PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Carlo Froch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steven Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Froch
vs
Smith

178 cm
20
184 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

189 cm
21
183 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Carlo Froch!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Steven Smith!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Phil Schofield and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Froch rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Smith moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Froch lunges at Smith with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Smith's hand.
Froch shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Smith sprawls well. Smith wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Froch gets slowly back to his feet.
Nice cross by Smith.
Smith throws out a loose jab but Froch uses good head movement to avoid it.
Smith throws a jab when Froch was well out of range.
Smith avoids the body shot from Froch.
Smith tries to clinch but Froch moves out of range.
Froch takes a swing at Smith's ribcage but misses.
Smith lands a two punch combo.
Froch misses with a two punch combination.
Smith defending well as Froch loads up on a big left hand.
Froch lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Smith circles away quickly and effectively.
Smith misses with a hook. Froch ducked under it nicely.
Froch avoids a punch combination nicely.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Smith has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Smith tries to clinch but Froch is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Froch.
Smith tries to bum rush Froch with a series of wild strikes but Froch uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Smith misses with a looping right.
Froch connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Smith momentarily.
Froch with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Froch ducks under a wild hook from Smith.

Froch feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Smith throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Smith thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Froch trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Froch sitting in guard here, content to control.
Froch is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Froch stays in close to Smith's body and controls the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith has momentary wrist control but Froch slips an elbow through the middle.
Froch 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.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Froch content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Froch scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Froch trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Smith wants to stand up but Froch is controlling him.
Froch makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
We've been hearing good reports from Froch's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Froch lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Froch passes Smith's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Froch lands with a punch from half guard.
Froch is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Smith!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froch scoring with strikes but Smith is staying in there.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Froch raining down hammerfists from mount.
Froch in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Froch landing strikes, looking to finish!

Smith is rocked!
Froch lands a big shot there that rocks Smith but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Smith is still in real trouble! Can Froch finish him?
Froch scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Smith?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Froch lands a big elbow - Smith is in trouble! More strikes from the mount and Smith is forced to tap out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:48 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Carlo Froch!
Carlo Froch retains his welterweight title!
Our winner, Carlo Froch, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.