PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ben Backman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Brannigan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brannigan comes into a darkened arena with his song building. QOTSA - 'You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire' kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Ben Backman could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Alex Brannigan's chin.

Backman
vs
Brannigan

184 cm
26
220 lbs
15 - 8 - 0

170 cm
27
205 lbs
18 - 7 - 3

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

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 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Ben Backman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 7 - 3, fighting out of London, Alex Brannigan!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, James Glass and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Backman with a nice cross.
Backman moves out of range of the leg kick from Brannigan.
Backman throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Backman throws an overhand right that lands on Brannigan's shoulder, as Brannigan tries to avoid the shot.
Backman lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Backman tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Brannigan was well out of range. Poor timing from Backman.
Backman connects with a right hand. Brannigan shakes it off.
Backman throws a hook but Brannigan blocks it.
Backman tries to bum rush Brannigan with a series of wild strikes but Brannigan uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Backman thows a left - swing and a miss!
Backman throws the left hand but Brannigan avoids the punch easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Brannigan closes the distance and clinches.

Backman escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brannigan lands with a thumping leg kick.
Backman just misses with a punch to the body.
Backman dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Backman misses with a body shot.
Brannigan fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Backman.
Backman avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Brannigan wants to clinch.
Backman just misses with a punch to the body.
Brannigan wants to clinch up but Backman keeps it at a distance.
Backman fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Backman throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Backman rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Brannigan moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Backman moves out of range of the strikes.
Brannigan tries to close the distance and clinch but Backman swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Brannigan gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Backman has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Backman takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Ben Backman has been cut.
Brannigan gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Brannigan misses with an elbow strike.
Brannigan pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Backman tries to break free but Brannigan pushes him back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Backman breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Brannigan scores with a hook to the body. Backman takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Brannigan doesn't manage to clinch there - Backman circles away.
Backman keeps the fight on the outside.
Backman throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Brannigan sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Backman bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Brannigan's head backwards.

Brannigan instigates a clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Backman's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Backman is trying to force a seperation but Brannigan has the dominant position.
Backman has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Backman dodges an elbow strike from Brannigan.
Backman avoids the elbow strike from Brannigan, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brannigan misses with an elbow over the top.
Brannigan controlling the action here for a moment.

Backman breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Brannigan is looking to clinch.
Backman thows a left - swing and a miss!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Brannigan walks into a jab.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Backman is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Backman slips a jab from Brannigan.
Backman throws a jab but it's blocked by Brannigan.
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 Ben Backman will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Ben Backman's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A telegraphed right hand from Backman misses the target.
Ben Backman is winning the standup battle so far.
Brannigan gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Backman.
Backman throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
The fighters circling - Backman throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Backman misses with a few strikes there.
Ben Backman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Brannigan rushes Backman and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Brannigan has Backman pressed against the cage, preventing Backman from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Brannigan throws an elbow that misses.
Brannigan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Backman tries to break the clinch but Brannigan is controlling the position.
Backman takes an elbow to the forehead.
Backman blocks an elbow strike from Brannigan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Backman managing to block the knees to the body from Brannigan.
Brannigan lands an elbow that stopped Backman in his tracks for a moment.
Backman is trying to force a seperation but Brannigan has the dominant position.
Backman avoids a wild elbow strike from Brannigan.
Backman wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Brannigan has him pressed against the cage.
Brannigan lands a damaging elbow.
Backman is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Backman takes an elbow to the temple.

Ben Backman's cut is getting worse.
Backman has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Brannigan misses with an elbow over the top.
Backman working hard to break the clinch.
Brannigan missing with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Backman dodges an elbow strike from Brannigan.
Brannigan throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Backman blocks an elbow strike from Brannigan.
Backman wants to break the clinch but can't.
Brannigan lands an elbow inside that Backman shrugs off.
Brannigan scores with a shoulder strike.

Ben Backman's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Brannigan misses with an elbow over the top.
Alex Brannigan seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Backman tries to break free but Brannigan pushes him back against the cage.
Brannigan throws an elbow but it misses.
Backman is looking to break free of the clinch but Brannigan has double underhooks.
Brannigan throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Brannigan will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Backman up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brannigan looks to throw an elbow but misses.
A frustrated look appears on Backman's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Backman blocks an elbow strike.
Backman avoids the elbow strike from Brannigan, against the cage.
Backman is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Brannigan lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Backman avoids the elbow strike from Brannigan, against the cage.
Brannigan trying to land knees to the body.
Brannigan with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Backman wants to break free but Brannigan has control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Backman tries to break the clinch but Brannigan is controlling the position.
Backman avoids the elbow strike from Brannigan, against the cage.
Brannigan tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Backman avoids it.
Stalling in the clinch from Brannigan.
Brannigan throws an elbow but it misses.
Brannigan misses with an elbow over the top.
Backman is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Brannigan keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Backman's efforts to push away.
Brannigan misses with an elbow strike.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Brannigan is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Backman is keeping busy.
Brannigan stalls.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Brannigan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ben Backman's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Backman throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Brannigan dodges the punch combination from Backman.
Brannigan avoids the head kick by Backman.
Ben Backman is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Backman misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Brannigan.
Backman's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Brannigan connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Backman scrambles back to his feet.
Backman throws a body punch but Brannigan moves out of range.
Backman throws a head kick that misses.
Backman scores with a sloppy right hand. Brannigan should have avoided that one.
Backman swinging wildly here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Brannigan clinches up with Backman and pushes him back against the cage.
Backman takes a knee to the side of the body.
Backman wants to get back to striking at distance but Brannigan won't allow it.
Brannigan is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Backman is defending well for now.
Backman blocks the elbow strike.
Brannigan lands a nice elbow.
Brannigan lands a nice elbow.

Backman is rocked!

Jeez, Ben Backman's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Ben Backman's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:54 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Alex Brannigan!