PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Freddie Mercury (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Axel Burn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Freddie Mercury looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Mercury
vs
Burn

175 cm
22
168 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
20
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Freddie Mercury!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Axel Burn!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Donald Grub and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Burn looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Mercury avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Burn.
Burn looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Mercury punching from the bottom.
Burn is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Burn moves nicely into side control.
Mercury is trying to escape the position but Burn is controlling the position.

Burn looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Mercury wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burn wants to control but Mercury is keeping him busy.

Burn has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Nice sprawl there from Mercury as Burn shoots in.
Burn tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Mercury shoots and misses

and Burn counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Mercury's guard now.
Mercury is breathing heavily.
Mercury tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Burn wants to control from the top but Mercury keeps moving.
Burn might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Mercury kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burn controls from within his opponent's guard.
Mercury is trying to control the position but Burn postures up.
Burn is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Mercury looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Burn controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Burn trying to control but Mercury is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, Axel Burn just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Mercury drives through with a takedown into guard.
Burn not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Mercury wants to control from the top but Burn keeps moving.
Burn controls Mercury momentarily but Mercury frees himself.
Burn keeping moving, preventing Mercury from controlling successfully.
Mercury trying to stand up but can't free himself from Burn's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercury stays in close to Burn's body and controls the position.

Burn working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Mercury doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Mercury manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Burn swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Mercury scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Burn is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Mercury off and has taken his back!
Mercury wants to control his opponent's hands but Burn gets his hands free.
Burn really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mercury. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Burn is riding his opponent, not letting Mercury buck him off.
Mercury trying to control the action but Burn just sinks the hooks in.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Axel Burn dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Burn lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Burn throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Mercury avoids the head kick by Burn.
Nice takedown defense from Mercury. No joy for Burn on that attempt.
Mercury doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Burn counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Mercury moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Burn trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Mercury is trying to keep Burn in close.
Burn must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Mercury utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Burn controls from within his opponent's guard.
Mercury wants to sweep here but Burn controlling him for the moment.
Axel Burn has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burn tries to free his leg and advance position but Mercury is retaining full guard.
Mercury is trying to control the position but Burn postures up.
Burn controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Mercury tries to keep at a distance but Burn has taken the fight into the clinch.
Mercury stops a takedown attempt from Burn.
Mercury fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Burn tries to stall but Mercury uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Burn pulls guard.
Mercury stops Burn from standing up.

That's two 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.
Mercury trying to move into half guard but instead Burn has managed to sweep!
Mercury controls Burn momentarily but Burn frees himself.

Mercury looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Burn is defending well. Mercury quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Burn has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Mercury celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Freddie Mercury!