PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Michael Balboa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Graves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Michael Graves acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Balboa
vs
Graves

187 cm
22
221 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
19
245 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Michael Balboa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Michael Graves!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Graves gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Graves slips a jab and a cross from Balboa.
Balboa's corner calls for a 1-2. Balboa obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Graves misses with an attempted mid kick.
Jab by Balboa.
A lazy left from Balboa finds it's target.
Graves gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Balboa cracks Graves with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Graves tries for a takedown but Balboa sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Balboa throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Balboa is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Balboa is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
A decent looking cross lands there for Balboa.
Graves fails to land the takedown.
Michael Balboa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Michael Graves.
Nice uppercut lands for Balboa. That snapped Graves's head back.
Decent striking displayed by Balboa there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa scores with a three punch combo!
Graves walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Balboa's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Balboa duly obliges.
A right-left combo lands from Balboa.
Balboa throws a combination. Graves tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Balboa stuffs the takedown.
Balboa lands with a cross.
Balboa goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Graves slips a jab and a cross from Balboa.
Balboa throws a right and a left that Graves avoids nicely.
Balboa scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Balboa swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Balboa lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Balboa misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A combination from Balboa does no damage.
Balboa lands with a cross.
Balboa lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Balboa connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Graves's hands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Balboa as he avoids it easily.
Balboa connects with a crisp jab.
Balboa closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Good shot there by Balboa.
A lazy left from Balboa finds it's target.
Balboa connects with the punch.
A combination from Balboa does no damage.
Balboa throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Graves.
Graves shoots in for a takedown but Balboa shows good takedown defense.
Graves is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Balboa.
Balboa tries to bum rush Graves with a series of wild strikes but Graves uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Balboa is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Balboa fails to land with a series of punches.
Balboa is working the combinations to good effect here.
A lazy left from Balboa finds it's target.
Balboa's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Balboa duly obliges.
Graves needs to keep his hands up - Balboa had a free shot at his head there.
Balboa scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Balboa throws a series of strikes that have Graves backpedaling.
Graves has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Balboa connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Graves's hands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Balboa does no damage.
Balboa scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Balboa throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Michael Balboa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balboa throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Balboa misses with a few strikes there.
Balboa swinging wilding here.
Some wild striking there from Balboa.
Balboa circles away from the clinch attempt.
Balboa connects with a good right hand that stumbles Graves. Graves circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Balboa throws a one two combo.
Balboa cracks Graves with an open hand slap.
Balboa is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Balboa throws a right hand that Graves ducks under and follows up with a left that Graves also avoids with ease.
Graves fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Balboa lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Balboa.
Balboa's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Balboa duly obliges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balboa lands an overhand right.
Jab, jab by Balboa - just one landing.
Graves takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Balboa displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Graves with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Balboa to score with a decent uppercut.
Balboa lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Balboa fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Jab by Balboa.
Graves walks into a straight right hand from Balboa.
Michael Balboa is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Balboa lands a nice hook to Graves's body. Graves takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Balboa lands with a cross.
Graves showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Balboa.
Balboa lands with a nice combination. Graves backs away looking to recover.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Balboa throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nice uppercut there from Balboa.
Graves shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Balboa lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Balboa dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Balboa with a hook.
Graves has a takedown stuffed.
Nice shot by Balboa.
Balboa lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Balboa misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Graves closes this distance looking for a takedown but Balboa circles away.
Balboa looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Balboa throws out a powerful jab.
Balboa swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Balboa misses with a two punch combination.
Balboa scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Graves slips a jab and a cross from Balboa.
Balboa throws a nice looking combination but Graves bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Balboa moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
No joy there for Balboa, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A punch combination from Balboa misses.
Balboa lands with a nice combination. Graves backs away looking to recover.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Graves backs up against the cage.
Balboa fails to land with a series of punches.
Graves showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Balboa.

Graves scores a takedown into full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Balboa is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Balboa trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Graves wants to control the pace but Balboa is squirming around nicely.
Graves controlling the pace for now.
Balboa trying desperately to get to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves trying to control but Balboa is having none of it.
Balboa is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Balboa is in a horrible position here. Graves smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
You get the feeling that Balboa really doesn't like being in this position too much.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves lands a big elbow.
Balboa squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Graves thowing shots but they're missing.
Balboa tries to buck Graves off but he can't manage it.
Graves controlling his opponent.
Graves with good strikes from the mount here!
Graves sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Balboa trying desperately to get to his feet.
Graves sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Balboa is trying to stand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Michael Graves will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Balboa scores with a nice head shot.
Graves walks into a stiff left hand from Balboa.
Balboa rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Graves moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Graves avoids a punch combination nicely.
Balboa scores with a three punch combo!
Balboa cracks Graves with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Graves drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Graves falls off balance throwing a combination
and Graves takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Graves takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Michael Balboa is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Balboa moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Balboa scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Balboa looks to land a combination but Graves avoids it well.
Balboa lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Graves backs up against the cage.
Balboa lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Balboa scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Graves is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Balboa.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa swats away the attempt to clinch by Graves.
Balboa misses with a two punch combination.
Michael Balboa is winning the standup battle so far.
Graves takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Graves shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Graves takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Graves wants to land a leg kick but Balboa is out of range.
Balboa throws a series of punches but Graves moves out of range.
Balboa misses with a two punch combination.
Balboa displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Graves takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
A nice combination there by Balboa.
Graves walks into a straight right hand from Balboa.
Graves misses with a head kick.
Balboa scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Balboa cracks Graves with a good jab.
Balboa misses with a two punch combination.
Balboa lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balboa takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Balboa works the jab nicely.
Balboa cracks Graves with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Graves dodges the punch combination from Balboa.
Graves fails with a takedown attempt.
Graves takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Balboa misses with a double jab.
Jab from Balboa.
Graves takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Balboa throws a series of strikes that have Graves backpedaling.
A nice combination there by Balboa.
Some wild striking there from Balboa.
No joy there for Balboa, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Some wild striking there from Balboa.
Balboa closes the distance and lands a one-two.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balboa fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Graves on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Balboa swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Graves decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Balboa's guard.
Balboa wants to stand but Graves is controlling the position.

Balboa kicks Graves off and gets to his feet.
Graves slips a jab and a cross from Balboa.
A left and a right from Balboa both land. Nice combination.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Balboa!
Balboa swinging wilding here.
Graves shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Balboa as he avoids it easily.
Graves avoids a punch combination nicely.
Graves takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Balboa throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balboa cracks Graves with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Graves dodges the punch combination from Balboa.
Graves tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Balboa swivels and escapes.
Michael Balboa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Michael Graves.
Balboa scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Graves doesn't manage to clinch there - Balboa circles away.
Left hook, right uppercut from Balboa.
A cross from Balboa lands.
Graves on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Graves tries to clinch up.
Balboa swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Graves decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Balboa's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Balboa wants to stand and escape but Graves is having none of it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Graves seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Balboa showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Balboa 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 29:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 29:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Balboa!