PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Eli Manning (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Zack The Ghost Rider (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Eli Manning has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Manning
vs
The Ghost Rider

175 cm
22
194 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

183 cm
19
191 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Eli Manning!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Zack The Ghost Rider!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Columbo Gatti and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The Ghost Rider gets a clinch.

The Ghost Rider breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Manning drops The Ghost Rider with a left right combo! Manning follows him down to the ground into side control.

It looks like Zack The Ghost Rider has been cut.

Manning decides to stand back up. Manning steps back and let's The Ghost Rider get back to his feet.
Manning tries to clinch but fails miserably
and The Ghost Rider counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The Ghost Rider throws a combination that misses

and Manning counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in The Ghost Rider's guard now.

The Ghost Rider is rocked!
Manning passes into half guard.
The Ghost Rider is still in real trouble! Can Manning finish him?

Manning gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Manning moves into the clinch.
The Ghost Rider seems to have recovered his senses.
Manning goes for a takedown in the clinch but The Ghost Rider prevents it.
The Ghost Rider can't break the clinch.

Manning manages to pull guard.
The Ghost Rider controls from within his opponent's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Manning pulls The Ghost Rider in close to prevent any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Manning is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Manning wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Manning on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Manning tries to get out of the position.
The Ghost Rider wants to pass the guard but Manning is keeping the position.
The Ghost Rider is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
The Ghost Rider missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The Ghost Rider wants to control from the top but Manning keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Manning is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Manning not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Manning is pulling down on The Ghost Rider's head. It's preventing any offense from The Ghost Rider, at least for the moment.
Manning manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Manning with the ground and pound from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manning scoring with strikes but The Ghost Rider is staying in there.
Manning landing strikes from the mount and The Ghost Rider is in trouble!

Manning is standing up, even though he is in mount.
The Ghost Rider looks gassed!
Manning throws a right and a left that The Ghost Rider avoids nicely.
The Ghost Rider feints and then cracks Manning's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Manning down.
Zack The Ghost Rider seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Manning fails with the takedown.
The Ghost Rider cracks Manning with an open hand slap.
Manning throws a sloppy head kick and The Ghost Rider moves out of range easily.

The Ghost Rider drives through and clinches with Manning against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Manning successfully pulls guard.
Manning has The Ghost Rider pulled in close to control his posture.
The Ghost Rider is looking to stand up but Manning won't let him.

The Ghost Rider stands up from Manning's guard - The Ghost Rider perhaps looking for a knockout.

Manning shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Manning showed some decent athleticism there.
Manning content to control rather than advance.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eli Manning dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Zack The Ghost Rider's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Manning shoots in and drives through. The Ghost Rider sprawls well.
The Ghost Rider lands a head kick!
Manning takes a kick to the side of the head.
Manning throws a lazy body kick
and The Ghost Rider counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Manning is lucky that one didn't land flush.
The Ghost Rider tries to close the distance and clinch but Manning swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Manning tries to clinch but The Ghost Rider moves out of range.
Manning has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by The Ghost Rider.
Manning shoots in looking for a takedown. The Ghost Rider tries to sprawl out of it but Manning keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. The Ghost Rider manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
The Ghost Rider looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from The Ghost Rider, right into the meat.

Manning changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. The Ghost Rider looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The Ghost Rider is trying to buck Manning off.

Manning stands up.

Manning clinches up with The Ghost Rider and pushes him back against the cage.

Manning jumps guard and drags The Ghost Rider to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Manning has The Ghost Rider pulled in close to control his posture.

Manning pushes The Ghost Rider off and scrambles back to his feet.

Manning gets a takedown into half guard.
The Ghost Rider trying to hold on to Manning's head to control him but Manning postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Manning stands up and beckons The Ghost Rider to join him on the feet.
Manning stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from The Ghost Rider.

