PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Carlo Froch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roberto Blanco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Froch
vs
Blanco

178 cm
21
184 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

178 cm
21
170 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Good knees
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
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 7 - 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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Roberto Blanco!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, William Gold and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A right-left combo lands from Froch.
Blanco shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Froch as he avoids it easily.
Blanco paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

Froch dives in and scores a takedown into Blanco's guard.
Froch is looking to work some ground and pound but Blanco has wrist control.
Blanco can't keep his opponent in guard - Froch advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Blanco told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Blanco wants to improve his position but Froch is controlling well.
Blanco is not content to let Froch control the position.
Blanco is trying to get back to full guard.
Froch lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Froch wants to control but Blanco is keeping him busy.
Froch tries to pass the half guard into mount. Blanco knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Blanco blocking the ground and pound attempt from Froch.
Froch winds up and cracks Blanco with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Froch is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Froch wants to lay and pray for a moment but Blanco keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blanco is looking to control Froch's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Blanco avoid being mounted?
Blanco keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Blanco is positioning himself well to prevent Froch advancing to mount.
Froch stalling away here and it's allowed Blanco to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Froch lands a couple of elbows.
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.
Froch stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Blanco swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Blanco can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Froch controls the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froch advances position into side control!
Froch landing a few strikes.
Blanco parries the strikes from Froch easily there. Froch is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Blanco to escape.
The referee asks Froch politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Froch prefers to stall for the moment though.
Blanco tries to improve position but can't.
Froch postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Froch wants to lay and pray for a moment but Blanco keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanco stops Froch from passing to mount.
Froch trying to control the action but Blanco is working from the bottom.
Froch tries to move to full mount but Blanco actually manages to regain half guard.
Ground and pound from Froch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlo Froch dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Blanco tries to clinch there but Froch circles away.
The fighters circling - Blanco throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Blanco pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Froch slips a straight right by Blanco.
Blanco looks to land a right hand but Froch moved out of range.
Froch throws a series of punches but Blanco avoids them all with ease.
Froch shoots in for a takedown but Blanco shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Froch scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Froch is controlling the pace.
Froch works his way into side control.
Froch is staying tight to Blanco's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Froch has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Blanco!
Froch controlling from mount.
Blanco is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Froch landing shots from mount.
Froch looking to finish with strikes here!
Froch throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Froch with shots to the head and body - Blanco looks very uncomfortable down there.
Froch with the ground and pound from mount.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Froch lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Froch raining down hammerfists from mount.
Froch looking to ground and pound but Blanco is blocking nicely.
Froch lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Blanco hang on?
Blanco is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Froch cracks Blanco with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Froch working the ground and pound effectively.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Froch throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froch with shots to the head and body - Blanco looks very uncomfortable down there.
Froch lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Blanco taking shots to the head.
Froch scores with a couple of good head shots there.

Blanco is rocked!

It looks like Roberto Blanco has been cut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Blanco is wriggling around trying to escape.
Froch looking to finish with strikes here!
Froch is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Blanco can do to turn this around?
Froch working the ground and pound effectively.
Froch working Blanco over with strikes here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Froch postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Blanco looks a forlorn figure.
Blanco taking shots to the head.
Froch working Blanco over with strikes here.
Blanco is still in real trouble! Can Froch finish him?
Froch unloads with some shots from mount but Blanco bucks and avoids them well.
Blanco seems to have recovered his senses.
Froch with good strikes from the mount here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Froch with a couple of short strikes.
Froch scoring with strikes but Blanco is staying in there.
Blanco wants to control but Froch is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlo Froch dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Roberto Blanco'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.

Blanco throws a shot from downtown. Froch moves away and avoids it.

Froch closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Blanco's guard.
Blanco working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Froch.
Blanco 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.
Froch pushing down on Blanco's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Froch is pressing down on Blanco's thigh, looking to free his foot. Blanco is holding on for now.
Froch scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Blanco avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Froch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Froch not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Carlo Froch overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Froch lands with a punch from half guard.
Froch missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Blanco really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Froch. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Froch sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Blanco defending well though.
Blanco on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Blanco wants to get back to full guard.
Froch frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Froch throws some wild stikes that Blanco manages to avoid easily.
Blanco takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Froch lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
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!
Froch lands a heavy elbow.
Froch lands a big elbow.
Froch scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Blanco?
Froch landing strikes from the mount and Blanco is in trouble!
Froch with good strikes from the mount here!
Froch looking to control but Blanco is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Froch misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Froch is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Froch pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Blanco is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Froch looking to finish Blanco with some ground and pound. This is bad for Blanco!
Blanco is in a horrible position here. Froch smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Froch working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Froch lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Froch lands with some strikes.
Froch scoring with strikes but Blanco is staying in there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A big strike lands for Froch! That's really hurt Blanco and he's turned his back - Froch keeps firing away and the ref dives in to stop the fight! Froch jumps to his feet to celebrate the victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Carlo Froch!
Carlo Froch retains his welterweight title!
Carlo Froch decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.