PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alexander Gustafsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Forest Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gustafsson
vs
Griffin

195 cm
21
205 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

185 cm
18
206 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Alexander Gustafsson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Forest Griffin!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Daniel Franklin and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice inside leg kick there by Gustafsson. That's going to slow Griffin down.
Griffin takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
No joy there for Gustafsson, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Alexander Gustafsson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gustafsson throws a one two combo.

Gustafsson scores with a takedown into Griffin's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Griffin pushes Gustafsson off and gets back to his feet.

Griffin takes the fight into the clinch.
Griffin can't break the clinch.

Gustafsson breaks from the clinch.
Gustafsson tries to bum rush Griffin with a series of wild strikes but Griffin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Nice sprawl there from Griffin as Gustafsson shoots in.
Griffin wants to clinch up but Gustafsson keeps it at a distance.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Gustafsson, right into the meat.
A nice leg kick lands there from Gustafsson.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gustafsson misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
A left and a right from Gustafsson both land. Nice combination.
Griffin looks gassed!
Gustafsson clinches but Griffin breaks the clinch

and Griffin counters with a single leg into guard. Gustafsson didn't expect that.
Griffin postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gustafsson is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Griffin trying to stand up but can't free himself from Gustafsson's guard.
Griffin throws and elbow that misses. Gustafsson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Griffin's guard. Nice move by Gustafsson!
Gustafsson sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Griffin's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin is trying to stand back up but Gustafsson is controlling him
Gustafsson is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Griffin kicks Gustafsson off and gets back to his feet.

Gustafsson has taken the fight to the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Griffin is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Gustafsson lands a shoulder strike.

Gustafsson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nice sprawl there from Griffin as Gustafsson shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alexander Gustafsson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gustafsson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Gustafsson tries to close the distance and clinch but Griffin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gustafsson misses with a two punch combination.
Griffin keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Gustafsson's waist but Gustafsson gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Griffin off to one side.

Gustafsson closes the distance and clinches.

Gustafsson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Gustafsson swats away the attempt to clinch by Griffin.
Gustafsson fails to land the takedown.
The fighters circling - Gustafsson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Griffin throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Gustafsson.

Griffin looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Gustafsson!
Griffin trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Griffin landing strikes from the mount and Gustafsson is in trouble!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffin lands a big shot there that rocks Gustafsson but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Griffin trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Griffin misses with a head shot.
Gustafsson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Griffin looking to ground and pound but Gustafsson is blocking nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gustafsson wants to control but Griffin is having none of it.
Griffin trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexander Gustafsson dominated that round.
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.

Griffin looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Gustafsson cracks a nice hook into Griffin's ribs.
Gustafsson shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Gustafsson lands a nice hook to Griffin's body. Griffin takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Gustafsson closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Gustafsson can't break the clinch.
Gustafsson tries for a takedown but Griffin manages to get underhooks.
Griffin has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Gustafsson is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Griffin misses with the head strike.

Griffin escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Griffin drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Gustafsson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Griffin is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Gustafsson pushes Griffin off and scrambles back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
No joy there for Griffin, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Gustafsson clinches up against the cage.

Gustafsson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gustafsson wants to clinch.
Griffin misses with a double jab.
Griffin avoids the head kick by Gustafsson.

Gustafsson shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Gustafsson is keen to just control but Griffin is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gustafsson tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Griffin punching from the bottom.
Griffin has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Griffin misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Griffin flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Gustafsson tries to pass the half guard into mount. Griffin knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Gustafsson wants to control but Griffin is keeping him busy.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Griffin gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Griffin.
Griffin is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Gustafsson breaks the clinch.
Gustafsson looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Griffin scores a takedown into full mount!
Griffin can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Gustafsson is looking to escape.
Griffin connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Gustafsson is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Gustafsson takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Griffin connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Gustafsson squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Griffin takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Gustafsson is trying to escape the mount.
Griffin trying to control but Gustafsson is having none of it.
Forest Griffin has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gustafsson wants to control but Griffin is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Forest Griffin will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Griffin closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Griffin decides to stand up, so the ref orders Gustafsson to his feet.
A good leg kick by Gustafsson.
Griffin tries to clinch but Gustafsson moves out of range.

Gustafsson 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.
Gustafsson wants to stand but Griffin is controlling his posture from full guard.
Griffin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Gustafsson is one step ahead there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Griffin has momentary wrist control but Gustafsson slips an elbow through the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Gustafsson gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Griffin moves out of range of the body kick.
Gustafsson throws a body punch but Griffin moves out of range.
Griffin tries to close the distance and clinch but Gustafsson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gustafsson throws a chopping leg kick but Griffin manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Gustafsson circles away from the clinch attempt.

Griffin shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Gustafsson trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Griffin manages to pass to mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin with good strikes from the mount here!
Gustafsson avoids a series of strikes thrown by Griffin.
Griffin tries to control but Gustafsson wriggling away.
Gustafsson tries to hold on but Griffin pushes him away.
Gustafsson is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Griffin is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gustafsson tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Griffin dominating with strikes here.
Griffin lands a heavy elbow.
Gustafsson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gustafsson trying desperately to get to his feet.
Griffin wants to control the pace but Gustafsson is squirming around nicely.
Griffin might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Gustafsson kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Gustafsson working to try and regain half guard.
Griffin cracks Gustafsson with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Gustafsson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gustafsson is working hard here to advance position.
Gustafsson takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Griffin connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Forest Griffin comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Griffin has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 George Francis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:29
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!