PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mairbek Taisumov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Declan Franks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Taisumov might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Castle in the snow. Franks has chosen Time Bomb by Rancid as his entrance music. This should be a great matchup!

Taisumov
vs
Franks

188 cm
26
213 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

191 cm
24
208 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Mairbek Taisumov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Declan Franks!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Michael Johnstone and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Franks cracks Taisumov with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

Taisumov darts in and clinches Franks up against the cage.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks trying to stall but Taisumov improves his position.
Taisumov working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Franks wants to break the clinch but can't.
Taisumov scores with a shot to the side of Franks's head.
Taisumov misses with a short punch on the inside.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Taisumov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Taisumov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Taisumov fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Franks misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Taisumov is stalling here.
Franks looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Franks misses with a hook to the ribs.
Franks wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Taisumov has him pressed against the cage.
Franks wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Taisumov has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.
Taisumov is stalling here.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franks is trying to break free.
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.

Franks manages to break the clinch.
Franks lands with a shot to the body.

Taisumov moves into range and clinches up with Franks.
Taisumov fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Taisumov swings wildly with an uppercut but Franks uses good head movement to avoid it.
Taisumov lands a shot to the body.
Taisumov lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Franks is looking to control Taisumov's arms but Taisumov gets an underhook and turns him. Now Franks has his back to the cage.
Franks looking to slow down the pace here.
Taisumov scores with a shoulder strike.
Franks stalling in the clinch but Taisumov improves position.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Taisumov.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Taisumov stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Taisumov misses with a punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franks throws a punch but it's blocked by Taisumov.
Franks's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Taisumov avoiding damage as Franks throws knees to the body.
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Taisumov prevents Franks from breaking the clinch.
Taisumov swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Taisumov throws a punch but it's blocked by Franks.
A short right from Taisumov on the inside.
Franks wants to get back to striking at distance but Taisumov won't allow it.
Franks has a couple of punches blocked by Taisumov.
Taisumov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks is trying to push Taisumov away but Taisumov has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Franks tries to break free but Taisumov pushes him back against the cage.

Franks breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Franks motions for Taisumov to come forward. Franks throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Franks ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

Taisumov clinches up with Franks and pushes him back against the cage.
Taisumov lands with a right to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franks is looking to break free of the clinch but Taisumov has double underhooks.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Taisumov stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Franks tries to break free but Taisumov pushes him back against the cage.
Franks looking to slow down the pace here.
Taisumov scores with a nice hook to the head.
Taisumov lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Franks fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Taisumov lands with a right to the head.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Franks wants to break the clinch but can't.
Franks's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Taisumov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Taisumov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Taisumov.
Franks trying to control the position but instead, Taisumov has worked for underhooks and has pushed Franks into the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Taisumov throws an elbow but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taisumov lands a nice elbow.
Taisumov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Taisumov pushes Franks back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Taisumov lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Taisumov lands with a light punch inside.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Taisumov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Franks's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Taisumov stalling against the cage.
Taisumov lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
A shot in the inside from Taisumov.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Taisumov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Franks blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Franks.
Taisumov softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

