PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between George St Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Derek Safo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Safo has chosen Up Your Speed by Sway DaSafo as his entrance music. Derek Safo has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with George St Pierre's chin.

St Pierre
vs
Safo

178 cm
32
180 lbs
27 - 18 - 1

186 cm
25
179 lbs
10 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
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 27 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, George St Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Derek Safo!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Ian Loll and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Safo keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Safo connects with a body shot.
St Pierre staying out of range there.
Safo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Safo is looking to clinch.
Derek Safo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A swing and a miss from Safo.
St Pierre slips under a jab.
Safo fails to land with a series of punches.
Safo takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
St Pierre shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Safo as he jumps to the side.
Safo tries to clinch but St Pierre moves out of range.
Safo moves in looking to clinch but St Pierre pushes him off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre throws a hook to the side of Safo's head but Safo sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Safo will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
St Pierre takes one to the chin there.
Safo looks to score with a jab to the body but St Pierre is just out of range.
Safo connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed St Pierre momentarily.
Safo lands a jab-cross combination.
St Pierre darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Safo ducks right into an uppercut from St Pierre.
Safo misses the shot to the body.
Decent striking displayed by Safo there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Safo.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
St Pierre misses with a hook. Safo ducked under it nicely.
St Pierre moves away from the strike by Safo.
Safo ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
St Pierre misses the jab.
Safo scores with a nice strike.
Safo walks into a stiff left hand from St Pierre.
Safo is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
St Pierre fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Nice sprawl there from Safo as St Pierre shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for George St Pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Safo connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
A big left from Safo misses.
St Pierre throws a right hand that misses
and Safo makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Safo wants to clinch.
Safo has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
St Pierre tries for a takedown but Safo sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Safo fakes high and swings low for a body shot but St Pierre manages to avoid it.
Safo misses with a straight left.
A right-left combo lands from Safo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Safo looks to throw the jab but St Pierre is out of range.
Safo throws an overhand right that lands on St Pierre's shoulder, as St Pierre tries to avoid the shot.
Safo misses with an uppercut.
Safo misses with a hook.
Safo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but St Pierre paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Safo moves into range and connects with a jab.
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!
Safo will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A big left from Safo misses.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Safo is looking to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Derek Safo dominated that round.
That's time! St Pierre's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Safo keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from St Pierre.
Safo misses with a looping left.
Safo takes a swing at St Pierre's ribcage but misses.
St Pierre throws a hook but Safo blocks it.
Safo misses with a hook.
Safo misses with a looping right.
Safo swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by St Pierre.
A lazy left from Safo finds it's target.
Safo slips under a jab from St Pierre.
Safo slaps away a takedown attempt from St Pierre, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Safo thows a body shot but no joy.
Derek Safo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
St Pierre jabbing away but nothing is landing.
St Pierre shoots in but Safo avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Some wild striking there from Safo.
Safo throws a jab when St Pierre was well out of range.
Safo misses with a straight right.
Safo misses with a body shot.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts St Pierre, as that shot connected.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

St Pierre gets a takedown into half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Safo is refusing to be controlled, as St Pierre sits in half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
St Pierre sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Safo defending well though.
Safo blocking the ground and pound attempt from St Pierre.
Safo makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Safo.
St Pierre postures up in Safo's guard and throws a big left but Safo blocks it.
Safo is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Safo looking to hit a scissor sweep but St Pierre is one step ahead there.
St Pierre throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Safo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as St Pierre accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
St Pierre pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Safo is keeping the position for now.
St Pierre postures up in Safo's guard and throws a big left but Safo blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
St Pierre wants to control from the top but Safo keeps moving.
St Pierre postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Safo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from St Pierre.
St Pierre throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
St Pierre throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

St Pierre has gone for a leg lock! Safo slips out almost immediately though and dives into St Pierre's guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Safo stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. St Pierre swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George St Pierre dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Safo wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
St Pierre fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Safo avoids it really well and circles away.
Safo connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Safo looks to land a combination but St Pierre avoids it well.
St Pierre works the jab nicely.
St Pierre throws a jab but it's blocked by Safo.
Safo misses with a jab to the body
and St Pierre counters with a left to the body.
St Pierre avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Safo misses with an uppercut. St Pierre saw that one coming.
Safo misses with the combination.
St Pierre closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
St Pierre misses with an uppercut. Safo saw that one coming.
Safo leaves St Pierre with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Safo misses with a two punch combination.
Safo throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck St Pierre on the side of the head.
Safo takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Safo throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Safo lands a right hook to the body.
St Pierre is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Safo avoids the body shot from St Pierre.
St Pierre circles away from the clinch attempt.
Safo throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
The fighters circle momentarily. St Pierre darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Safo ducks down and throws a hook to the body but St Pierre moves away.
Safo scores with a jab to the body.
St Pierre blocks a jab.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Safo misses with a few strikes there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre avoids the body shot from Safo.
St Pierre defending well as Safo loads up on a big left hand.
Safo takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
St Pierre takes one to the side of the head.
Safo connects with a body shot that sends St Pierre's belly button to the back.
Safo misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from St Pierre.
Safo tries to clinch but St Pierre moves out of range.
St Pierre throws a jab when Safo was well out of range.
St Pierre dodges the punch combination from Safo.
Safo throws an off balance right hand
and St Pierre counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Safo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by St Pierre.
Safo swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Safo misses with a looping right.
Safo looks to score with a jab to the body but St Pierre is just out of range.
No luck with that takedown attempt from St Pierre.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for George St Pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.
St Pierre scores with a crisp jab that stopped Safo in his tracks.
St Pierre swings and misses with a hook to the body.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
St Pierre paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
St Pierre looks to score with a jab to the body but Safo is just out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Derek Safo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Safo has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 28:29
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Derek Safo!
A very excited looking Derek Safo made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.