PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Gianmarco Zaniboni (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kris Marsh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Zaniboni
vs
Marsh

175 cm
28
149 lbs
16 - 6 - 1

163 cm
28
154 lbs
18 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

ADCC Champion
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

[CBK] LEGAL HIGHS « NAF↑ TRIPLE 160Q ®

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Gianmarco Zaniboni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kris Marsh!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Yukihiro Shimada and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Marsh throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Nice jab there from Marsh.
Marsh lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Marsh misses with a looping left.
Zaniboni takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Marsh looks to score with a jab to the body but Zaniboni is just out of range.
Marsh keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Zaniboni.
A looping hook to the body misses from Marsh. Zaniboni does a little dance to reset his feet.
Zaniboni tries to clinch up.
Zaniboni just misses with a punch to the body.
Marsh avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Marsh takes a swing at Zaniboni's ribcage but misses.
Zaniboni misses with a jab, cross combination.
Zaniboni misses with a series of wild punches.
An inside leg kick from Zaniboni misses.
Zaniboni takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaniboni jabs Marsh to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Zaniboni is looking to clinch.
Marsh throws a big shot that misses.
Marsh lands a jab to Zaniboni's midsection.
Nice shot lands for Marsh.

Zaniboni moves into the clinch successfully.
Zaniboni blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Marsh prevents the takedown attempt.
Marsh makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Zaniboni creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Marsh tries to score a body lock takedown but Zaniboni shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Zaniboni creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Zaniboni digs a right hand underneath Marsh's ribcage. Marsh let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Marsh is looking to take this one to the mat.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Marsh tries for a takedown but Zaniboni manages to get underhooks.
Gianmarco Zaniboni has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kris Marsh.
Marsh can't find room to land a body shot as Zaniboni controls the action.
Marsh tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marsh pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Marsh misses with a hook to the ribs.
Marsh is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Zaniboni lands a right hand that snaps the head of Marsh backwards.
Marsh tries to throw a body punch but Zaniboni avoids it by throwing Marsh back against the cage.
Marsh has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Zaniboni after a bit of a struggle.

Marsh breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Marsh throws a jab when Zaniboni was well out of range.
Zaniboni moves into range and connects with a jab.
Marsh circles away from the clinch attempt.
Marsh misses with a body shot.
Marsh misses with a takedown attempt
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Marsh misses the shot to the body.
Zaniboni scores with a nice head shot.
Zaniboni throws a jab when Marsh was well out of range.
Marsh uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Zaniboni.
Zaniboni misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Marsh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zaniboni shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Marsh sprawls well. Marsh wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Zaniboni gets slowly back to his feet.
Marsh throws a leg kick which misses Zaniboni's front leg but catches the back leg as Zaniboni tries to avoid it.
Marsh throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Zaniboni misses with a body shot
and Marsh counters with a straight right hand.
Marsh misses with a double jab.
Zaniboni avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Marsh drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Zaniboni motions for Marsh to come forward. Zaniboni throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Marsh lands an overhand right.
Zaniboni avoids a punch combination nicely.
Zaniboni misses the shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marsh takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Zaniboni avoids the body shot from Marsh.
Zaniboni swings for the body but Marsh moves out of range.
Zaniboni stuffs the takedown attempt from Marsh. Marsh gets slowly back to his feet.
Marsh scores with the left hand. Zaniboni knows he should have avoided that one.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Marsh lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Zaniboni has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Zaniboni and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Zaniboni throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Marsh's waist but Marsh gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zaniboni off to one side.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Marsh misses the shot to the body.

Zaniboni moves into range and clinches up with Marsh.
Marsh is looking to take this one to the mat.
Zaniboni is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Marsh is defending well for now.
Marsh scores with a shot to the side of Zaniboni's head.
Marsh blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Marsh's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Marsh throws a right hand that misses
and Marsh takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Marsh throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Nice body punch from Zaniboni.
Marsh throws a shot from downtown. Zaniboni moves away and avoids it.
Marsh throws a jab when Zaniboni was well out of range.
Zaniboni is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Marsh closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Zaniboni did well to prevent Marsh getting side control.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Marsh looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Marsh working over Zaniboni with some ground and pound. Zaniboni looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Zaniboni slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zaniboni not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Marsh missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Zaniboni 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.
Marsh throwing strikes but missing.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Zaniboni is on top in guard.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Marsh is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Zaniboni content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Zaniboni is looking to advance position but Marsh has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Zaniboni is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Marsh working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Zaniboni gets back to half guard.
Zaniboni tries to get to full guard but Marsh has control of the leg.
Marsh slips a nice elbow through Zaniboni's hands, connecting with Zaniboni's forehead.
Marsh has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Zaniboni is trying to maintain the position but Marsh is very close to passing his half guard.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Zaniboni is pressing down on Marsh's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Marsh trying to control but Zaniboni is working from the bottom.
Marsh stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Zaniboni swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Marsh wants to control from the top but Zaniboni keeps moving.
Zaniboni trying to control the position.

