PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Pablo Morales (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and RIck Brandford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Morales
vs
Brandford

187 cm
20
194 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

182 cm
21
190 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

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 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Pablo Morales!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, RIck Brandford!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morales misses with the combination.
Morales wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Brandford explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.

Brandford closes the distance and clinches.
Brandford stalling the fight.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Brandford dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Brandford continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.
Morales lands an uppercut.
A right hook to the body lands for Morales.
Brandford is working for takedown but Morales is calmly controlling the position for now.
The referee calls for Brandford to work.

Brandford's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Morales throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Brandford.
Morales throws a series of punches but Brandford moves out of range.
Brandford lands a nice looking kick to the body. Morales takes a step back to recover.
Morales lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Morales misses with a double jab.
Morales will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Brandford keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Morales moves out of range as Brandford throws a body kick.
Morales fails to land with a series of punches.
A punch combination from Morales misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morales rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Brandford moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A solid body kick from Brandford.
Morales misses with a double jab.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Morales throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Brandford.
Brandford throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Morales scores with a body shot.
Brandford looks to land a body kick but Morales moved away.
Brandford has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Brandford scores with a spinning back kick!
Morales lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Brandford slips a straight right by Morales.
Brandford swings away with a body shot that misses
and Morales cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Morales misses with a combination
and Brandford counters with a solid body kick.
Morales misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Brandford throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Morales keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Brandford misses with a body kick.
Morales throws a series of punches but Brandford avoids them all with ease.
Morales has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Brandford.
Brandford lands a nice looking body kick.
Brandford darts in trying to clinch
and Morales counters with a series of strikes. Brandford will be more careful next time no doubt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morales throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Brandford.
Brandford lands a nice looking body kick.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Morales throws an off balance right hand
and Brandford connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Brandford shoots in for a double leg but Morales sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Brandford moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Morales swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Brandford makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Morales will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Morales is breathing heavily.
Sloppy strikes from Morales. Those never looked like landing.
Brandford looks to clinch
and Morales counters with a straight right hand.
Brandford connects with a crisp jab.
Morales with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Brandford to score with a decent uppercut.
Morales misses with a two punch combination.
Brandford fakes the leg kick and cracks Morales in the body.
Brandford showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morales.
Brandford scores with a spinning back kick!
Brandford buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Brandford with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Morales walks forward, straight into a front kick from Brandford.
Morales fails to land with a series of punches.
RIck Brandford seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morales throws a hook but Brandford avoids it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brandford throws an off balance right hand
and Morales counters with a two punch combo.
Brandford connects with a body shot that sends Morales's belly button to the back.
Morales on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Brandford connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Brandford scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Brandford fakes the leg kick and cracks Morales in the body.
Morales on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Brandford thows a body kick. Morales tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Morales has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Brandford.
Morales takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Brandford ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Morales moves away.
Brandford lands a body shot.
Brandford is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Morales rather than just go for the knockout.
Brandford lands with a kick to the ribs.
A solid body kick from Brandford.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Brandford closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Morales's guard.
Brandford passes into half guard.
Morales is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Brandford scores with a couple of nice shots.
Brandford lands with a punch from half guard.
Morales wants to improve his position but Brandford is controlling well.
Brandford lands strikes from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brandford is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Brandford drops an elbow to the side of Morales's head.
Morales blocking the ground and pound attempt from Brandford.
Morales wants to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morales is pressing down on Brandford's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morales wants to sweep here but Brandford controlling him for the moment.
Brandford is looking to work some ground and pound but Morales has wrist control.
Brandford landing some decent shots from guard.
Brandford stands up over Morales, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Brandford working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Morales lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Brandford!
Morales landing punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Brandford thumps Morales with a low kick.
Brandford connects with a body shot.
Brandford shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Morales sprawls well. Morales wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Brandford gets slowly back to his feet.
Brandford waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Morales.
Morales throws a nice looking combination but Brandford bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Nice uppercut there from Brandford.
Morales misses with a two punch combination.
Morales takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Morales misses with a wild combination.
Morales misses with a series of wild punches.
Morales misses with the combination.
Brandford looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Morales throws a right and a left that Brandford avoids nicely.
Morales misses with a combination
letting Brandford counter with a right hand.
RIck Brandford seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Morales takes one on the chin but seems OK.
A punch combination from Morales misses.
Brandford is looking to slow Morales down with leg kicks.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Brandford drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Morales taking a bit of punishment here - Brandford scoring with strikes.
Morales throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.
Brandford working away.
Brandford is chipping away with strikes.
Morales regains half guard.
Brandford wants to pass the guard but Morales is defending well.
Morales tries to get to full guard but Brandford has control of the leg.
Morales trying to control but Brandford postures up.
Brandford blocks the strikes from Morales.
Morales moves into full guard.
Morales has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Brandford cracks Morales with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morales throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Brandford stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morales swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Brandford scoring with some ground and pound.
Brandford in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Morales manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Brandford blocking the ground and pound.
Morales trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Morales raining down hammerfists from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morales wants to control the pace but Brandford is squirming around nicely.
Morales looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Morales throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Morales thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Morales throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Morales with a couple of short strikes.
Morales connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morales looking to ground and pound but Brandford is blocking nicely.
Morales breaks from Brandford's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Morales tries to control but Brandford wriggling away.
Morales throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Brandford avoids a series of strikes thrown by Morales.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Morales throws some wild stikes that Brandford manages to avoid easily.
Brandford is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Pablo Morales will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Brandford slips a jab and a cross from Morales.
Morales throws a right and a left that Brandford avoids nicely.
Brandford moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Brandford.
Brandford explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Brandford shoots in for a takedown but Morales shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Morales misses with a double jab.
Morales tries to bum rush Brandford with a series of wild strikes but Brandford uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Brandford walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Morales lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Brandford circles away quickly and effectively.
Morales lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Brandford circles away quickly and effectively.
Brandford scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Morales doesn't seem bothered though.
Morales darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Pablo Morales is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morales uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Brandford.
Morales lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Brandford circles away quickly and effectively.

