PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jacques Francel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jarkko Ber (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Francel's entrance music is Voix de fait. A fine choice. Both fighters really staring eachother down here, as Jarkko Ber enters the cage!

Francel
vs
Ber

176 cm
21
183 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

180 cm
20
175 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jacques Francel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jarkko Ber!
The judges for this bout are Trevor Gratis, William Peck and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Francel thows a body shot but no joy.
Jacques Francel seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ber misses with a series of wild punches.
Francel swings widly with a right hand

and Ber counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Ber thows a huge punch but Francel dodges it nicely.
Ber missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Francel looks like he's trying to stand up.
Francel is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Ber thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Francel's head.
Ber is pressing down on Francel's thigh, looking to free his foot. Francel is holding on for now.
Francel is trying to maintain the position but Ber is very close to passing his half guard.
Ber working Francel over with strikes.
Ber throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Ber looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ber not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ber tries to pass the half guard into mount. Francel knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Ber with the ground and pound but Francel uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Ber trying to control but Francel is working from the bottom.
Ber pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Francel is keeping the position for now.
Ber has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Francel keeping moving, preventing Ber from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ber looking to sit in guard and control but Francel gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Francel stops Ber from standing up.

Ber working for a triangle but Francel defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Ber working a defensive guard but Francel passes into half guard.
Ground and pound from Francel.
Francel passes to full mount!
Francel wants to control but Ber has made it back to half guard. Nice work.
Francel thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Ber's head.
Francel wants to pass the guard but Ber is defending well.
Ber works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francel throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ber works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Ber looking for a sweep. Not yet Ber, not yet.

Ber has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Francel can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Francel is looking to work some ground and pound but Ber has wrist control.
Francel postures up.
Ber bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Francel's guard.
Ber trying to control the position from guard on top but Francel is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Francel looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Ber with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ber trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ber trying to control the position from guard on top but Francel is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Francel is on top in guard.
Francel pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Ber is keeping the position for now.
Francel trying to control but Ber is working from the bottom.
Francel passes into half guard.
Francel working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Francel misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ber.
Francel misses with a hook.
Ber slips a straight right by Francel.
Francel ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Ber looks to land a combination but Francel avoids it well.
Francel throws a hook but Ber avoids it easily.

Francel moves into the clinch.
Nice elbow from Francel.

Francel breaks from the clinch.
Francel lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Francel misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ber.
Ber stalks Francel and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Francel's face. Francel staggers backwards, shaken.
Francel fails to land the takedown.

Francel shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Francel showed some decent athleticism there.
Ber works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ber wants to sweep here but Francel controlling him for the moment.
Ber manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Ber is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ber trying to control but Francel is having none of it.
Francel is trying to escape the mount.
Ber tries to control but Francel wriggling away.
Francel is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ber looking to secure an arm triangle but Francel defends it well.
Francel is looking to improve his position but Ber isn't that keen on the idea.
Ber landing strikes from the mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Ber cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Ber putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Francel tries to hold on but Ber pushes him away.

Ber goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Francel turns into him and now he's in Ber's guard.
Ber not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Jarkko Ber has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ber punching from the bottom.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Ber holds on and takes a little breather.
Ber keeping full guard, as Francel tries to pass.
Francel trying to move into half guard but instead Ber has managed to sweep!
Ber prevents Francel from getting back to his feet.
Ber being controlled here momentarily.
Francel keeping moving, preventing Ber from controlling successfully.
Francel manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Ber manages to get himself to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Francel wants to pass the guard but Ber is keeping the position.
Francel keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Ber's head.
Ber is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Ber tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Ber looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Francel is looking to stand up but Ber won't let him.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ber bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Francel's guard.

Ber postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Francel is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Ber, into his guard.
Francel with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jarkko Ber showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Ber gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Francel.
A right-left combo lands from Ber.
Francel misses with a two punch combination.
Ber closes the distance and clinches up with Francel, looking for a takedown. Ber pushes Francel against the cage but Francel circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Ber fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Francel sprawls well initially but Ber persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Francel is trying to stand up here but Ber is controlling him well.
Francel taking some punishment here, with Ber in his half guard.
Ber wants to control but Francel is keeping him busy.
Ber thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Francel's head.
Ber frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Ber wants to control the pace but Francel is squirming around nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Francel is in all sorts of trouble here.
Francel is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Francel keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Ber lands with some strikes.
Ber lands a nice shot to the head.

Ber is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Francel is surviving well by controlling Ber's body position as best he can.
You get the feeling that Francel really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Francel takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Ber putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Francel taking shots to the head.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Ber cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Francel is trying to stand up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ber can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Francel is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ber breaks from Francel's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Ber with good strikes from the mount here!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Francel tries to hold on but Ber pushes him away.
Ber content just to control the position here.
Francel is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Ber throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Francel tries to hold on but Ber postures up.
Francel keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Ber is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Francel can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ber looking to finish Francel with some ground and pound. This is bad for Francel!
Ber working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Ber looking to control but Francel is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Francel tries to reverse the position but Ber maintains control.
Ber with the ground and pound from mount.
Ber raining down hammerfists from mount.
Ber is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ber lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Francel is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Ber wants to control the pace but Francel is squirming around nicely.
Francel is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ber dominating with strikes here.
Francel tries to reverse the position but Ber maintains control.
Ber lands a heavy elbow.
Ber landing strikes, looking to finish!
Francel wants to try and get back to his feet.
Ber scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ber punishing his opponent with strikes.
Ber postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Francel looks a forlorn figure.
Ber can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Francel is looking to escape.
Jacques Francel has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ber is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Francel can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Jarkko Ber is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ber unloading with bombs!

And that's the end of the fight!
Jarkko Ber comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Ber winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Trevor Gratis scores the fight 26:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 26:30
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jarkko Ber!