PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mustafa Erdogan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcio Freire (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.

Erdogan
vs
Freire

185 cm
23
181 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

179 cm
23
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 New York, Mustafa Erdogan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marcio Freire!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Columbo Gatti and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice uppercut lands for Erdogan. That snapped Freire's head back.
Freire has his takedown stuffed
enabling Erdogan to counter with a crisp jab.

Freire moves into the clinch.
Freire has Erdogan pressed against the cage.
Erdogan prevents the takedown attempt.
Freire jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Erdogan walks away with a smile on his face. Freire gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Mustafa Erdogan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcio Freire.

Freire gets in close and instigates a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Freire pulls guard.
Freire looking for a sweep. Not yet Freire, not yet.
Erdogan is standing up over Freire. Freire looks to escape but Erdogan dives into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Erdogan controlling the position from side mount.
Freire tries to bench press Erdogan off him but Erdogan keeps the position.

Freire throws Erdogan to one side and escapes!
Erdogan throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Freire on the side of the head.
A jab from Erdogan finds it's way through Freire's defenses.

Freire gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Freire stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Freire lands with a left to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freire drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Erdogan struggles to land a body shot inside as Freire controls his hands.
Freire is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Freire wants to take the fight to the mat but Erdogan manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Erdogan prevents a takedown attempt there.
A frustrated look appears on Erdogan's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Freire tries to throw a body punch but Erdogan avoids it by throwing Freire back against the cage.
Freire changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Erdogan fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Freire ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Erdogan moves away.

Freire drives through and clinches with Erdogan against the cage.
Erdogan wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Freire leaning against his opponent.
Freire wants a takedown but no success here.

Freire pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Marcio Freire seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Freire gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Erdogan counters with a nice uppercut.
Freire is looking to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Freire tries to move into range but Erdogan moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Erdogan throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Freire on the side of the head.
Freire tries to clinch up.
Erdogan moves away from the strike by Freire.
Erdogan swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Freire closes the distance and clinches.
Freire tries to pull guard but Erdogan holds him up against the cage and eventually Freire drops back down to his feet.
Freire makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Erdogan wants to get back to striking at distance but Freire won't allow it.
Freire fails to pull guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Marcio Freire will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Erdogan scores with a hook.

Freire darts in and clinches Erdogan up against the cage.
Erdogan wants to break the clinch but can't.
Erdogan gets underhooks to prevent Freire's takedown attempt.
Freire tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Erdogan is looking to break free of the clinch but Freire has double underhooks.
Erdogan tries to circle away but Freire has him pinned against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Freire fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Mustafa Erdogan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcio Freire.
Erdogan wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Freire breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Freire is looking to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Freire clinches with his opponent.
Erdogan is trying to break the clinch but Freire has him pressed against the cage.

Freire pulls guard successfully.
Erdogan looking to pass the guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Freire can do anything to dispel that myth.
Freire working a defensive guard here.
Freire tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Freire being controlled here, momentarily.
Freire is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freire takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Erdogan is trying to maintain the position but Freire is very close to passing his half guard.
Freire misses with a head shot. Erdogan uses the momentum to regain guard.
Freire trying to control the position from guard on top but Erdogan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Erdogan trying to control the position.
Erdogan 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.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Freire postures up in Erdogan's guard and throws a big left but Erdogan blocks it.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Erdogan scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Freire closes the distance and pushes Erdogan back into the cage.
Freire is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Erdogan is defending well.
Freire tries to pull guard but Erdogan holds him up against the cage and eventually Freire drops back down to his feet.

Freire pulls guard effortlessly.
Freire is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Erdogan sitting in guard, not really doing much.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcio Freire showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. 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.

Erdogan scores with a shot to the body.
Freire tries to bum rush Erdogan with a series of wild strikes but Erdogan uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Freire moves into range and clinches up with Erdogan.
Freire is working for takedown but Erdogan is calmly controlling the position for now.
Freire tries to pull guard but Erdogan holds him up against the cage and eventually Freire drops back down to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Erdogan is trying to break the clinch but Freire has him pressed against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Erdogan's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Freire's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Freire rushes Erdogan and presses him up against the cage.
Freire tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Mustafa Erdogan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcio Freire.
Erdogan wants to get back to striking at distance but Freire won't allow it.
Freire is trying to pull guard but Erdogan has him pressed against the cage.
Freire has Erdogan pressed against the cage, preventing Erdogan from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Marcio Freire seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Freire is trying to pull guard but Erdogan has him pressed against the cage.

Freire pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Freire misses with a two punch combination.

Freire moves into the clinch.
Mustafa Erdogan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Freire breaks the clinch.
Freire misses with a jab, cross combination.
Erdogan was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Erdogan feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Freires jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!

Freire fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Erdogan, pushing him back against the cage.
Erdogan is trying to force a seperation but Freire has the dominant position.

Freire breaks from the clinch.

Freire drives through and clinches with Erdogan against the cage.
Freire keeps control of Erdogan as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Erdogan is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Freire jumps into guard, dragging Erdogan to the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Freire doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Freire keeping moving, preventing Erdogan from controlling successfully.
Freire wants to stand and escape but Erdogan is having none of it.
Erdogan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Erdogan postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Erdogan trying to control the position from guard on top but Freire is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

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.

Freire takes the fight into the clinch.

Freire gets control of Erdogan's arms and successfully pulls guard. Freire will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Erdogan wants to pass the guard but Freire is keeping the position.
Erdogan wants to control from the top but Freire keeps moving.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Erdogan postures up.
Marcio Freire is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Freire avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcio Freire comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Freire winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Steve Montenegro scores the fight for Marcio Freire!
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight for Marcio Freire!
Judge John Roberts scores the fight for Marcio Freire!

Marcio Freire wins by unanimous decision!