PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Franklin Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alves is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Big Shit Poppin. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Garcia
vs
Alves

185 cm
27
168 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

175 cm
27
175 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

SAVE A FIGHTER

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 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Franklin Garcia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Thiago Alves!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Elvis Blanc and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Alves scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Garcia shoots in and drives through. Alves sprawls well.

Alves lands a big head kick that sends Garcia tumbling to the mat! Alves takes a step backwards and waves Garcia back to his feet - he wants the finish!

It looks like Franklin Garcia has been cut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Alves throws a series of punches but Garcia moves out of range.
Alves lands a leg kick that knocks Garcia off balance momentarily.
Alves throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Alves is looking to slow Garcia down with leg kicks.
Some wild striking there from Alves.
Alves tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Garcia showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Alves.
Alves defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Garcia.
Alves scores with a kick to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia connects with a body shot.
Alves throws a head kick that half lands.
Alves misses with a series of wild punches.
Alves rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Garcia moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
No luck for Garcia with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Franklin Garcia. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Garcia looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Garcia pushes down on Alves's leg and manages to get into half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Garcia passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Alves!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia landing shots from mount.
Alves tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Alves takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Garcia lands a heavy elbow.
Garcia lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Garcia postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Alves looks a forlorn figure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Garcia connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Garcia has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Garcia looking to control and managing it successfully.
Garcia unloading with bombs!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Garcia lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Alves hang on?
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Garcia cracks Alves with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Garcia landing strikes from the mount and Alves is in trouble!
Garcia takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Alves wants to control but Garcia is having none of it.
Alves looks gassed!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Garcia lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Franklin Garcia dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Franklin Garcia's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Alves keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Garcia fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Thiago Alves seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Alves lands with a kick to the temple. Garcia shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
A head kick from Alves lands but Garcia takes it in his stride.
Alves tries to bum rush Garcia with a series of wild strikes but Garcia uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Alves swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Alves lands a two punch combo.
Alves throws a right hand that Garcia ducks under and follows up with a left that Garcia also avoids with ease.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Garcia closes this distance looking for a takedown but Alves circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Franklin Garcia. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Garcia looks for a takedown but Alves sprawls well.
Alves tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alves scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

Franklin Garcia's cut is getting worse.
Alves is breathing heavily.
Alves scores with a spinning back kick!

Garcia gets a takedown into half guard.
Garcia throwing shots but Alves is blocking nicely.
Garcia throwing shots but Alves is blocking nicely.
Garcia thows a huge punch but Alves dodges it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Garcia takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Garcia controlling the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Garcia is nestled in close to Alves, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Garcia trying to control the pace.
Garcia not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Garcia working Alves over with strikes.
Garcia with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Franklin Garcia has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Garcia has taken the fight to the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Franklin Garcia dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Franklin Garcia's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Alves avoids the body shot from Garcia.
Alves misses with a few strikes there.
Alves ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Alves takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Nice sprawl there from Alves as Garcia shoots in.
Garcia tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Alves swivels and escapes.
Jab by Alves.
Garcia shoots in for a takedown but Alves shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Franklin Garcia. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alves tries to bum rush Garcia with a series of wild strikes but Garcia uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Alves dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Garcia. That did some damage!
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!
Alves scores with a head kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Alves ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Alves.
Alves throws a sloppy head kick and Garcia moves out of range easily.
Garcia closes this distance looking for a takedown but Alves circles away.
Alves swinging wildly here.
Garcia on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Alves misses with a double jab.

Alves gets tackled into the cage by Garcia. Garcia maintains the clinch.

Garcia gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Garcia advances to half guard.
Garcia is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Garcia has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Alves's face.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The referee warns Alves that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Garcia content just to control the position here.
Garcia landing punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia scoring with strikes but Alves is staying in there.
Garcia punishing his opponent with strikes.
Garcia controlling the pace for now.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Garcia cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Franklin Garcia is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Garcia controlling his opponent.
Garcia cracks Alves with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Garcia landing strikes from the mount and Alves is in trouble!
Garcia looking to finish Alves with some ground and pound. This is bad for Alves!
Garcia tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Alves really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Garcia. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Thiago Alves has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Garcia looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Franklin Garcia showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Garcia, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Franklin Garcia!