PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Frank Leone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and J P Morgan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Leone comes to the cage accompanied by Mama Said Knock You Out. Morgan has chosen Money as his entrance music. Frank Leone could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to J P Morgan's chin.

Leone
vs
P Morgan

185 cm
21
176 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

176 cm
20
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Frank Leone!
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, J P Morgan!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Dean Styles and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morgan looks to land a combination but Leone avoids it well.

Leone gets a takedown into half guard.

Leone looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Morgan is trying to get back to full guard.
Leone missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Leone is working for a submission of some sort.
Morgan is concentrating on defense, preventing Leone from advancing position.
Leone is looking to advance position but Morgan won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Leone decides to stand and escape the position.
Leone closes the distance and clinches up with Morgan, looking for a takedown. Leone pushes Morgan against the cage but Morgan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Leone shoots in for a takedown but Morgan shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Leone shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Leone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morgan just misses with a punch to the body.
Leone shoots in for a double leg but Morgan sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Leone is breathing heavily.
Leone tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Morgan swivels and escapes.

Morgan closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Leone did well to prevent Morgan getting side control.
Morgan looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Leone with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Leone on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Morgan is trying to control the action in half guard but Leone is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Morgan is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Leone defends it well.
Ground and pound from Morgan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leone wants to get back to full guard.
Leone blocking the ground and pound attempt from Morgan.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morgan takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Morgan thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Morgan lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Morgan working over Leone with some ground and pound. Leone looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Leone is refusing to be controlled, as Morgan sits in half guard.

Morgan is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Leone doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Morgan.
Leone trying to get back to full guard but Morgan takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Leone is bucking up trying to escape but Morgan cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leone really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Morgan scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Leone?
Leone prevents Morgan from taking his back.
The referee warns Leone that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Leone tries to improve his position but instead Morgan has taken his back!
Morgan tries to get the hooks in deep but Leone pushed the leg off.

Morgan tightening his grip on Leone, looking for the choke.
Morgan trying to control momentarily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgan lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Leone hold on?!

Morgan is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Leone defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
You can see the frustration on Leone's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

Leone defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Morgan trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Morgan is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

J P Morgan dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

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

Leone is trying to get an arm triangle but Morgan is defending well.
Morgan is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Leone off and has taken his back!
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Leone controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
Leone is taking damage to the body and head.
Leone tries to roll but Morgan sticks to his back.
Morgan is looking to control Leone but Leone is wriggling around and keeping busy.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leone wants to control his opponent's hands but Morgan gets his hands free.
Morgan lands a shot to the body.
J P Morgan has got the better of the ground game so far.

Morgan working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

Leone preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Morgan.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morgan struggling to keep hold of the position.
Leone is in bad spot here.
Leone rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Morgan is trying to control. Leone wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, J P Morgan just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Morgan misses with a hook.
Leone looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Morgan is fending him off so far but Leone persists. Nope, Morgan circles away and we're back to standing.
Nice body punch from Morgan.
Morgan goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Leone avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Morgan stuffs the takedown attempt from Leone. Leone gets slowly back to his feet.
Morgan thuds a left hand into Leone's body.
Leone checks the leg kick nicely there.
Morgan rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Leone moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Morgan scores with a nice strike.
Morgan connects with the punch.
Morgan displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Morgan misses with a wild combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Morgan does no damage.

Leone gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Morgan to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Leone wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Leone wants to sweep here but Morgan controlling him for the moment.
Morgan must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Leone keeping moving, preventing Morgan from controlling successfully.
Leone is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Leone working for submissions but it's allowed Morgan to get to half guard.
Morgan stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgan not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Morgan wants to work for an arm triangle but Leone is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Morgan slips a nice elbow through Leone's hands, connecting with Leone's forehead.
Leone is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Leone is refusing to be controlled, as Morgan sits in half guard.
Leone gets back to full guard.

Morgan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Morgan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

J P Morgan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Leone closes this distance looking for a takedown but Morgan circles away.
Morgan tries for a takedown but Leone sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
No joy there for Morgan, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Leone looks for a takedown but Morgan sprawls well.
Morgan looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Morgan works Leone's body with a nice hook.
A head kick misses from Morgan.
Frank Leone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A punch combination from Morgan misses.
Decent striking displayed by Morgan there.
Morgan looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Leone shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Morgan defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Leone. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Morgan shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Morgan trying to control the action but Leone is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morgan is looking for a kimura here.
Morgan is trying to control the action in half guard but Leone is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Leone has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Morgan is working away from the top position though.
Leone wants to get back to full guard.
Leone is working hard here to advance position.
Morgan lands with a punch from half guard.
Ground and pound from Morgan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Morgan fails to land with a series of punches.
Leone moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Morgan will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Morgan misses with a series of wild punches.
Morgan looks to score with a jab to the body but Leone is just out of range.

Leone scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Morgan is trying to maintain the position but Leone is very close to passing his half guard.
Morgan tries to roll over but Leone keeps him under control.
Leone throwing shots but Morgan is blocking nicely.

Leone is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Morgan is not content to let Leone control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morgan moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Morgan is trying to control the position but Leone postures up.

Morgan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Leone avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Frank Leone has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Leone avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Morgan wants to hit a switch here but Leone passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Morgan there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Morgan takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Leone raining down shots from the mount!
Leone with the ground and pound from mount.
Morgan gets back to half guard.
Morgan controlling the position well.
Morgan trying to control from the bottom.
J P Morgan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Leone missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Morgan trying to hold on to Leone's head to control him but Leone postures up.

And that's the end of the fight!
J P Morgan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Morgan 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 Columbo Gatti scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 27:30
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... J P Morgan!