PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stewie Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rickson Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rua has chosen drop the world as his entrance music. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Griffin
vs
Rua

179 cm
22
200 lbs
8 - 5 - 0

185 cm
25
200 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
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 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Stewie Griffin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rickson Rua!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Matti Vanhoillinen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Griffin drives through and clinches with Rua against the cage.
Rua drops down looking for an ankle pick but Griffin pulls his leg out and moves away.
Griffin thumps Rua with a low kick.
Griffin tries to clinch up.
Rua swats away the attempt to clinch by Griffin.

Griffin gets caught flat footed, as Rua shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Rua prevents Griffin from getting back to his feet.

Rua drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Rua jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Rua working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rua wants to pass the guard but Griffin is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua advances position into side control!

Rua is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Griffin knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Rua fails to land a wild elbow strike.

Rua is trying to get an arm triangle but Griffin is defending well.
Griffin is not content to let Rua control the position.

Rua tries for a kimura but Griffin is defending well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Griffin wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rua tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Rua has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Rua has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Griffin is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Rua looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Griffin is avoiding damage well.
Griffin is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Rua has just dragged him back down to the mat.

Rua is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Griffin is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Rua is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Griffin knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Rua tries for a kimura but Griffin is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rua thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Rua prevents Griffin from escaping the position.

Rua tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Griffin is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Rua is controlling him well.
Rua trying to control the position but Griffin is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua tries to move into full mount but can't pass Griffin's legs.
Griffin is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Rua asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Rua landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Rua sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Griffin is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

Griffin throws Rua to one side and escapes!
A combination from Griffin does no damage.
A combination from Griffin does no damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Griffin forces Rua back against the cage and clinches.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Griffin.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Griffin.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rickson Rua dominated that round.
That's time! Griffin's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Griffin moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
A decent looking cross lands there for Griffin.
Griffin is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Griffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rua misses with a takedown attempt - Griffin sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Rua gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Griffin slaps away a takedown attempt from Rua, before circling back to the center of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A slow jab from Griffin misses its intended target.

Griffin clinches.
Griffin misses with a knee strike.
Griffin tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Griffin unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Griffin tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Griffin throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rua blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Stewie Griffin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rickson Rua.
Griffin doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Griffin misses with a knee strike.
Griffin lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rua backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Griffin stops a takedown attempt from Rua.
Griffin crunches a lovely knee into Rua's ribcage.
Rua is breathing heavily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rua blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rua is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Griffin throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rua blocks it with crossed arms.
Griffin lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Griffin throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Ruas head.
Griffin lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rua backwards.
Griffin tries to work over Rua's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Griffin gets through Rua's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Griffin.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua drops down looking for an ankle pick but Griffin pulls his leg out and moves away.
Griffin tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rua swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Griffin scoring well with a low kick there.
A solid leg kick lands there for Griffin.
Rua takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Griffin fails with an attempt to clinch.
Griffin with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Griffin connects with an inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Griffin.
Rua keeps the fight on the outside.
Griffin dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Rua. That did some damage!

Griffin closes the distance and pushes Rua back into the cage.
Rua blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from Griffin.
Rua is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Stewie Griffin has scored more points in the clinch so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Griffin with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Griffin misses with a knee strike.
Griffin tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Griffin lands with a short shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stewie Griffin dominated that second round.
That's time! Griffin's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Griffin fails in his attempt to clinch.
Griffin tries to clinch up but Rua circles away and keeps his distance.
Griffin lands with a right hand.
Griffin looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Rua shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Griffin pinned against the cage. Griffin gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rua shoots in but Griffin avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Griffin tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Rua counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Rua takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rua stops Griffin from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua looks to land a strike but Griffin avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Rickson Rua has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rua wants to control from the top but Griffin keeps moving.
Rua looking to pass the guard.
Griffin is looking to stand up but Rua isn't so interested in that idea.
Rua trying to control the position from guard on top but Griffin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Griffin is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Griffin keeping full guard, as Rua tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin wants to stand but Rua is controlling the position.
Rua postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Rua changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Griffin tries to avoid it but Rua manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Griffin to the ground. Griffin escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Stewie Griffin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rickson Rua.
Griffin misses with the combination.
Griffin fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rua manages to avoid it.
Griffin throws a leg kick which misses Rua's front leg but catches the back leg as Rua tries to avoid it.
Griffin turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin fails in his attempt to clinch.
Rua avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Rua will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Griffin throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Rua sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Griffin feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Rua's calf.
A nice inside leg kick there by Griffin. That's going to slow Rua down.
Griffin pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Rua fails with a takedown attempt.
Rua's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Rua chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Griffin can pounce on him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffin tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rua paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Griffin fails with an attempt to clinch.
Griffin tries to clinch

and Rua counters with a takedown into side control.

Rua tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
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!
Griffin wants to get back to his feet but Rua drags him back down.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Rua tries for a kimura but Griffin is defending well.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Stewie Griffin.
I think Griffin 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Stewie Griffin!