PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Johnny Fletcher (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jimmy Esperanza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fletcher comes to the cage accompanied by Gallows - London is the reason. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Fletcher
vs
Esperanza

186 cm
23
201 lbs
3 - 8 - 0

187 cm
28
222 lbs
20 - 19 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Johnny Fletcher!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 19 - 0, fighting out of London, Jimmy Esperanza!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, James Atkins and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fletcher tries to bum rush Esperanza with a series of wild strikes but Esperanza uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Fletcher feints and as Esperanza raises his hands in defense, Fletcher changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Esperanza keeping moving, preventing Fletcher from controlling successfully.

Esperanza looking for a guillotine here but Fletcher defends easily.
Esperanza is controlling Fletcher's posture.
Fletcher has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Esperanza throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

Esperanza has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Fletcher is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Esperanza.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Esperanza is not content to let Fletcher control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esperanza is trying to control Fletcher's posture but Fletcher avoids it.
Esperanza isn't going anywhere.
Fletcher content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Esperanza is looking for a sweep.
Esperanza gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Fletcher is pressing down on Esperanza's thigh, looking to free his foot. Esperanza is holding on for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Esperanza is looking to control Fletcher's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Esperanza avoid being mounted?
Esperanza regains full guard. Nicely done.
Esperanza pulls Fletcher in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Fletcher looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Fletcher tries to clinch but Esperanza moves out of range.
Esperanza misses with a head kick.
Fletcher wants to clinch.
Fletcher looks to land a combination but Esperanza avoids it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esperanza moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Fletcher looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Fletcher shoots in for a takedown but Esperanza shows good takedown defense.

Fletcher tries to sprawl but Esperanza drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Fletcher knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Esperanza on the ground.
Fletcher wants to control but Esperanza is keeping busy.
Esperanza wants to take a breather but Fletcher is having none of it.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Esperanza is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Fletcher doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Esperanza.
Esperanza wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fletcher keeps working.
Esperanza is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esperanza seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Fletcher keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Esperanza drops an elbow to the side of Fletcher's head.
Fletcher is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Esperanza looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Esperanza is working for a submission of some sort.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Esperanza works his foot free and advances to mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Esperanza fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Fletcher gets caught flat footed, as Esperanza shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Jimmy Esperanza has got the better of the ground game so far.
Esperanza stops Fletcher from standing up.
Esperanza has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Fletcher has his foot on Esperanza's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Esperanza works his way back into a safe position though.
Esperanza landing with the ground and pound.
Esperanza lands a couple of elbows.
Esperanza sitting in guard here, content to control.
Fletcher looking to hit a scissor sweep but Esperanza is one step ahead there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Esperanza is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esperanza works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Esperanza sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Esperanza is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Fletcher is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Jimmy Esperanza!
After the fight, Jimmy Esperanza was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.