PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Drew lo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Daniel Francisco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

lo
vs
Francisco

178 cm
25
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
18
142 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Drew lo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Daniel Francisco!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
lo swats away the attempt to clinch by Francisco.

lo takes the fight into the clinch.

lo gets control of Francisco's arms and successfully pulls guard. lo will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
lo throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
lo looking to hit a scissor sweep but Francisco is one step ahead there.

lo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Francisco working some strikes from top position.
Francisco wants to control from the top but lo keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
lo has control of Francisco's left arm, preventing Francisco from doing any damage.
Francisco trying to control the position from guard on top but lo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
lo is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Francisco dives into side control.
lo tries to get back to half guard but can't.
lo knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Francisco on the ground.
Francisco wants to control but lo is keeping him busy.
lo defending against the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francisco postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Francisco working away.
Francisco wants to stand but lo is controlling his arm.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Francisco wants to control but lo is keeping him busy.
lo wants to control but Francisco postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

lo pushes Francisco up against the cage in a clinch.

lo has picked Francisco up - he's going for a ride! lo dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Francisco looks like he's trying to stand up.
Francisco moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
lo wants to pass the guard but Francisco is keeping the position.
lo has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Francisco is proving hard to escape from.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Francisco is trying to control the position but lo postures up.
lo scoring with some ground and pound.

Francisco is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
lo wanted to stand there but Francisco had control of the position.
lo really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
lo controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
lo cracks Francisco with a solid left hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Drew lo dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Francisco misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Francisco circles away from the clinch attempt.
lo swats away the attempt to clinch by Francisco.
lo swats away the attempt to clinch by Francisco.

lo bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
lo wants to stand but Francisco has his arm trapped.
Francisco is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Francisco sneaks back into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. lo lands a nice short elbow.
lo drops an elbow to the side of Francisco's head.
lo trying to mount his opponent but Francisco defends it.
Francisco is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of lo's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take lo's back!
Francisco is not going to allow lo to sit and survive in this position.
Francisco missing with strikes.
lo tries to roll but Francisco sticks to his back.
Will Francisco go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francisco throwing sloppy strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
I really don't envy lo right now.
lo holding both Francisco 's hands and preventing any damage.
lo staying busy and making it hard for Francisco to control.
Francisco really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for lo.
lo trying to control the hands but Francisco breaks the grip.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Francisco keeps control of the position as lo tries to break free.
lo looking very determined here, making life difficult for Francisco.
lo is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
lo trying to control the hands but Francisco breaks the grip.
lo has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.

Francisco looking to break lo's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. lo remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Francisco will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
lo is trying to get back to his feet but Francisco has full control of the position and if anything, lo has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Francisco missing with punches from the back.
lo is trying to break free.
lo biding his time here by controlling the hands, looking to escape.
Francisco somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A lull in the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daniel Francisco showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Francisco shoots for a double leg takedown but lo sprawls well. He's pushed Francisco's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

lo clinches with his opponent.
Francisco misses with a hook to the ribs.
Francisco is pressed up against the cage. lo has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Francisco down to the mat. Francisco avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Francisco tries to close the distance and clinch but lo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
lo shoots in looking for a takedown. Francisco tries to sprawl out of it but lo keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Francisco manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

lo fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Francisco, pushing him back against the cage.

lo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Francisco changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. lo tries to avoid it but Francisco manages to keep hold of a leg and drag lo to the ground. lo escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Francisco gets tackled into the cage by lo. lo maintains the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
lo misses with a hook to the ribs.

lo gets control of Francisco's arms and successfully pulls guard. lo will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
lo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
lo lands a good elbow from the bottom.
lo is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
lo is trying to keep Francisco in close.
lo is adopting a defensive guard.

Drew lo has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Francisco shoots for a double leg takedown but lo sprawls well. He's pushed Francisco's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Drew lo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Francisco.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

lo closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
lo trying to control from half guard but Francisco is working away.
lo slips a nice elbow through Francisco's hands, connecting with Francisco's forehead.
lo is trying to control. Francisco wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
lo is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Francisco is looking for a sweep. lo is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Francisco takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Francisco won't allow lo to pass to mount.
lo is trying to control the action in half guard but Francisco is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

lo wants to work for an arm triangle but Francisco is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Francisco makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Francisco.
Francisco keeping moving, preventing lo from controlling successfully.

Francisco has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but lo can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Drew lo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
lo wants to control from the top but Francisco keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
lo wants to stand but Francisco has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Francisco is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
lo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Francisco seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but lo does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
lo is trying to control but can't.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
lo is trying to stand back up but Francisco is controlling him
Francisco wants to stand up but lo has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Francisco prevents lo from standing back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Drew lo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well lo has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Drew lo!