PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tzvika Furman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Walter O Flanigan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Furman
vs
O Flanigan

190 cm
21
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
20
193 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Tzvika Furman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Walter O Flanigan!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Richard Clark and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Flanigan throws a right hand that Furman ducks under and follows up with a left that Furman also avoids with ease.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Furman.
Furman closes this distance looking for a takedown but O Flanigan circles away.
Furman shoots for a double leg takedown but O Flanigan sprawls well. He's pushed Furman's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A combination from O Flanigan does no damage.

O Flanigan drives through with a takedown into guard.
Furman has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but O Flanigan has passed into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Furman is looking for a sweep.
Furman knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for O Flanigan on the ground.
O Flanigan wants to control but Furman is keeping him busy.
Furman pushes O Flanigan away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, O Flanigan gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Furman's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Furman is looking to reverse the position.
Furman is trying to control O Flanigan's posture but O Flanigan avoids it.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Furman doesn't succeed with the takedown
and O Flanigan counters with a right hand to the body.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tzvika Furman. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Furman is breathing heavily.
Furman tries to clinch

and O Flanigan counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
O Flanigan content to control rather than advance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Furman tries to roll over but O Flanigan keeps him under control.
O Flanigan works his way into side control.
A lull in the action here.
Furman taking punishment in the form of punches.
Furman is trying to improve his position.

O Flanigan decides to stand up, so the ref orders Furman to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Flanigan scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
O Flanigan throws a series of strikes that have Furman backpedaling.
A punch combination from O Flanigan misses.

O Flanigan scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

O Flanigan tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no O Flanigan has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
O Flanigan advances nicely into full mount.
O Flanigan prevents Furman from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Furman is working hard here to advance position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Furman gets back to half guard.
Furman wants to control the action here but instead O Flanigan manages to pass to full mount!
Furman is in all sorts of trouble here.
Furman tries to control the position but O Flanigan now has his back.
Furman is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Furman trying to control the position but O Flanigan manages to sink in the hooks.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Walter O Flanigan dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Furman clinches.

Furman breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Furman looks to score with a jab to the body but O Flanigan is just out of range.
O Flanigan misses with a jab, cross combination.
O Flanigan moves in looking to clinch but Furman pushes him off.
Furman tries to clinch up
and O Flanigan counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Furman tries to clinch up
and O Flanigan counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
O Flanigan ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Furman doesn't succeed with the takedown
and O Flanigan counters with a left and a right that stings Furman.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
O Flanigan misses with a wild combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.

O Flanigan closes the distance and clinches.
Furman fails to pull guard.
O Flanigan lands with a short head shot on the inside.

O Flanigan jumps guard and drags Furman to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Furman won't allow O Flanigan to sweep him here.

O Flanigan looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Furman postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! O Flanigan is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Furman, into his guard.
Furman looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Flanigan throwing strikes from guard but Furman blocks nicely.

O Flanigan gets to his feet - Furman follows without any prompting.

Furman moves into range and clinches up with O Flanigan.

O Flanigan manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
O Flanigan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

O Flanigan uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Furman shoots and misses

and O Flanigan counters by moving into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tzvika Furman. That's going to take a lot out of him.
O Flanigan wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Furman has him pressed against the cage.
O Flanigan is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Furman pulls O Flanigan into guard.
Furman wants to get back to his feet but O Flanigan is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Furman is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Walter O Flanigan has got the better of the ground game so far.
Furman tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Furman has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes O Flanigan off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Furman fails with the takedown
and O Flanigan counters with a nice uppercut.
Tzvika Furman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A combination from Furman does no damage.

O Flanigan closes the distance and clinches.
Furman tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. O Flanigan just stands there and leans against the cage.

Furman pulls guard effortlessly.
Furman not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
O Flanigan preventing the sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
O Flanigan not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

Furman working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. O Flanigan doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. O Flanigan manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
O Flanigan sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Furman controls O Flanigan momentarily but O Flanigan frees himself.
O Flanigan stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Furman swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Walter O Flanigan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Furman.
Furman fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Furman is looking to clinch but O Flanigan is avoiding it.

O Flanigan closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - O Flanigan lands in his opponent's guard.
Furman being controlled here, momentarily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Furman controls O Flanigan momentarily but O Flanigan frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Flanigan slips nicely into half guard.
Furman tries to roll over but O Flanigan keeps him under control.
Furman taking some punishment here, with O Flanigan in his half guard.
Furman missing with punches from the bottom.
O Flanigan prevents Furman from standing back up.
Furman keeps control of the position for the meantime.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Furman misses with a takedown
and O Flanigan counters with a two punch combo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tzvika Furman. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Furman misses with a takedown attempt

and O Flanigan counters by moving into the clinch.

Furman breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

O Flanigan shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
O Flanigan stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Furman swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Furman is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Furman wants to stand but O Flanigan is controlling the position.
Furman looking for a sweep. Not yet Furman, not yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Flanigan sitting in guard here, content to control.
O Flanigan is standing up over Furman. Furman looks to escape but O Flanigan dives into side control.
A control attempt from Furman but he's now mounted!
Furman tries to lock up and control but O Flanigan gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
O Flanigan dominating with strikes here.
O Flanigan tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Furman is working to get back to half guard.
Furman wants to get back to his feet.
O Flanigan looking to control but Furman is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Furman is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Furman is desperately trying to improve his position but O Flanigan has a good base and remains in mount.
Tzvika Furman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

O Flanigan stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Walter O Flanigan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well O Flanigan 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Walter O Flanigan!