PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jesco White (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ritchie Blackmore (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). White comes into the arena with Smoke the Fire blaring out of the sound system. Blackmore has chosen 16th century greensleeves as his entrance music. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

White
vs
Blackmore

200 cm
33
198 lbs
12 - 19 - 0

180 cm
25
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 19 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jesco White!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ritchie Blackmore!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Igor Prikhodko and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
White keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Blackmore misses the jab.
Blackmore slips a jab and a cross from White.
Blackmore throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around White's waist but White gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Blackmore off to one side.
Blackmore's jab looks to have found its range, popping White under the eye.
White misses with the combination.
Ritchie Blackmore seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

White looking to score a takedown here. Blackmore is defending well but White drives through and ends up in Blackmore's guard.
Blackmore seems keen to control White's posture.
Blackmore keeping full guard, as White tries to pass.
Blackmore 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.
White passes into half guard.

White stands up out of the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White tries to close the distance and clinch but Blackmore swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
White ducks under a wild hook from Blackmore.
Blackmore avoids a punch combination nicely.

White scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Blackmore trying to control from the bottom.
Blackmore tries to get to full guard but White has control of the leg.
White passes the guard and advances to mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Blackmore is squirming around, avoiding White's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blackmore tries to reverse the position but White maintains control.

White is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Blackmore has managed to escape the submission attempt.
White avoids the attempt from Blackmore to control.

White stands up from mount. Strange move.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Blackmore swings widly with a right hand
and White counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Blackmore misses with a few strikes there.
White staying out of range there.
White wants to clinch.
Blackmore misses the jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by White.
White slips under a jab from Blackmore.
Blackmore does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Blackmore is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
White throws a head kick that misses.
A head kick misses from White.
Blackmore throws a combination that misses
and White counters with a good low kick that Blackmore was not able to check.
White really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
White lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by White.
White stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Blackmore.
Blackmore fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but White is out of range.
White dives in for a single leg takedown but Blackmore sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Blackmore softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Blackmore just misses with a elbow thrown towards White's brow.

White manages to break the clinch.
Blackmore throws an off balance right hand
and White cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
An inside leg kick from Blackmore misses.

White darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

White seems to be looking for submissions.
Still in half guard, White seems content to control.
Blackmore works his way to full guard. Good work.
Blackmore looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Blackmore has his hands on White's head, controlling the position.
White preventing the sweep.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jesco White dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Blackmore throws a big shot that misses.
Blackmore looks to land a combination but White avoids it well.
Blackmore scores with a leg kick.
Blackmore fakes a jab and throws a low kick but White checks it well.
Blackmore misses with an uppercut. White saw that one coming.
White dives in and grabs Blackmore's left leg, looking for a takedown. Blackmore pushes down on White's head and hops out.
White throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Blackmore's waist but Blackmore gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing White off to one side.
White darts in looking for a takedown but Blackmore gets double underhooks and turns White into the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jesco White. That's going to take a lot out of him.
White goes for a takedown in the clinch but Blackmore prevents it.
White blocks an elbow strike.
A head punch on the inside from Blackmore fails to land.
Blackmore swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Our sources have told us that White has been working on his elbows in the gym.
Blackmore just leaning against White, taking a breather.
White drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Blackmore gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Blackmore swings wildly with an uppercut but White uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White misses with a knee to the head.
Blackmore is looking to control White's arms but White gets an underhook and turns him. Now Blackmore has his back to the cage.
Blackmore creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Blackmore lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
White blocks an elbow strike.
Blackmore slowing the pace effectively.
Blackmore tries to throw a body punch but White avoids it by throwing Blackmore back against the cage.
Blackmore has a couple of punches blocked by White.
White holding his opponent close, against the cage.
White wants to break free but Blackmore has control.
White avoids the elbow strike from Blackmore, against the cage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Blackmore.
Blackmore lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

White's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Blackmore misses with a straight left.
White tries for a takedown but Blackmore sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Blackmore throws a leg kick
and White counters with a left and a right that stings Blackmore.
Blackmore blocks a head kick by White.
Blackmore is looking to land body kicks.
Blackmore throws a leg kick
and White counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Blackmore is lucky that one didn't land flush.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Blackmore throws a sloppy head kick and White moves out of range easily.
White takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
White misses with an attempted mid kick.
White moves in looking to clinch but Blackmore pushes him off.
White fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Blackmore lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but White circles away quickly and effectively.
White checks a leg kick nicely.
Jesco White is winning the standup battle so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

White closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Blackmore fails to land.
Blackmore misses with some punches.
Blackmore cracks White with a nice body shot.
Blackmore misses with the head strike.

White manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
White wants to stand and escape but Blackmore is having none of it.
White utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
White avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
White preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
White keeping moving, preventing Blackmore from controlling successfully.
Blackmore preventing the sweep.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

White throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blackmore scoring with punches to the head and body.
Blackmore trying to control but White is working from the bottom.
Blackmore connects with a couple of short punches.
Blackmore postures up and lands a big shot to White's brow.
Blackmore must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
White is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Blackmore is controlling him.
Blackmore trying to control the position from guard on top but White is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Blackmore stops White from standing up.
Blackmore is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Blackmore lands a couple of decent looking shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ritchie Blackmore showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Blackmore fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Nice jab there from Blackmore.
Blackmore misses with a left hand
letting White counter with a right hand.
White is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
White checks a leg kick nicely.
The fighters circle momentarily. White darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
White checks the leg kick nicely there.
White checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
White tries to bum rush Blackmore with a series of wild strikes but Blackmore uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
White tries to clinch up but Blackmore circles away and keeps his distance.
White scores with a body shot.
Blackmore swinging wildly here.
Blackmore throws a shot from downtown. White moves away and avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
White slips a jab and a cross from Blackmore.
White checks a leg kick.
Blackmore misses with a leg kick
and White counters with a big head kick but Blackmore shrugs it off.
White misses with a takedown attempt - Blackmore sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
White just misses with a punch to the body.
Blackmore throws a jab but it's blocked by White.
Blackmore slips a jab and a cross from White.
Blackmore throws an uppercut from half a mile away. White sees it coming and avoids it easily.
White chopping away at his opponent's legs.
White works Blackmore's body with a nice hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
White scores with a kick to the body.
White fails with the takedown
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
White checks a low kick from Blackmore.
Blackmore misses with a hook.
White misses with a jab, cross combination.
White feints and then cracks Blackmore's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Blackmore down.
White fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jesco White. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Blackmore misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from White.
Blackmore throws a shot to the body.
A telegraphed right hand from Blackmore misses the target.
Blackmore throws a leg kick
and White counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White fails in his attempt to clinch.
Blackmore looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
White avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Blackmore jabbing away but nothing is landing.
White shoots in for a takedown but Blackmore shows good takedown defense.
White lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
White fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
White shoots and misses
and Blackmore cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
White blocks a jab.
Blackmore has a takedown stuffed.
Blackmore tries to clinch but White moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Blackmore paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Blackmore gets a takedown into half guard.
Blackmore prevents White from standing back up.
White keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Blackmore seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but White does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
White wants to control but Blackmore is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Blackmore thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed White's head.
Blackmore is trying to control. White wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nice strikes from Blackmore there.
White blocking the ground and pound attempt from Blackmore.
Still in half guard, Blackmore seems content to control.
White is trying to stand back up but Blackmore is controlling him

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Jesco White.
I think White 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 29:28
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Jesco White!
Ritchie Blackmore spoke after the fight, saying 'You WILL see me again'.