Zaniboni looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Zaniboni preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Marsh with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Marsh with a nice head shot there.
Zaniboni looking to hit a scissor sweep but Marsh is one step ahead there.
Zaniboni controls Marsh momentarily but Marsh frees himself.
Marsh passes Zaniboni's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Marsh tries to pass the half guard into mount. Zaniboni knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Marsh thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zaniboni regains full guard. Nicely done.
Zaniboni avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Marsh tries to free his leg and advance position but Zaniboni is retaining full guard.
Zaniboni will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Marsh lands a couple of elbows.
Marsh postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Marsh trying to control the position from guard on top but Zaniboni is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zaniboni wants to sweep but no luck.
Marsh distracts Zaniboni with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Marsh wants to control from the top but Zaniboni keeps moving.
Marsh slips nicely into half guard.
Marsh scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Marsh passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Zaniboni!
Marsh putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Marsh working Zaniboni over with strikes here.
Zaniboni is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Zaniboni is in all sorts of trouble here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Kris Marsh will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Zaniboni.
Marsh shoots for a takedown but Zaniboni saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Good standup being displayed there by Zaniboni as he connects with a hook.
Zaniboni throws an overhand right that lands on Marsh's shoulder, as Marsh tries to avoid the shot.
A right-left combo lands from Marsh.
Zaniboni swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A jab from Zaniboni finds it's way through Marsh's defenses.
Nice uppercut there from Marsh.
Zaniboni keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Marsh throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zaniboni looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Marsh scores with a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaniboni keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Gianmarco Zaniboni has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kris Marsh.
Marsh ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Zaniboni moves away.
Zaniboni thows a body shot but no joy.
Marsh ducks under a wild hook from Zaniboni.
Marsh looks to score with a jab to the body but Zaniboni is just out of range.
Zaniboni scores with a jab.

Marsh throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Zaniboni tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Marsh is in Zaniboni's guard.
Marsh in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Marsh postures up in Zaniboni's guard and throws a big left but Zaniboni blocks it.
Zaniboni looking for a sweep. Not yet Zaniboni, not yet.
Kris Marsh has got the better of the ground game so far.
Marsh wants to pass the guard but Zaniboni is keeping the position.
Zaniboni wants to sweep here but Marsh controlling him for the moment.
Marsh trying to control the position from guard on top but Zaniboni is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marsh throws a big right hand that misses.
Marsh cracks Zaniboni with a solid left hand.
Marsh stopping the sweep attempt from Zaniboni.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Zaniboni has his foot on Marsh's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Marsh works his way back into a safe position though.
Zaniboni trying to keep a closed guard but Marsh is proving a slippery customer.
Marsh trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Zaniboni looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Zaniboni wants to improve his position but instead Marsh has moved into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Marsh lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zaniboni moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Zaniboni is trying to control the position but Marsh postures up.
Marsh throwing strikes but missing.
Marsh stopping the sweep attempt from Zaniboni.
Marsh scoring with some ground and pound.
Zaniboni lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Marsh!
Marsh manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Marsh on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marsh moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Marsh working a defensive guard here.

Marsh working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Zaniboni doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Zaniboni manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Marsh 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.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Zaniboni connects with a couple of short punches.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Zaniboni accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Marsh keeping moving, preventing Zaniboni from controlling successfully.
Zaniboni advances to half guard.
Marsh regains full guard. Nicely done.
Zaniboni has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Marsh manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Zaniboni manages to get himself to full guard.
Marsh trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Marsh is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Zaniboni wants to sweep but no luck.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Marsh wants to pass the guard but Zaniboni is keeping the position.
Zaniboni wants to sweep here but Marsh controlling him for the moment.
Marsh stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Zaniboni swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Zaniboni looking to control.
Marsh pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Zaniboni is keeping the position for now.
Marsh lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Marsh working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Marsh missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Zaniboni keeping moving, preventing Marsh from controlling successfully.

Zaniboni looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Marsh connects with a couple of short punches.
Zaniboni looking for a sweep. Not yet Zaniboni, not yet.
Marsh stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Zaniboni swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Marsh slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Marsh looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Zaniboni can't do much from the bottom here.
Marsh works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Zaniboni taking punishment in the form of punches.
Marsh creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Marsh looks up at the clock and then as Zaniboni takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Marsh smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Zaniboni tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Marsh wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Marsh creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Zaniboni is looking to regain half guard here but Marsh keeps moving and retains side control.
Marsh looks up at the clock and then as Zaniboni takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Marsh smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
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!
Marsh lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Zaniboni down.

Zaniboni is rocked!
Marsh cracks Zaniboni with a big elbow. Oh, he's hurt! Marsh immediately mounts and start dropping bombs! Zaniboni is done! The referee jumps in and saves him from any more punishment - a quick and decisive finish by Marsh!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 8:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kris Marsh!
After winning the bout, Kris Marsh thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.