PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mark Davidson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Al Gilihotti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Al Gilihotti told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Davidson
vs
Gilihotti

171 cm
19
168 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

173 cm
22
162 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Prefers standup

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 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mark Davidson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Al Gilihotti!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Matti Vanhoillinen and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gilihotti fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Davidson loads up on a big right hand but Gilihotti slips the punch.
Gilihotti swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Gilihotti misses with a series of wild punches.
Davidson throws a nice outside leg kick.
Davidson looks to land a right hand but Gilihotti moved out of range.
Davidson definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Gilihotti jabs Davidson to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Gilihotti moves away from the strike by Davidson.
Gilihotti takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Davidson throws the left hand but Gilihotti avoids the punch easily.
A leg kick checked by Gilihotti.
Davidson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Davidson throws an overhand right that lands on Gilihotti's shoulder, as Gilihotti tries to avoid the shot.
Davidson connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Gilihotti momentarily.
A big left from Davidson misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Davidson fails with the takedown
and Gilihotti counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Davidson misses with a few strikes there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gilihotti keeps the fight on the outside.
Decent striking displayed by Gilihotti there.
Davidson throws a low kick but Gilihotti moves out of range easily.
Davidson listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Gilihotti pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Davidson doesn't manage to clinch there - Gilihotti circles away.
A big right from Davidson misses.
Davidson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Gilihotti.
Davidson is looking to counter punch.
Davidson takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Davidson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gilihotti sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Davidson looks to land a right hand but Gilihotti moved out of range.
Davidson swings for the body but Gilihotti moves out of range.
Davidson misses with the combination.
Davidson throws a leg kick but Gilihotti moved away.
Gilihotti on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Decent striking displayed by Gilihotti there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gilihotti fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Davidson takes a swing at Gilihotti's ribcage but misses.
Davidson misses the jab.
Mark Davidson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gilihotti takes one to the side of the head.
Davidson is looking to clinch.
Gilihotti stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Gilihotti wants it to stay on the feet.
Gilihotti fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Gilihotti fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Gilihotti throws a big shot that misses.
Davidson misses with a lunging right hand
letting Gilihotti counter with a right hand.
Gilihotti fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Davidson looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Gilihotti has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Gilihotti has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Davidson.
Gilihotti throws a series of strikes that have Davidson backpedaling.
Gilihotti checks the leg kick nicely there.
Gilihotti stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Davidson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Davidson moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Davidson is looking to chop away at Gilihotti's legs.
Gilihotti takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Davidson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
It looked like Davidson wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Davidson misses with a left hand
and Gilihotti counters with a series of strikes. Davidson will be more careful next time no doubt.
Davidson scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Gilihotti takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Davidson throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Gilihotti.
Davidson is looking to clinch.
Davidson throws a hook to the side of Gilihotti's head but Gilihotti sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Gilihotti blocks a jab.
Davidson rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
enabling Gilihotti to counter with a crisp jab.
Davidson misses with a few strikes there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Gilihotti lands with an overhand left.
Davidson will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
It seemed like Gilihotti was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Gilihotti is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Davidson had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
A jab from Davidson misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gilihotti throws a hook but Davidson avoids it easily.

Davidson closes the distance and clinches.
Gilihotti presses Davidson against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Davidson.
Davidson lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Gilihotti backwards.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Gilihotti lands a left hand.
Davidson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Davidson effectively controlling the action here.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Davidson as Gilihotti tries to tie him up.
Davidson trying to control the position but instead, Gilihotti has worked for underhooks and has pushed Davidson into the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Al Gilihotti will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Gilihotti throws a jab when Davidson was well out of range.
Davidson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
No joy there for Gilihotti, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Davidson looks to clinch
and Gilihotti counters with a stiff right hand.
Davidson tests Gilihotti's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Gilihotti lands with a good body shot.
Davidson throws a hook to the side of Gilihotti's head but Gilihotti sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Gilihotti throws a jab when Davidson was well out of range.
Gilihotti misses with an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Davidson is looking to clinch but Gilihotti is avoiding it.
Davidson fails with an attempt to clinch.
Davidson misses with a wild combination.

Davidson closes the distance and pushes Gilihotti back into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davidson manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Davidson works on Gilihotti's body with a couple of short punches.
Davidson struggles to land a body shot inside as Gilihotti controls his hands.
Davidson tries to work over Gilihotti's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Davidson stalling the fight.
Davidson taking a breather.
Gilihotti changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Davidson fights it off and pushes away nicely.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Gilihotti.
Davidson shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Gilihotti as he avoids it easily.
Gilihotti sizes up Davidson with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Nice cross by Davidson.
A clash of legs there as Gilihotti blocks the low kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Davidson misses with a two punch combination.
Gilihotti scores with a nice head shot.
Gilihotti connects with a body shot that sends Davidson's belly button to the back.
Nice defenses there by Davidson.
Davidson tries to clinch but Gilihotti is having none of it.
Davidson moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Davidson looks to land a combination. Gilihotti sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
The fighters circling - Gilihotti throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Gilihotti connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Davidson displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Gilihotti throws out the jab.
Nice defenses there by Gilihotti.
Gilihotti scores with a jab to the jaw.
Davidson fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Gilihotti checks it well.
Gilihotti uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Davidson.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Gilihotti! But no joy.
Davidson misses with a looping left.
Gilihotti is looking for the big counter here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Davidson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Gilihotti looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Davidson shoots in but Gilihotti avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Gilihotti might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Davidson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Gilihotti throws an off balance right hand
and Davidson counters with an inside leg kick.
Gilihotti slips a jab from Davidson.
The fight stays on the outside here - Davidson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Gilihotti lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Davidson with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Gilihotti misses with an uppercut.
Davidson was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Al Gilihotti seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Davidson works the jab nicely.
Davidson takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Davidson misses with a low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Gilihotti misses the target.
Davidson on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Davidson tests Gilihotti's chin there with a solid looking shot.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gilihotti waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Davidson.
Gilihotti throws a lazy right hand but Davidson sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Davidson throws a jab but it's blocked by Gilihotti.
Davidson scores with a nice strike.
Gilihotti looks to throw the jab but Davidson is out of range.
Nice straight punches there by Davidson. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Davidson.

Gilihotti is rocked!
Davidson walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Gilihotti drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Davidson swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Gilihotti's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mark Davidson!
A very excited looking Mark Davidson rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.