PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Faustino Barrientos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Beno Gruffo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Barrientos
vs
Gruffo

201 cm
23
247 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

192 cm
37
250 lbs
22 - 14 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

Reaper Combatwear

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 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Faustino Barrientos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Beno Gruffo!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Roosa Järviläinen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick by Barrientos misses
and Gruffo finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Barrientos scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Barrientos misses with a lunging right hand
enabling Gruffo to counter with a crisp jab.
Barrientos looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Gruffo takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Barrientos slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Barrientos misses with a jab, cross combination.
Barrientos throws a right hand that misses
and Gruffo counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Barrientos listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
We've been informed that Gruffo has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
Gruffo needs to keep his hands up - Barrientos had a free shot at his head there.
Barrientos misses with a right hand
and Gruffo counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barrientos lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Gruffo at a distance.
Barrientos throws a poor cross that misses
and Gruffo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Gruffo moves away from the strike by Barrientos.
Gruffo displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Barrientos throws out the jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barrientos tries to clinch up.

Barrientos rushes Gruffo and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Barrientos fails to land.

Barrientos breaks from the clinch.
Gruffo ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Gruffo takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Barrientos throws a low kick but it's checked well by Gruffo.
Barrientos throws a shot to the body.
Barrientos lands with a kick to the ribs.
Barrientos blocks a jab.
Barrientos ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gruffo moves away.
Gruffo keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Barrientos.

Barrientos gets in close and instigates a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barrientos lands a left hand.

Barrientos pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Gruffo throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barrientos tries to bum rush Gruffo with a series of wild strikes but Gruffo uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A big left from Barrientos misses.
Faustino Barrientos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Barrientos lands a left and a right that send Gruffo crashing to the mat, dazed. Barrientos thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

It looks like Beno Gruffo has been cut.
Barrientos swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Gruffo counters with a stiff right hand.
Barrientos is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Gruffo is rocked!
Gruffo connects with a jab.
Gruffo is still on wobbly legs! Can Barrientos finish him?
Barrientos misses with a wild combination.
Barrientos throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gruffo sees it coming and avoids it easily.
The fighters circling - Barrientos throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Barrientos tries to clinch
and Gruffo counters with a good low kick that Barrientos was not able to check.
Gruffo seems to have recovered his senses.
Barrientos misses with a hook. Gruffo ducked under it nicely.
Barrientos throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barrientos will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Gruffo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Gruffo moves forwards but Barrientos connects with a nice, crisp jab.
A head kick misses from Barrientos.
Barrientos throws a jab but it's blocked by Gruffo.
Gruffo ducks under a wild hook from Barrientos.
Barrientos takes a swing at Gruffo's ribcage but misses.
Barrientos misses with a hook to the body
and Gruffo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Barrientos feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Gruffo's calf.
Gruffo swats away the attempt to clinch by Barrientos.
Barrientos misses with a looping left.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barrientos throws a lazy right hand but Gruffo sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.

Barrientos clinches with his opponent.
Barrientos blocks an uppercut.
Gruffo tries to land knees in the clinch but Barrientos avoids the damage to the body.
Gruffo tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Barrientos throws a punch but it's blocked by Gruffo.
Barrientos wants to break the clinch but can't.
Barrientos misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Gruffo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Gruffo has Barrientos pressed against the cage, preventing Barrientos from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Barrientos keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Gruffo's efforts to push away.
Barrientos misses with a short punch on the inside.
Gruffo blocking some punches.
Gruffo throws a knee to the head but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Faustino Barrientos dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Beno Gruffo's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Barrientos getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Gruffo in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Barrientos scores with a decent looking hook.
Nice cross by Barrientos.
Barrientos walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Gruffo drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Barrientos swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Gruffo's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Faustino Barrientos!