PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Hanlon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rafael Misiek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Misiek comes into a darkened arena with his song building. El Picante kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Hanlon
vs
Misiek

190 cm
22
246 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

181 cm
22
185 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Mark Hanlon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rafael Misiek!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Andrew Berry and James Ackerman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Misiek thuds a left hand into Hanlon's body.
Hanlon takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
We've been hearing reports that Hanlon has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Misiek lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Misiek tries to clinch there but Hanlon circles away.
Hanlon keeps the fight on the outside.

Misiek has closed the distance and engaged Hanlon in a clinch.
Hanlon is trying to break the clinch but Misiek is controlling him.
Hanlon blocks an elbow strike from Misiek.
Misiek missing with knees to the body.
Misiek throws an elbow that misses.
Misiek comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Mark Hanlon has been cut.
Hanlon working hard to break the clinch.
Misiek tries a body shot but Hanlon blocks it.
Misiek misses with a punch to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Misiek lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hanlon backwards.
Misiek misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hanlon.
Misiek crunches a lovely knee into Hanlon's ribcage.
Hanlon avoiding damage as Misiek throws knees to the body.
Misiek pushes off an throws an elbow but Hanlon leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Misiek tries to land knees in the clinch but Hanlon avoids the damage to the body.
Misiek lands with a left to the head.
Hanlon tries to break the clinch but Misiek is controlling the position.
Hanlon working hard to break the clinch.
Misiek lands with a right to the head.
Misiek controlling the action here for a moment.
Misiek misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Misiek creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Misiek pushes off an throws an elbow but Hanlon leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Hanlon working hard to break the clinch.

Hanlon breaks from the clinch.

Misiek closes the distance and clinches.
Misiek misses with a knee to the head.
Hanlon managing to block the knees to the body from Misiek.
Misiek with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Misiek makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Misiek has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. So far he's outscoring his opponent in the clinch so it seems to have been worthwhile.
Misiek trying to control the position but instead, Hanlon has worked for underhooks and has pushed Misiek into the cage.

Hanlon breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rafael Misiek seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Misiek tries to clinch but Hanlon moves out of range.
Misiek is looking to clinch.
Misiek tries to clinch up but Hanlon circles away and keeps his distance.
Rafael Misiek is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Misiek scores with a jab to the body.
Hanlon circles away from the clinch attempt.
Misiek misses with a jab, cross combination.
Misiek throws a one two combo.

Hanlon tries to keep at a distance but Misiek has taken the fight into the clinch.
Misiek has Hanlon pressed against the cage, preventing Hanlon from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Misiek misses with a punch to the body.
Hanlon avoiding damage as Misiek throws knees to the body.
Hanlon on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hanlon being controlled against the cage.
Misiek misses with a knee to the head.
The referee is keeping an eye on Misiek - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Misiek landing knees to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Misiek misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hanlon.
Hanlon is looking to break free of the clinch but Misiek has double underhooks.
Misiek tries to land a knee to the head but Hanlon blocks with his arms.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Misiek dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Mark Hanlon's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Misiek thuds a left hand into Hanlon's body.
Hanlon avoids the body shot from Misiek.
Misiek tries to close the distance and clinch but Hanlon swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Misiek lands a nice leg kick that just misses Hanlon's sensitive parts.
Hanlon swats away the attempt to clinch by Misiek.

Hanlon shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Misiek can do anything to dispel that myth.
Hanlon thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Hanlon wants to pass to mount but Misiek is defending the position.
Hanlon 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Misiek keeping hold of Hanlon's head, controlling as best he can.
Hanlon not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hanlon working over Misiek with some ground and pound. Misiek looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Hanlon missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Hanlon is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Hanlon prevents Misiek from improving his position.
Nice strikes from Hanlon there.

Hanlon is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hanlon stops Misiek from getting back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Hanlon is working for a submission of some sort.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hanlon connects with a nice short shot to Misiek's temple.
Hanlon lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

Hanlon is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hanlon lands with a punch from half guard.
Hanlon throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Misiek is not content to let Hanlon control the position.

Hanlon is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Hanlon is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Misiek is just riding it out for now. Hanlon eventually gives up the hold.
Misiek is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Hanlon scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hanlon not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Misiek is looking to control Hanlon's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Misiek avoid being mounted?
Hanlon winds up and cracks Misiek with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Hanlon looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Misiek with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Mark Hanlon overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
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!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Misiek tries to roll over but Hanlon keeps him under control.

Hanlon is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Misiek is just riding it out for now. Hanlon eventually gives up the hold.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Hanlon dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Mark Hanlon'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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Misiek tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Hanlon paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Misiek tries to clinch but Hanlon is having none of it.
Misiek doesn't manage to clinch there - Hanlon circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Misiek lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

Misiek has closed the distance and engaged Hanlon in a clinch.
Misiek misses with a short punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Misiek.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Still in the clinch, Misiek scores with a nice short uppercut.
Hanlon tries to break the clinch but Misiek is controlling the position.
Misiek lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hanlon backwards.
Hanlon on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Misiek lands an elbow inside.
Misiek lands an elbow that stopped Hanlon in his tracks for a moment.
Misiek landing some nice looking knees to the body.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Misiek.
Misiek tries to land knees in the clinch but Hanlon avoids the damage to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Hanlon as Misiek tries to tie him up.
Hanlon tries to circle away but Misiek has him pinned against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Misiek throws an elbow but it misses.
Hanlon can't break the clinch.

Hanlon manages to break the clinch.
Misiek fails with an attempt to clinch.
Rafael Misiek is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A jab from Misiek finds it's way through Hanlon's defenses.
Misiek paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
The fight stays on the outside here - Misiek looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Hanlon on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hanlon manages to break the clinch.
Misiek tries to close the distance and clinch but Hanlon swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Hanlon escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Misiek tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Hanlon counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Misiek's guard now.

Hanlon drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Hanlon jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Hanlon works over Misiek with some ground and pound from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hanlon working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hanlon throws a big elbow that misses.
Hanlon is in close to Misiek's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Hanlon throws a big right hand that misses.
Hanlon stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Misiek swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Misiek preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hanlon throws a big elbow that misses.
Misiek avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hanlon trying to control but Misiek is working from the bottom.
Hanlon working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Hanlon showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Hanlon has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 29:28
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 29:28
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Hanlon!
Mark Hanlon gave a mention to Zentrope Fighting Universe in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).