PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frank Ricard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pauli Kvalheim (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.

Ricard
vs
Kvalheim

184 cm
22
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
22
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Very confident

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 Amsterdam, Frank Ricard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Pauli Kvalheim!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Daniel Blasius and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kvalheim wants to clinch.
Ricard has a takedown stuffed.
A head kick misses from Kvalheim.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kvalheim looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ricard fails with a takedown attempt.
Ricard tries to clinch but Kvalheim moves away
and Kvalheim counters with a thumping low kick.
Ricard circles away from the clinch attempt

and Ricard counters with a shoot takedown. Kvalheim fights it but they end up in guard.
Kvalheim is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ricard stops Kvalheim from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ricard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Kvalheim looking to control.
Ricard stands up over Kvalheim, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Ricard stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kvalheim swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Ricard decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Kvalheim, up you get!
Ricard shoots in but Kvalheim avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Ricard. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kvalheim digs a good body shot into Ricard's ribs.
Ricard is breathing heavily.
Kvalheim throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Sloppy strikes from Kvalheim. Those never looked like landing.

Kvalheim clinches.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Ricard drops down looking for an ankle pick but Kvalheim pulls his leg out and moves away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ricard will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Kvalheim tries to clinch but Ricard moves out of range.
Kvalheim throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Ricard's head.

It looks like Frank Ricard has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ricard swats away the attempt to clinch by Kvalheim.
Kvalheim closes the distance looking to clinch

and Ricard holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Ricard blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Kvalheim's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.

Kvalheim's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Kvalheim lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Kvalheim.
Kvalheim tries to clinch

and Ricard counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Kvalheim's guard now.
Ricard trying to control but Kvalheim is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ricard throwing strikes but missing.
Kvalheim wants to stand but Ricard is controlling the position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Ricard's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Kvalheim trying to keep a closed guard but Ricard is proving a slippery customer.
Ricard throwing strikes but missing.
Ricard landing some decent shots from guard.

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.
Ricard content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Kvalheim can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Ricard controls the pace.
Kvalheim utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ricard stops Kvalheim from standing up.
Ricard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ricard controlling from the top position.
Kvalheim not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Frank Ricard will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Frank Ricard's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Ricard gets the takedown into side control.
Kvalheim wants to get back to his feet.
Ricard working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Ricard misses with the ground and pound.
Ricard grinds an elbow into Kvalheim's temple.
Ricard working the ground and pound.
Kvalheim struggling a bit here.
Ricard is chipping away with strikes.
Kvalheim is breathing heavily.
Kvalheim struggling a bit here.
Kvalheim taking a bit of punishment here - Ricard scoring with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ricard lands some shots froms side control.
Ricard cracks Kvalheim with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Ricard working the ground and pound.
Ricard controls the position.

Ricard is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Kvalheim has escaped the position, nice work there.

Ricard tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Ricard works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kvalheim takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

Ricard working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Kvalheim takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Kvalheim is not content to let Ricard control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ricard controls the position.
Ricard cracks Kvalheim with an elbow. That is naaassty.

Ricard thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Kvalheim is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Ricard tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Ricard has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ricard scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Kvalheim to see if he's OK.
Frank Ricard overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kvalheim is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Ricard in side control lands a decent elbow.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ricard trying to control the position but Kvalheim is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Ricard dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Frank Ricard's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Ricard will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ricard walks into a left hand.
Ricard shoots in for a takedown but Kvalheim shows good takedown defense.
Kvalheim leaves Ricard with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Ricard. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ricard dodges the punch combination from Kvalheim.
Kvalheim fails in his attempt to clinch.
Kvalheim is looking to clinch.
Kvalheim wants to clinch

and Ricard holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Knees to the body from Ricard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kvalheim lands an elbow that stopped Ricard in his tracks for a moment.

Kvalheim breaks from the clinch.
Kvalheim defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ricard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ricard keeps the fight on the outside.
Kvalheim looks to clinch

and Ricard counters with a single leg into guard. Kvalheim didn't expect that.
Kvalheim trying to control the position.
Kvalheim keeping moving, preventing Ricard from controlling successfully.
Ricard throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ricard won't allow Kvalheim to get back to his feet.
Ricard stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kvalheim swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Ricard slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Ricard looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Kvalheim keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Kvalheim is looking to control Ricard's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Kvalheim avoid being mounted?
Kvalheim is looking to escape.
Ricard wants to free his trapped foot but Kvalheim is holding on for dear life with his legs.

Ricard stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
A shot to the liver by Kvalheim. Beautiful body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ricard shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Kvalheim as he avoids it easily.
Kvalheim tries to clinch up

and Ricard counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Kvalheim!
Kvalheim working to try and regain half guard.
Ricard lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
BOOM! Ricard connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Ricard landing strikes, looking to finish!
A nice elbow there by Ricard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ricard with shots to the head and body - Kvalheim looks very uncomfortable down there.
Kvalheim trying desperately to get to his feet.
Ricard raining down hammerfists from mount.
Kvalheim is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Frank Ricard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ricard lands a nice shot to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ricard takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Ricard cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

And that's the end of the fight!
Frank Ricard showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ricard, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:26
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Ricard!