PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jally Joseph (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Donnie O Brien (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Joseph's entrance music is SEX U UP. A fine choice. The crowd seem to be enjoying O Brien 's choice of entrance music: Rocky Road to Dublin. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Joseph
vs
O Brien

159 cm
23
141 lbs
13 - 9 - 0

172 cm
26
142 lbs
16 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Jally Joseph!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Donnie O Brien !
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Sam Margolis and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Brien closes this distance looking for a takedown but Joseph circles away.
No luck for O Brien with that takedown attempt.
O Brien walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
O Brien looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Joseph is fending him off so far but O Brien persists. Nope, Joseph circles away and we're back to standing.
Jally Joseph has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Donnie O Brien .
Joseph looks to land a combination but O Brien avoids it well.

Joseph gets the takedown into side control.
Joseph wants to control but O Brien is keeping him busy.
O Brien being controlled for a moment.
O Brien is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joseph tries to get to his feet but O Brien is in the middle of advancing position himself and ends up with Joseph in his guard.
O Brien is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Joseph controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Jally Joseph just wasn't active enough.
Joseph throws a body punch but O Brien moves out of range.
Joseph leaves O Brien with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
O Brien drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Joseph slaps away a takedown attempt from O Brien , before circling back to the center of the mat.

O Brien shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Joseph tries to get to full guard but O Brien has control of the leg.
Joseph has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. O Brien is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joseph is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because O Brien is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Joseph might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
O Brien thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Joseph to regain full guard.
Joseph keeping moving, preventing O Brien from controlling successfully.
Joseph is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst O Brien is controlling him.
Joseph being controlled here, momentarily.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
O Brien scoring with some ground and pound.
O Brien trying to control but Joseph is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
O Brien trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Joseph controls O Brien momentarily but O Brien frees himself.

We're going to have a standup here because Jally Joseph wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
O Brien slips a jab and a cross from Joseph.
O Brien has his takedown stuffed
and Joseph counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Joseph fails to land with a series of punches.
O Brien shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
O Brien fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Joseph avoids it really well and circles away.
Joseph scores with a jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jally Joseph dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A telegraphed takedown attempt from O Brien is defended easily by Joseph.
O Brien dodges the punch combination from Joseph.
O Brien with a poor takedown
and Joseph counters with a stiff right hand.
O Brien shoots for a double leg takedown but Joseph sprawls well. He's pushed O Brien 's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Jally Joseph has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Donnie O Brien .

O Brien scores a takedown into full mount!
O Brien sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
O Brien scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Joseph is wriggling around trying to escape.
Joseph really wants to buck O Brien off and get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Brien postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Joseph looks a forlorn figure.
O Brien is landing with some decent strikes but Joseph is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
O Brien has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Joseph squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
O Brien lands a nice shot to the head.
O Brien looking to control and managing it successfully.

O Brien is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Joseph has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Joseph wants to control but O Brien is having none of it.
O Brien has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Joseph's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Brien tries to control but Joseph wriggling away.
O Brien content just to control the position here.
Joseph is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Joseph is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Poor strikes thrown by O Brien there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Joseph tries to lock up and control but O Brien gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Joseph is wriggling around trying to escape.
Joseph taking shots to the head.
O Brien is in the full mount, landing strikes.
O Brien takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Brien throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
O Brien content just to control the position here.
Joseph is squirming around, avoiding O Brien 's attempts to control the action.
O Brien lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
O Brien misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Joseph holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as O Brien tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
O Brien controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Joseph is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Joseph tries to reverse the position but O Brien maintains control.
O Brien trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Joseph is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Joseph is working to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
O Brien thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Joseph is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Donnie O Brien showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Joseph throws a jab but it's blocked by O Brien .
O Brien bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Joseph gets the takedown into side control.
Joseph trying to control the action but O Brien is working from the bottom.
Joseph fails to land a wild elbow strike.
O Brien struggling a bit here.
O Brien holds on to Joseph's head and controls the position momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joseph trying to control the action but O Brien is working from the bottom.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Joseph is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt O Brien will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Jally Joseph has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
O Brien fails to land the takedown.
Joseph lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Joseph throws a combination but it was largely blocked by O Brien .
O Brien shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Joseph sprawls well. Joseph wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. O Brien gets slowly back to his feet.
Joseph throws a hook to the side of O Brien 's head but O Brien sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Joseph looking to score a takedown here. O Brien is defending well but Joseph drives through and ends up in O Brien 's guard.
Joseph is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
O Brien preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

O Brien working for a triangle but Joseph defends it easily.
O Brien is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
O Brien avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Joseph trying to control but O Brien is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Jally Joseph wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Joseph throws a leg kick but O Brien checks it.
No luck for O Brien with that takedown attempt.
Jally Joseph has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Donnie O Brien .
Joseph moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Joseph stuffs the takedown attempt from O Brien . O Brien gets slowly back to his feet.
A combination from Joseph does no damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jally Joseph showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Joseph 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 Paul Tew scores the fight for Donnie O Brien !
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight as a draw!
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight for Jally Joseph!

The fight ends as a draw!