PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Matt Ghandi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Conor Byrne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Byrne has chosen I'm Shipping Up To Boston as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Ghandi
vs
Byrne

180 cm
21
135 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

162 cm
22
131 lbs
8 - 8 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent elbows
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Blaze Ronin Reborn

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 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matt Ghandi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Conor Byrne!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Paulo Santos and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ghandi finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Byrne is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ghandi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ghandi misses with a head kick.

Byrne moves into the clinch successfully.
Byrne tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Ghandi avoids it.
Byrne drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Ghandi gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Byrne is leaning against Ghandi and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

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

Byrne clinches up with Ghandi and pushes him back against the cage.
Byrne takes an elbow to the temple.
Nice elbow from Ghandi.
Ghandi throws an elbow but it misses.
Ghandi wants to get back to striking at distance but Byrne won't allow it.
Ghandi lands an elbow just above Byrne 's eye.
Ghandi pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Byrne is trying to drag Ghandi to the mat but Ghandi just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Ghandi really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Ghandi breaks from the clinch.
Ghandi lands a head kick!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ghandi throws a head kick that Byrne semi-blocks.
Ghandi throws a leg kick but Byrne moved away.

Byrne feints and as Ghandi raises his hands in defense, Byrne changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ghandi trying to keep a closed guard but Byrne is proving a slippery customer.
Byrne trying to control the position from guard on top but Ghandi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Byrne lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Ghandi keeping moving, preventing Byrne from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghandi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Byrne passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Byrne seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Byrne working the head and body with strikes.
Ghandi is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Byrne scores with a couple of nice shots.
Byrne wants to pass the guard but Ghandi is defending well.
Byrne trying to control the action but Ghandi is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Byrne is pressing down on Ghandi's thigh, looking to free his foot. Ghandi is holding on for now.
Byrne throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Nice strikes from Byrne there.
Byrne scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Byrne sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ghandi defending well though.
Ghandi is trying to stand back up but Byrne is controlling him
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Ghandi is refusing to be controlled, as Byrne sits in half guard.

Ghandi makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Ghandi is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ghandi tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Byrne fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ghandi slaps away a takedown attempt from Byrne, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Matt Ghandi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Conor Byrne.
Ghandi misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Byrne closes the distance but Ghandi moves to the side
and Ghandi counters with an outside leg kick.
Byrne wants to clinch
and Ghandi counters with an inside leg kick.

Byrne gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conor Byrne dominated that round.
That's time! Ghandi's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Byrne looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Byrne wants to control from the top but Ghandi keeps moving.
Byrne lands a couple of elbows.
Ghandi keeping full guard, as Byrne tries to pass.
Byrne looking to sit in guard and control but Ghandi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Byrne looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Ghandi will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Byrne is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Ghandi throws a head kick but Byrne moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Byrne tries to clinch up

and Ghandi holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Byrne pulls guard effortlessly.
Byrne is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Byrne lands with a punch from half guard.
Byrne frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Byrne scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Ghandi?

Ghandi is rocked!

It looks like Matt Ghandi has been cut.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Byrne landing punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Byrne lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Ghandi hang on?
Oh Ghandi is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Byrne working the ground and pound effectively.
Byrne throws some wild stikes that Ghandi manages to avoid easily.
Ghandi seems to have got his legs back now.
A nice elbow there by Byrne.
Whack. That's a big, big shot from Byrne! Ghandi is out cold! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:48 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Conor Byrne!