Manning changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. The Ghost Rider looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

The Ghost Rider sneaks out the side door and pushes Manning away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The Ghost Rider avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
The Ghost Rider throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Manning counters with a series of strikes. The Ghost Rider will be more careful next time no doubt.
Manning shoots for a double leg takedown but The Ghost Rider sprawls well. He's pushed Manning's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eli Manning. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Manning tries to land a leg kick but The Ghost Rider saw it coming and moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Manning gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Nice body punch from The Ghost Rider - that landed with a thud.
Manning wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but The Ghost Rider has him pressed against the cage.
Manning keeps control of The Ghost Rider as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Manning is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
The Ghost Rider can't break the clinch.
Manning tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
The Ghost Rider wants to get back to striking at distance but Manning won't allow it.
The Ghost Rider keeps control of Manning as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
The Ghost Rider wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

The Ghost Rider breaks the clinch.

Manning gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Manning jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as The Ghost Rider walks away with a smile on his face. Manning gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
The Ghost Rider throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Manning tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but The Ghost Rider paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Manning scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Manning will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Manning with a lazy takedown attempt
and The Ghost Rider counters with a head kick.
The Ghost Rider moves in looking to clinch but Manning pushes him off.

Manning moves into range and clinches up with The Ghost Rider.
Manning stalling in the clinch.
The Ghost Rider wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

The Ghost Rider breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Manning drives through with a takedown into guard.
Manning sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Manning gets to his feet. The Ghost Rider looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The Ghost Rider circles away from the clinch attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eli Manning dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Zack The Ghost Rider's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Manning fails with the takedown
and The Ghost Rider counters with a series of strikes. Manning will be more careful next time no doubt.
The Ghost Rider goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Manning tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Manning shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in The Ghost Rider's guard.

Manning stands and steps away. The Ghost Rider gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Manning looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Manning dodges the punch combination from The Ghost Rider.
Manning steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from The Ghost Rider. That one must have hurt.
The Ghost Rider circles away from the clinch attempt.
A head kick misses from The Ghost Rider.
Manning shoots for a double leg takedown but The Ghost Rider sprawls well. He's pushed Manning's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eli Manning. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick by Manning misses
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
The Ghost Rider lands a head kick. Manning smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

Manning looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Manning is looking to advance position but The Ghost Rider won't allow it.

Manning is looking for a kimura but The Ghost Rider is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Manning to get the leverage.

The Ghost Rider pushes Manning off and gets back to his feet.
Manning shoots for a takedown but The Ghost Rider saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Manning throws a right hand that The Ghost Rider ducks under and follows up with a left that The Ghost Rider also avoids with ease.
The Ghost Rider tries to bum rush Manning with a series of wild strikes but Manning uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
The Ghost Rider stuffs the takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The Ghost Rider throws a right and a left that both miss.
Manning has his takedown stuffed
and The Ghost Rider makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Manning really felt that one!
Manning shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says The Ghost Rider as he avoids it easily.

Manning drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
The Ghost Rider bucks up and tries to throw Manning off but instead Manning has got his back!
Will Manning go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Manning lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The Ghost Rider has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Manning loading up with punches from the back mount - how long can The Ghost Rider hold on?
Good control from Manning.
The Ghost Rider is trying to get back to his feet but Manning has full control of the position and if anything, The Ghost Rider has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Manning looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Manning keeps control of the position easily here as The Ghost Rider tries to buck him off.
The Ghost Rider looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

The Ghost Rider is looking to stand back up. He's having to work hard to escape but eventually he manages it.
The Ghost Rider stuffs the takedown.
The Ghost Rider shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Manning as he jumps to the side.
Manning tries a head kick but it misses.
Manning shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts The Ghost Rider as he jumps to the side.

The Ghost Rider clinches with his opponent.
The Ghost Rider has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Manning avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Zack The Ghost Rider has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Manning goes for a takedown in the clinch but The Ghost Rider prevents it.
Manning goes for a takedown in the clinch but The Ghost Rider prevents it.
Eli Manning is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The Ghost Rider working aggressively here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eli Manning showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Manning, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:27
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eli Manning!