PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Luka Mrtic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryan Escobar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Mrtic
vs
Escobar

176 cm
25
167 lbs
6 - 3 - 1

170 cm
22
170 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Luka Mrtic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ryan Escobar!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mrtic wants to clinch.
Mrtic definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Mrtic misses with a kick to the body.
Escobar uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Mrtic.
Mrtic throws a low kick but it's checked well by Escobar.
Mrtic throws a leg kick that misses.
Escobar avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Escobar swats away the attempt to clinch by Mrtic.
Mrtic fails in his attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mrtic pivots, looking for a leg kick but Escobar is out of range and Mrtic settles back down.
Mrtic misses with a low kick.
Mrtic wants to clinch up but Escobar keeps it at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mrtic throws out a leg kick but Escobar moves out of range and Mrtic only half commits.
Mrtic moves to clinch but Escobar breaks away

and Escobar counters with a takedown into side control.
Mrtic is looking to reverse the position.
Mrtic is working hard here to advance position.
Escobar tries to move to mount but Mrtic blocks the move with his legs.
Mrtic is looking to regain half guard here but Escobar keeps moving and retains side control.
Escobar is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Escobar's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mrtic is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
A lull in the action here.
Mrtic can't do much from the bottom here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Escobar trying to control the action but Mrtic is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar advances to mount.
Mrtic is wriggling around trying to escape.
Escobar controlling the position easily from mount.
Mrtic regains half guard.
Mrtic trying to hold on to Escobar's head to control him but Escobar postures up.

Escobar is working for a submission of some sort.
Mrtic is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Mrtic is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Mrtic gets full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryan Escobar dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Mrtic misses with a head kick.
Mrtic pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
A telegraphed right hand from Mrtic misses the target.
Mrtic misses the shot to the body.
A jab from Mrtic misses.
Mrtic wants to slow Escobar down by chopping away at his legs.
Mrtic misses with a two punch combination.
Mrtic throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mrtic looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
A head kick misses from Mrtic.
Mrtic tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Escobar paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Mrtic throws a chopping leg kick but Escobar manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mrtic tries a head kick but it misses.
Mrtic throws a shot to the body.
Escobar keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Mrtic throws a push kick but Escobar slaps the foot to one side.
Escobar keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Mrtic gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Escobar avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Escobar stopping the sweep attempt from Mrtic.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Escobar is pushing down on Mrtic's leg trying to pass to half guard. Mrtic is fighting to maintain full guard but Escobar has managed to sneak the leg through.
Escobar is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Mrtic is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Escobar is keen to just control but Mrtic is a slippery customer.
Mrtic is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Escobar's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Escobar's back!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Escobar is in bad spot here.
Mrtic missing with punches from the back.
Mrtic wants to control but Escobar manages to buck him off and is now in Mrtic's guard! Nice work there by Escobar!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mrtic has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Escobar has passed into side control.
Mrtic is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Escobar just content to control the position.
Escobar tries to advance to mount but Mrtic denies him.
Escobar moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mrtic is looking to reverse the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Mrtic pushes Escobar away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Escobar gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Escobar is looking to take a break and control but Mrtic is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Escobar remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Mrtic manages to work his way to half guard, despite Escobar's best efforts.
Ryan Escobar has got the better of the ground game so far.
Escobar seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Mrtic does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Mrtic is looking to improve his position.
Escobar wants to control but Mrtic is keeping him busy.
Mrtic is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luka Mrtic dominated that second round.
That's time! Mrtic's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Mrtic pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Escobar moves out of range of the body kick from Mrtic.
A shot to the body from Mrtic misses

so Escobar counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Mrtic tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Mrtic keeping moving, preventing Escobar from controlling successfully.
Mrtic 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mrtic trying to keep a closed guard but Escobar is proving a slippery customer.
Escobar lands a couple of digs.
Escobar won't allow Mrtic to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mrtic can't keep his opponent in guard - Escobar advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Mrtic is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Mrtic is not content to let Escobar control the position.
Mrtic trying to control from the bottom.
Escobar is taking a breather. Mrtic says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Mrtic tries to get to full guard but Escobar has control of the leg.
Escobar passes the guard and advances to mount!
Escobar looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mrtic tries to reverse the position but Escobar maintains control.
Escobar controlling the pace for now.
Mrtic is in all sorts of trouble here.
Escobar thowing shots but they're missing.
Escobar tries to control but Mrtic wriggling away.
Mrtic really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Mrtic can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Escobar throwing strikes here but Mrtic is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Escobar controlling his opponent.
Escobar is continuing to stall.
Mrtic is trying desperately to improve position.
Escobar trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Mrtic tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Escobar thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mrtic regains half guard.
Mrtic tries to get to full guard but Escobar has control of the leg.
Mrtic tries to kick Escobar off but Escobar keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Mrtic is trying to get back to full guard.

Escobar is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Escobar content to control rather than advance.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Mrtic is trying to get back to full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ryan Escobar comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Escobar 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ryan Escobar!
After the fight, Ryan Escobar was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.