PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Freddy Fernandez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kurt Blanks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Fernandez
vs
Blanks

210 cm
22
255 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

199 cm
22
274 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Crippler's Corner
MMA's Best Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Freddy Fernandez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kurt Blanks!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Alan Glass and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fernandez checks a leg kick.
Blanks keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
No luck for Fernandez with that takedown attempt.
Blanks is looking to clinch but Fernandez is avoiding it.

Fernandez rushes Blanks and presses him up against the cage.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Fernandez is stalling here.
A short body shot lands from Blanks as the two fighters clinch.
Blanks unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fernandez lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Blanks lands a hook to the side of the head.
Blanks scores a nice knee to the body.
Blanks lands a body punch in the clinch.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Fernandez managing to block the knees to the body from Blanks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fernandez takes an elbow to the forehead.
Fernandez avoids the elbow strike from Blanks, against the cage.
Blanks landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Fernandez is breathing heavily.
Fernandez managing to block the knees to the body from Blanks.
Blanks lands an elbow that stopped Fernandez in his tracks for a moment.

It looks like Freddy Fernandez has been cut.
Blanks prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Freddy Fernandez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Blanks.
A short uppercut from Blanks.
Blanks throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Fernandez tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Blanks landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Blanks lands a knee to the body.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
Blanks lands with a short shot to the head.
Blanks using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez managing to block the knees to the body from Blanks.
Blanks trying to land knees to the body.
Blanks lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Fernandez backwards.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Blanks pushes Fernandez back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Blanks connects with a nasty looking knee right to Fernandez's face.
Blanks working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Blanks throws a knee to the head but misses.
Blanks lands a nice elbow.
Blanks lands a body punch.
Blanks throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Blanks controlling the action here for a moment.
Still in the clinch, Blanks scores with a nice short uppercut.
Blanks landing knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanks lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Fernandez.
Blanks scores with a hook to the body.
Blanks using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Blanks.
Fernandez takes an elbow to the temple.
Blanks just leaning against Fernandez, taking a breather.
Blanks unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fernandez lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
Fernandez's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Blanks manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Nice elbow from Blanks.
Fernandez avoids the elbow strike from Blanks, against the cage.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Blanks scores with a shoulder strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Blanks unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fernandez lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Fernandez blocks an elbow strike.
Blanks scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Blanks trying to land knees to the body.
Blanks lands a body punch.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
A short uppercut from Blanks.
Blanks lands a nice elbow.
Blanks lands with a left to the head.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Blanks breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Blanks tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Fernandez decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Blanks's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Blanks wants to get back to his feet but Fernandez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kurt Blanks dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Freddy Fernandez'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.

Blanks tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Fernandez moves into the clinch.
Blanks controlling the action here for a moment.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Blanks misses with an elbow over the top.
Knees to the body from Blanks.
Blanks looking to throw knees to the head but Fernandez is blocking nicely.
Blanks pushes off an throws an elbow but Fernandez leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Blanks connects with a knee to the head.
Fernandez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Blanks avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Blanks prevents the takedown attempt.
Blanks creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Blanks working aggressively here.
Blanks stalling in the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanks landing knees to the body.
Blanks lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Stalling in the clinch from Blanks.
Kurt Blanks seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Fernandez avoiding damage as Blanks throws knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Blanks.
Blanks crunches a lovely knee into Fernandez's ribcage.
Blanks landing knees to the head.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
Blanks tries to throw a body punch but Fernandez avoids it by throwing Blanks back against the cage.
Blanks trying to land knees to the body.
Blanks taking a break, stalling in the clinch.

Fernandez breaks from the clinch.
Fernandez circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fernandez shoots in and bounces Blanks off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Fernandez wants to control from the top but Blanks keeps moving.
Blanks wants to get back to his feet but Fernandez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Fernandez tries to free his leg and advance position but Blanks is retaining full guard.
Blanks wants to stand but Fernandez is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez trying to control the position from guard on top but Blanks is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fernandez throws a big right hand that misses.
Fernandez wants to control from the top but Blanks keeps moving.
Fernandez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Blanks wants to clinch

and Fernandez counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Fernandez trying to control the position from guard on top but Blanks is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Blanks is keeping the position for now.

Blanks pushes Fernandez off and scrambles back to his feet.
Kurt Blanks is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Fernandez circles away from the clinch attempt

so Fernandez counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Fernandezis looking to pass into half guard but Blanks pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Blanks is in guard.
Fernandez 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.

Fernandez escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Blanks gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Freddy Fernandez dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Freddy Fernandez'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!

Blanks moves in looking to clinch but Fernandez pushes him off.
Fernandez shoots in but no luck this time.
Fernandez moves in looking to clinch but Blanks pushes him off.
Blanks tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Fernandez counters by clinching up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fernandez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Blanks avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Blanks throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Fernandezs head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fernandez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
With the fighters up against the cage, Blanks throws an elbow but misses.
Blanks unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fernandez lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Fernandez avoiding damage as Blanks throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanks tries to land a knee to the head but Fernandez blocks with his arms.
Blanks scores a nice knee to the body.
Blanks lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Blanks using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Blanks lands a damaging elbow.
Blanks tries to work over Fernandez's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Blanks tries to land a knee to the head but Fernandez blocks with his arms.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Blanks misses with a knee to the head.
Fernandez is looking to break free of the clinch but Blanks has double underhooks.
Blanks throws an elbow but it misses.
A left hand lands to the body for Blanks.
Blanks scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Blanks lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Blanks lands a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez dodges an elbow strike from Blanks.
Blanks doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A right hand to the body from Blanks.
A right handed body shot lands from Blanks.
Blanks throws an elbow that misses.
Blanks lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Fernandez or not.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Blanks scores a nice knee to the body.
A right hand to the body from Blanks.
Blanks missing with knees to the body.
Blanks stalling the fight.
Blanks with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Fernandez blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Blanks stalling in the clinch.
Blanks throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Fernandez blocks it with crossed arms.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanks managing to block the knees to the body from Fernandez.
Blanks misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fernandez.
Nice body punch from Blanks.

Blanks breaks the clinch.
Fernandez shoots in for a double leg but Blanks sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Freddy Fernandez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Blanks looks to clinch

and Fernandez counters by moving into the clinch.
Blanks lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Nice body punch from Blanks - that landed with a thud.
Fernandez managing to block the knees to the body from Blanks.
Blanks scores with a knee to the head.
Blanks tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Blanks just leaning against Fernandez, taking a breather.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanks tries to land knees in the clinch but Fernandez avoids the damage to the body.
Fernandez dodges an elbow strike from Blanks.
Blanks lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Blanks tries a body shot but Fernandez blocks it.
Blanks misses with some punches.
Blanks misses with a hook to the ribs.
Blanks tries to land a knee to the head but Fernandez blocks with his arms.
Fernandez goes for a takedown attempt but Blanks pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Blanks looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The fight stays on the outside here - Blanks looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kurt Blanks comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Blanks 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kurt Blanks!