Morales moves into range and clinches up with Brandford.
Morales softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Brandford prevents a body shot from Morales.
Brandford blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Brandford trying to stall but Morales improves his position.
Brandford will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Morales up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Morales misses with a punch to the body.
Morales lands with a short shot to the head.
Morales swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A bit of stalling here from Brandford.
Morales is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by RIck Brandford.
Morales fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Pablo Morales is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Morales throws a nice looking combination but Brandford bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Brandford shoots in and drives through. Morales sprawls well.
Morales lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Morales.

Morales has closed the distance and engaged Brandford in a clinch.
Morales is pressed up against the cage. Brandford has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Morales down to the mat. Morales avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Pablo Morales has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of RIck Brandford.
Brandford takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Morales lands a slapping body shot.
Brandford is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Morales.
Morales throws a series of punches but Brandford moves out of range.
Brandford avoids a punch combination nicely.
Morales throws a right hand that Brandford ducks under and follows up with a left that Brandford also avoids with ease.
Morales throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Brandford.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A shot to the liver by Brandford. Beautiful body shot.
A punch combination from Morales misses.
Morales misses with the combination.

Brandford manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Morales on his heels. He'll look to pass Morales's guard now, I'm sure.
Morales is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Morales seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Brandford won't allow Morales to sweep him here.
Morales manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Brandford manages to get himself to full guard.
Morales thows a big elbow that misses.
Morales throws a big right hand that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Morales accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Brandford trying to control the position.
Morales postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Morales passes into half guard.
Morales sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Morales missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Morales thows a huge punch but Brandford dodges it nicely.
Brandford really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Morales. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Morales not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Brandford is looking to escape.
Brandford is refusing to be controlled, as Morales sits in half guard.
Brandford is trying to stand.
Morales thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Brandford's head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Pablo Morales showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Morales 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 29:29
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!