrit's head.
Mantle thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sitsongrit's head.
Mantle is stalling here. Sitsongrit is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Mantle seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Sitsongrit has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sitsongrit wants to stand but Mantle is controlling his arm.
Mantle is trying to improve his position.

Sitsongrit stands up.

Mantle gets a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Mantle doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Mantle blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Sitsongrit blocks a body shot from Mantle.
Mantle prevents a body shot from Sitsongrit.
A left hand lands to the body for Sitsongrit.
Sitsongrit makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Mantle creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Mantle.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Graham Mantle will probably get the nod.
That's time! Mantle's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Sitsongrit swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Suriyan Sitsongrit has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mantle connects with a nice looking jab.
Mantle takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Sitsongrit looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Sitsongrit. Mantle shrugs it off though.
Mantle misses the jab.
A big right from Sitsongrit misses.
Sitsongrit staying out of range there.
Mantle tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Sitsongrit defends well and Mantle ends up having to push Sitsongrit into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Sitsongrit lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Mantle blocks an uppercut.
Mantle prevents a body shot from Sitsongrit.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sitsongrit lands a nice shot to the body.
Sitsongrit scores with a nice hook to the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Sitsongrit.
Mantle stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Sitsongrit lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A left hand lands to the body for Sitsongrit.
Mantle doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Sitsongrit has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Mantle seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Sitsongrit can turn it around.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sitsongrit misses with a body punch.
Sitsongrit lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Mantle backwards.
Mantle blocking some punches.
Mantle lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Nice body punch from Sitsongrit.
Mantle tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sitsongrit's elbow.
Sitsongrit misses with a punch to the body.
Mantle misses with the head strike.

Sitsongrit pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Mantle ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Sitsongrit lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Sitsongrit scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Sitsongrit is looking to slow Mantle down with leg kicks.
Sitsongrit lands a nice looking kick to the body. Mantle takes a step back to recover.
Mantle fails to land the takedown.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mantle with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Sitsongrit to score with a decent uppercut.
Graham Mantle is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sitsongrit misses with a straight right.
Mantle slips under a jab.
Mantle uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Sitsongrit.
Mantle uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sitsongrit.
Nice uppercut lands for Mantle. That snapped Sitsongrit's head back.
Mantle uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Sitsongrit.
Mantle avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sitsongrit waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Mantle.
Sitsongrit misses with a lunging right hand
and Mantle counters with a straight right hand.
Mantle dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Sitsongrit pivots, looking for a leg kick but Mantle is out of range and Sitsongrit settles back down.
Mantle avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Sitsongrit looks to score with a jab to the body but Mantle is just out of range.
Sitsongrit ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Mantle moves away.
Mantle throws out a loose jab but Sitsongrit uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mantle shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

Sitsongrit has one foot on Mantle's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
A lazy left from Mantle finds it's target.
Mantle doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Sitsongrit counters with a stiff right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Graham Mantle. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mantle keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mantle keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Sitsongrit.
Mantle tries to clinch up.
Mantle avoids the body shot from Sitsongrit.
Mantle scores with a shot to the body.

Sitsongrit pushes Mantle up against the cage in a clinch.
Sitsongrit tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Mantle lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Sitsongrit struggles to land a body shot inside as Mantle controls his hands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sitsongrit fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Mantle misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch on the inside from Mantle fails to land.
Sitsongrit misses with some punches.
Mantle misses with a hook to the ribs.
Mantle doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Mantle tries to throw a body punch but Sitsongrit avoids it by throwing Mantle back against the cage.
Mantle lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Sitsongrit lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Sitsongrit throws a punch but it's blocked by Mantle.
Mantle cracks Sitsongrit with a nice body shot.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mantle.
Mantle tries a body shot but Sitsongrit blocks it.
Nice body punch from Sitsongrit.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Mantle.
Sitsongrit digs a right hand underneath Mantle's ribcage. Mantle let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Sitsongrit breaks the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Mantle slips under a jab from Sitsongrit.
Sitsongrit thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Mantle if he has to take too many more of those.

And that's the end of the fight!
Suriyan Sitsongrit comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Mantle 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:30
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 29:28

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