PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Brannigan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andreas Bastos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brannigan comes to the cage accompanied by QOTSA - 'You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire'. Bastos has chosen D-Nox & Beckers - One Shot (Flame On Fire Remix) as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Andreas Bastos will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Brannigan
vs
Bastos

170 cm
26
205 lbs
17 - 6 - 2

190 cm
23
219 lbs
7 - 7 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 17 - 6 - 2, fighting out of London, Alex Brannigan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Andreas Bastos!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Phil Schofield and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A thudding body kick lands there by Brannigan!
Bastos closes the distance and clinches up with Brannigan, looking for a takedown. Bastos pushes Brannigan against the cage but Brannigan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Bastos takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Bastos lands a lovely overhand right.
Good leg kick by Brannigan there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Bastos shoots in looking for a takedown but Brannigan manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Bastos's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Bastos dives in and grabs Brannigan's left leg, looking for a takedown. Brannigan pushes down on Bastos's head and hops out.
Alex Brannigan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andreas Bastos.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bastos misses with a wild body shot.
Bastos throws the left hand but Brannigan avoids the punch easily.
Brannigan dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Bastos. That did some damage!
Brannigan looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Brannigan blocks a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bastos throws a head kick that misses.
Alex Brannigan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Bastos shoots in for a takedown but Brannigan shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Bastos misses with a body shot.
Bastos throws a low kick but Brannigan avoids it.
Bastos lands a nice looking body shot.
Bastos throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Brannigan.
Brannigan showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Bastos.
Bastos swinging wildly here.
Bastos moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Andreas Bastos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Bastos checks a leg kick.
Brannigan misses the shot to the body.
Brannigan misses with an uppercut. Bastos saw that one coming.
Bastos misses with a low kick.
Bastos misses with a low kick.
A big left from Bastos misses.
Brannigan takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Bastos connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Brannigan's hands.
A jab from Bastos does it's job there.
Brannigan tries to clinch there but Bastos circles away.
Bastos has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bastos throws a combination that misses
and Brannigan makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Bastos really felt that one!
Bastos uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Brannigan.
Brannigan displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Bastos throws out the jab.
Brannigan tries to clinch up.
Bastos misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bastos is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
A punch lands to the side of Brannigan 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Brannigan tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bastos swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Bastos shoots in and gets a takedown into Brannigan's guard.
Bastos preventing the sweep.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Bastos accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Bastos wants to control from the top but Brannigan keeps moving.
Brannigan has Bastos pulled in close to control his posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Brannigan tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Bastos advances to half guard.
Brannigan wants to control but Bastos is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Bastos is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Bastos works his way into side control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bastos wants to lay and pray for a moment but Brannigan keeps working.
Brannigan is trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Alex Brannigan will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Brannigan throws a leg kick but Bastos sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Bastos scores with a jab. Brannigan acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Bastos misses with a body shot.
Bastos misses with a few strikes there.
Bastos shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Brannigan sprawls well. Brannigan wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Bastos gets slowly back to his feet.
Bastos scores with a body shot.
Bastos with a poor takedown
and Brannigan cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Brannigan wants to clinch up but Bastos keeps it at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bastos scores with the left hand. Brannigan knows he should have avoided that one.
Bastos throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Brannigan with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Bastos to score with a decent uppercut.
A looping hook to the body misses from Brannigan. Bastos does a little dance to reset his feet.
Bastos moves out of range as Brannigan throws a body kick.
Brannigan throws a body punch but Bastos moves out of range.
Brannigan takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

Brannigan gets caught napping as Bastos dives in and scores a takedown. Brannigan manages to retain guard.
Bastos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Brannigan swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Bastos trying to control the position from guard on top but Brannigan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bastos works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Brannigan trying to hold on to Bastos's head to control him but Bastos postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Brannigan controlling the position well.

Bastos is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Brannigan sees it coming and defends easily.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Bastos is figuring out what he wants to do next.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Brannigan tries to roll over but Bastos keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brannigan is working hard here to advance position.
Bastos wants to take a breather but Brannigan is having none of it.
Bastos perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Bastos is trying to control the action in half guard but Brannigan is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Andreas Bastos has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Bastos fails to land with a series of punches.
Brannigan walks into a jab.

Bastos scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Bastos is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Brannigan sees it coming and defends easily.
Brannigan is trying to get back to full guard.

Bastos is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Brannigan doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Bastos.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bastos trying to control the action but Brannigan is working from the bottom.
Brannigan is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Brannigan wants to control but Bastos is keeping busy.
Bastos trying to control from half guard but Brannigan is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andreas Bastos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Brannigan tries to clinch up
and Bastos counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Brannigan stuffs the takedown.
Brannigan chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Bastos takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Brannigan stuffs the takedown.
No luck for Bastos with that takedown attempt.
Alex Brannigan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andreas Bastos.
Brannigan tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bastos paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bastos avoids the head kick by Brannigan.
Bastos sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Bastos takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Brannigan wants to land a leg kick but Bastos is out of range.
Brannigan throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Bastos counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Brannigan thinking.
Brannigan tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Brannigan misses with a straight left.
Brannigan throws a front kick that sends Bastos stumbling back into the cage.
Brannigan ducks under a wild hook from Bastos.
Brannigan connects with a right hand. Bastos shakes it off.
Brannigan stuffs the takedown attempt from Bastos. Bastos gets slowly back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Brannigan tries to land a body kick
and Brannigan takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Brannigan fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Bastos has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Brannigan has Bastos up against the cage in a clinch.
Brannigan has Bastos pressed against the cage, preventing Bastos from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Brannigan.

It looks like Andreas Bastos has been cut.
Brannigan is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Brannigan throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Brannigan lands a damaging elbow.
Bastos is trying to break the clinch but Brannigan has him pressed against the cage.
Brannigan throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Brannigan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bastos blocks an elbow strike.
Brannigan misses with a knee strike.
Bastos is trying to break the clinch but Brannigan is controlling him.
Brannigan lands a nice knee to the body.
Bastos blocks an elbow strike.
Come on Brannigan - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Brannigan gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Brannigan landing knees to the body.
Brannigan gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Brannigan lands an elbow inside that Bastos shrugs off.
Brannigan lands a damaging elbow.
Bastos working hard to break the clinch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Brannigan throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Brannigan lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

That has opened up Andreas Bastos's cut even more.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bastos has had enough of the clinch but Brannigan keeps him there for the moment.
Bastos wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Bastos is trying to push Brannigan away but Brannigan has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Bastos is trying to break the clinch but Brannigan is controlling him.
Brannigan prevents Bastos from breaking the clinch.
Bastos working hard to break the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Brannigan obliges.
Brannigan lands on the inside with an uppercut.
A shot in the inside from Brannigan.
Brannigan lands a knee to the body.
Alex Brannigan has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Bastos blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Brannigan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Brannigan throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Brannigan lands an elbow inside that Bastos shrugs off.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Brannigan showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Brannigan 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:29
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!