PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Martin Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Conor Magillicuddy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Garcia
vs
Magillicuddy

175 cm
25
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
24
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Martin Garcia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Conor Magillicuddy!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Winston Alpacca and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Garcia closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Magillicuddy wants to control but Garcia postures up.
Magillicuddy tries to improve position but can't.
Magillicuddy manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Garcia is keen to just control but Magillicuddy is a slippery customer.
Magillicuddy wants to control but Garcia is keeping busy.
Garcia lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Magillicuddy makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Magillicuddy.
Garcia wants to get up but he can't break Magillicuddy's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Garcia might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garcia is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Garcia tries to free his leg and advance position but Magillicuddy is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Magillicuddy avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Magillicuddy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Garcia forces his way into half guard.

Garcia is working for a kimura but Magillicuddy is defending it quite comfortably.
Garcia stops Magillicuddy from getting back to his feet.
Garcia content to control rather than advance.
Magillicuddy trying to control here.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

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.
Garcia slaps away a takedown attempt from Magillicuddy, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Magillicuddy manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Garcia on his heels. He'll look to pass Garcia's guard now, I'm sure.
Garcia is striking but Magillicuddy is not phased and passes to half guard.
Garcia is trying to get back to full guard.

Garcia looking for a kimura from the bottom but Magillicuddy passes into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia is trying to control Magillicuddy's posture but Magillicuddy avoids it.
Garcia tries to bench press Magillicuddy off him but Magillicuddy keeps the position.
Magillicuddy advances to mount.
Garcia manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Garcia knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Magillicuddy on the ground.
Magillicuddy works his way into full mount!
Magillicuddy cracks Garcia with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Magillicuddy fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Garcia wants to hold on but Magillicuddy pushes him away.
Garcia wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Garcia trying to control but not successfully.
Magillicuddy tries to keep control of the position but Garcia is staying busy.
Magillicuddy doesn't have the hooks in and Garcia manages to turn into his guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Magillicuddy is trying to control the position but Garcia postures up.

Garcia decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Conor Magillicuddy will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Garcia fails with the takedown
and Magillicuddy counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Magillicuddy gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Garcia controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Garcia wants to control from the top but Magillicuddy keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Magillicuddy keeping full guard, as Garcia tries to pass.
Garcia stands up out of Magillicuddy's guard for a moment - Magillicuddy manages to land a nice upkick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Magillicuddy looking to control.
Garcia trying to control but Magillicuddy is working from the bottom.
Magillicuddy working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Garcia.

Magillicuddy is looking for a triangle but Garcia pushes his legs off easily.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Garcia.

Garcia stands up.

Magillicuddy moves into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Magillicuddy has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Garcia after a bit of a struggle.
Magillicuddy is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Garcia is looking to take this one to the mat.

Magillicuddy gets control of Garcia's arms and successfully pulls guard. Magillicuddy will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Magillicuddy keeping full guard, as Garcia tries to pass.

Garcia has gone for a leg lock! Magillicuddy slips out almost immediately though and dives into Garcia's guard.

Magillicuddy with a nice head shot there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia controlling the position.

Garcia is working an open guard so Magillicuddy takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Garcia takes a head kick and keeps coming.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Magillicuddy.
Magillicuddy is breathing heavily.
Garcia tries to clinch there but Magillicuddy circles away.

Garcia closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Magillicuddy quickly recovers to half guard.
Garcia trying to advance position but Magillicuddy counters by regaining guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia trying to control the position from guard on top but Magillicuddy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Magillicuddy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Garcia is one step ahead there.
Magillicuddy being controlled here, momentarily.

Magillicuddy working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Garcia has passed into half guard!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Martin Garcia will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Garcia is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Conor Magillicuddy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Magillicuddy dives in for a single leg takedown but Garcia sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

Garcia gets a double leg takedown into Magillicuddy's guard.
Garcia wants to pass the guard but Magillicuddy is keeping the position.
Garcia's corner is telling him to maintain position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garcia stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Magillicuddy swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Magillicuddy keeping full guard, as Garcia tries to pass.

Magillicuddy working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Garcia doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Garcia manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Garcia is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Magillicuddy shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Garcia but Garcia pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Garcia decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Martin Garcia overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Magillicuddy takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Garcia is trying to control the action in half guard but Magillicuddy is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Magillicuddy is defending against the submission attempts here by Garcia.
Magillicuddy makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Magillicuddy.

Garcia decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Magillicuddy.
Martin Garcia has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Conor Magillicuddy.

Garcia shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Magillicuddy manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Garcia slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Magillicuddy pushes Garcia away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Garcia gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Garcia trying to control the action but Magillicuddy is working from the bottom.

Garcia tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia is looking to take a break and control but Magillicuddy is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Garcia tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Garcia has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Garcia goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Magillicuddy rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Garcia's guard! Nice work there by Magillicuddy!

And that's the end of the fight!
Martin Garcia showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Garcia 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 Santiago Holmes scores the fight 29:28
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 29:28
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Martin Garcia!