PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jean Claude St Francois (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Claude St Francois
vs
Smith

173 cm
20
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

172 cm
25
143 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jean Claude St Francois!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Matt Smith!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Alec Ball and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smith jabs at St Francois's body.
Smith throws a head kick that misses.
Smith throws an off balance right hand
enabling St Francois to counter with a crisp jab.
Smith lands a leg kick that knocks St Francois off balance momentarily.
St Francois tries to clinch but Smith moves away
and Smith connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

St Francois shoots in and gets a takedown into Smith's guard.
St Francois trying to control the position from guard on top but Smith is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Smith is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Smith looking for submissions from the bottom but instead St Francois passes into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
St Francois is trying to control. Smith wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Smith looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
St Francois wants to stand but Smith has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Smith is trying to stand.
St Francois trying to control the action but Smith is working from the bottom.
Smith is trying to stand back up but St Francois is controlling him
St Francois trying to pass the guard but Smith defending well.

Smith looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's two 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.
St Francois tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

Smith looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Smith actively working from the bottom here.
St Francois trying to control from half guard but Smith is working away.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Smith looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Smith looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Smith.
St Francois trying to control but Smith is working from the bottom.
Smith is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The fight stays on the outside here - St Francois looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Jean Claude St Francois seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
St Francois misses with a telegraphed body shot
letting Smith counter with a right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

St Francois closes the distance and clinches.
Smith scores with a nice hook to the head.
Smith misses with a hook from the clinch.
St Francois tries to pull guard but Smith holds him up against the cage and eventually St Francois drops back down to his feet.
St Francois is looking to take this one to the mat.
A nice right hand lands inside from Smith.
Smith gets through St Francois's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
St Francois blocking some punches.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Smith.
St Francois misses with a body punch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Smith dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

St Francois shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Smith as he jumps to the side.
No joy there for St Francois, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Smith works the jab nicely.

St Francois is rocked!
Smith pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Oh St Francois is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

St Francois closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Smith did well to prevent St Francois getting side control.
St Francois seems to have got his legs back now.
Smith is looking for a sweep. St Francois is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Smith wants to get back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Smith works his way to full guard. Good work.
Jean Claude St Francois overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

St Francois avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Smith working for a triangle but St Francois defends it easily.
Smith has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Smith has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but St Francois can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Smith is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. St Francois is aware though and is defending well.

Smith looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! St Francois has picked Smith up and slammed him! Smith can't keep hold of the triangle and St Francois manages to pass to side control!
Smith is looking to reverse the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith stops St Francois from passing to mount.
Smith bucks up and tries to throw St Francois off but instead St Francois has got his back!
I really don't envy Smith right now.
St Francois is trying to stick to Smith's back but Smith is turning into St Francois. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in St Francois's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Smith.
Smith postures up.
St Francois tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Smith gets to his feet - St Francois follows without any prompting.
St Francois tries to close the distance and clinch up but Smith swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith loads up on a big right hand but St Francois slips the punch.
Smith misses with a few strikes there.
Jean Claude St Francois is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
St Francois looks to clinch
and Smith counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Smith takes a head kick and keeps coming.
St Francois tries to clinch up.
St Francois misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Smith stuns St Francois with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
St Francois takes a shot to the body in his stride.
St Francois showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Smith.
Smith fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. St Francois looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
St Francois takes a kick to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
St Francois has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Smith finds it's way round the side to connect with St Francois's head.
St Francois shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Smith sprawls well. Smith wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. St Francois gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jean Claude St Francois. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smith works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
A combination from Smith does no damage.
St Francois seems to be squinting his left eye. Perhaps he got a poke in that previous exchange. Smith shows no mercy and swarms him with a barage of strikes! St Francois is backing up but Smith catches him with a final right hook that drops him! St Francois covers up and the referee steps in to end the fight! Smith Jumps to his feet and flashes his guns to the crowd. Oh yeah, baby! How'd you like them apples?!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Matt Smith!
Matt Smith was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.