PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Al Capone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Forrest Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Griffin's choice of entrance music: Killing In The Name. Forrest Griffin told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Capone
vs
Griffin

180 cm
31
213 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

190 cm
27
213 lbs
12 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Hellbent, Inc.™
Bushido Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Al Capone!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Forrest Griffin!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Capone pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Capone looks to land a right hand but Griffin moved out of range.
Griffin throws a solid leg kick but Capone takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Griffin.
Griffin throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Capone misses with a straight left.
Griffin ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Griffin tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Griffin 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.
Griffin stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Capone.
Griffin tries to move into range but Capone moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Capone lands a nice shot that snaps Griffin's head back.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Griffin is looking to chop away at Capone's legs.
Capone misses with a body shot.
Griffin fails with an attempt to clinch.

Capone gets a clinch.
Griffin takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Forrest Griffin has been cut.
Capone lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Griffin backwards.
Griffin misses with some punches.
Capone lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Griffin misses with the head strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin tries to throw a body punch but Capone avoids it by throwing Griffin back against the cage.
Capone throws a head punch that misses.
Capone is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Griffin is defending well.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Capone.
Capone wants to take the fight to the mat but Griffin manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Capone lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Griffin gets underhooks to prevent Capone's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Al Capone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Griffin working aggressively here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Capone.

Capone's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Capone connects with a good right hand that stumbles Griffin. Griffin circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Griffin throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
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 closes the distance and clinches.
Griffin lands a nice uppercut.
Capone scores with a knee to the head.

Griffin is rocked!
Capone misses with a punch on the inside.
Capone scores with a shot to the side of Griffin's head.
Griffin is still on wobbly legs! Can Capone finish him?
Griffin is trying to stall.
Griffin seems to have recovered his senses.
Griffin lands a right hand that snaps the head of Capone backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin throws an elbow that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Griffin.
Capone using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Griffin has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Griffin takes an elbow to the temple.
Griffin struggles to land a body shot inside as Capone controls his hands.
Griffin lands a shot to the body.
Capone blocking some punches.
Griffin misses with a short punch on the inside.
Capone is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Griffin pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Capone throws a knee to the head but misses.
Griffin working aggressively here.
Capone with a knee to the head.
Griffin landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
A head punch on the inside from Capone fails to land.

Capone escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Griffin fails with an attempt to clinch.
Nice uppercut lands for Griffin. That snapped Capone's head back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin tries to clinch but Capone moves out of range.
Griffin lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
The fight stays on the outside here - Griffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Capone rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Griffin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Capone rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Griffin counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Capone is breathing heavily.
Griffin throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Griffin misses with a low kick.
A slapping leg kick lands for Capone.
Capone fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Griffin on the side of the head.
Griffin moves out of range of the body kick.
Griffin avoids the body shot from Capone.
Capone fails to land with a series of punches.
Griffin scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Capone doesn't seem bothered though.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Griffin moves in looking to clinch but Capone pushes him off.
Griffin uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Capone has time to react.

It looks like Al Capone has been cut.
Griffin rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Capone moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Capone is looking to chop away at Griffin's legs.
Griffin looks to throw the jab but Capone is out of range.
Griffin misses with a jab, cross combination.

Griffin clinches.
Griffin is trying to maintain a safe position but Capone gets an underhook and turns Griffin into the cage.

Griffin is fighting off a takedown attempt but Capone is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Griffin to the mat. Griffin regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Griffin controlling Capone's posture.
Capone content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Griffin pulls Capone in close to his closed guard and prevents Capone from doing any damage or advancing position.
Griffin keeping moving, preventing Capone from controlling successfully.
Griffin seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Griffin not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Forrest Griffin wasn't active enough on the ground.
Griffin throws a series of punches but Capone moves out of range.
Capone fails in his attempt to clinch.
Griffin misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Capone's jab looks to have found its range, popping Griffin under the eye.

Griffin clinches up against the cage.
Capone working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Capone lands a nice elbow.
Capone misses with a punch to the body.
Capone working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A shot in the inside from Capone.
Still in the clinch, Capone scores with a nice short uppercut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Capone crunches a lovely knee into Griffin's ribcage.
Capone lands with a left to the head.
Griffin stalling in the clinch but Capone improves position.
Capone working some nice short punches in the clinch.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Capone avoids the elbow strike from Griffin, against the cage.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Capone lands a nice knee to the body.
A left hand lands to the body for Capone.
Capone throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Capone breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Capone lands a high kick!

Griffin tries to keep at a distance but Capone has taken the fight into the clinch.

Capone escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Capone throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Griffin doesn't manage to clinch there - Capone circles away.
Capone lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Capone moves out of range of the leg kick from Griffin.
Griffin takes one to the chin there.
Capone thuds a left hand into Griffin's body.
Capone chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Al Capone seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Griffin doesn't manage to clinch there - Capone circles away.
Good standup being displayed there by Capone as he connects with a hook.
Capone misses the jab.
Griffin closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Griffin lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Capone circles away quickly and effectively.
The fighters circle momentarily. Capone darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Griffin misses with a leg kick.
Capone lands with a good body shot.
Capone is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Capone dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A jab from Griffin finds it's way through Capone's defenses.

Capone rushes Griffin and presses him up against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Capone has clasped his hands together around Griffin's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Griffin is looking to regain half guard here but Capone keeps moving and retains side control.
Griffin is trying to get back to his feet.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Griffin manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Griffin avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Capone.
Capone is keen to just control but Griffin is a slippery customer.
Capone is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Griffin is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Griffin is trying to get back to full guard.
Capone thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Griffin's head.
Griffin is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Capone's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Capone's back!
Capone tries to escape the position.
Griffin struggling to keep hold of the position.
Capone looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Griffin keeps control of the position as Capone tries to break free.
Griffin has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Capone's body.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Griffin wants to control but Capone is keeping busy.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Griffin is trying to stick to Capone's back but Capone is turning into Griffin. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Griffin's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Capone.
Capone missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Al Capone dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Capone's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Capone swats away the attempt to clinch by Griffin.
The fight stays on the outside here - Griffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Griffin has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Capone punishes Griffin's body with a nice straight punch.
Al Capone is winning the standup battle so far.
Capone tries to clinch up.

Capone closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Capone is leaning against Griffin and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Capone lands an elbow that stopped Griffin in his tracks for a moment.
Capone scores with a nice hook to the head.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Capone.
Capone lands with a short punch from the clinch.

Capone gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Griffin regains guard.
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!
Capone being controlled here momentarily.
Griffin is breathing heavily.
Capone throws a big right hand that misses.
Al Capone overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Capone trying to control the position from guard on top but Griffin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Capone landing with the ground and pound.
Capone wants to control from the top but Griffin keeps moving.
Capone postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Capone controls from within his opponent's guard.
Capone looking to pass the guard.
Griffin tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Capone slips nicely into half guard.
Capone sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Griffin defending well though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin is refusing to be controlled, as Capone sits in half guard.
Griffin trying to control but Capone postures up.
Griffin is looking to improve his position.
Griffin avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Capone.
Capone passes the guard and advances to mount!
Capone prevents Griffin from getting the reversal.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Griffin is bucking up trying to escape but Capone cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Capone cracks Griffin with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Capone lands a big elbow - Griffin is in trouble! More strikes from the mount and Griffin is forced to tap out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Al Capone!
An out of breath Al Capone thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.