Franks escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Franks misses with an uppercut. Taisumov saw that one coming.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mairbek Taisumov dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Taisumov darts in and clinches Franks up against the cage.
Taisumov swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Franks blocks the elbow strike.
Taisumov lands a left hand.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Taisumov.
Franks throws a head punch that misses.
Taisumov working aggressively here.
Taisumov keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Franks's efforts to push away.
Taisumov misses with a hook from the clinch.
Franks blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A short right from Taisumov on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Franks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Taisumov will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Franks up against the cage.
Franks swings wildly with an uppercut but Taisumov uses good head movement to avoid it.
A shot in the inside from Taisumov.
Taisumov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Franks can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taisumov prevents Franks from breaking the clinch.
Franks is trying to break the clinch but Taisumov has him pressed against the cage.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks tries to stall but Taisumov uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Franks wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Taisumov is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Taisumov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Franks's efforts to push away.
Taisumov swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Franks tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Taisumov avoids it.
Taisumov blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Franks trying to stall but Taisumov improves his position.
Taisumov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Taisumov lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Franks.
Franks wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Taisumov throws a head punch that misses.
Franks wants to break the clinch but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franks wants to break free but Taisumov has control.
A nice right hand lands inside from Taisumov.
Taisumov pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Taisumov misses with a punch on the inside.
Taisumov lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Franks.
Taisumov lands a hook that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Taisumov.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Taisumov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Franks.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Still in the clinch, Taisumov scores with a nice short uppercut.
A short left from Taisumov.
Mairbek Taisumov has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Taisumov lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Taisumov lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Franks throws a head punch that misses.
Franks misses with a punch on the inside.
Taisumov lands a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Good body shot from Taisumov.
Taisumov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Nice body punch from Taisumov - that landed with a thud.
Franks is breathing heavily.
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.
Franks misses with a hook to the ribs.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands with a left to the head.
Taisumov working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A shot in the inside from Taisumov.
A frustrated look appears on Franks's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A short right from Taisumov.
Taisumov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov scores with a shot to the side of Franks's head.
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.
Franks is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taisumov lands a right hand.
Franks wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Taisumov lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Taisumov lands a right hand.
A short right from Taisumov.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.

Franks is rocked!
A short uppercut from Taisumov.
Franks is still on wobbly legs! Can Taisumov finish him?
Taisumov lands with a left to the head.
Taisumov pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Franks tries to break the clinch but Taisumov is controlling the position.
Taisumov lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Taisumov misses with a short punch on the inside.
Taisumov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Franks's efforts to push away.
Taisumov lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Taisumov misses with a punch on the inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mairbek Taisumov dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Taisumov throws a right and a left that Franks avoids nicely.
Franks seems to have recovered his senses.
Franks chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Taisumov fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Franks, pushing him back against the cage.
Taisumov scores with a shoulder strike.
Taisumov lands with a left to the head.
Taisumov blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Franks is trying to stall.
Taisumov blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Taisumov dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Taisumov throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Frankss head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Taisumov lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Franks.
Taisumov cracks Franks with a nice body shot.
Taisumov lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Taisumov lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Taisumov scores with a shot to the side of Franks's head.

It looks like Declan Franks has been cut.
Franks takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Taisumov lands a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taisumov lands a right hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands a hook that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands a hook that snaps the head of Franks backwards.

Franks is rocked!
Taisumov just leaning against Franks, taking a breather.
Franks lands an uppercut.
Taisumov lands with a right to the head.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Taisumov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Franks is still on wobbly legs! Can Taisumov finish him?
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Franks.
Franks seems to have recovered his senses.
Taisumov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Taisumov lands with a left to the head.
Taisumov scores with a shot to the side of Franks's head.
Taisumov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Taisumov drops Franks with a big right hand! Taisumov charges in looking to finish - Franks manages to keep Taisumov in his guard and seems to have recovered somewhat.
Franks is trying to hold Taisumov in close to prevent damage but Taisumov has managed to pass into half guard.

Taisumov postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Franks to stand up.
Declan Franks has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Franks tries to keep at a distance but Taisumov has taken the fight into the clinch.
Taisumov scores with a shot to the side of Franks's head.
Franks trying to control the position but instead, Taisumov has worked for underhooks and has pushed Franks into the cage.
Franks can't break the clinch.
Nice body punch from Taisumov - that landed with a thud.
Franks tries to break free but Taisumov pushes him back against the cage.
Taisumov lands with a light punch inside.
Taisumov keeps control of Franks as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Taisumov lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Taisumov lands a hook that snaps the head of Franks backwards.
Franks taking a breather.
Taisumov has Franks pressed against the cage, preventing Franks from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Taisumov lands a left hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taisumov lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Franks.
Franks takes an elbow to the forehead.
Taisumov lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Taisumov creates some distance and fires off a vicious elbow that drops Franks! He pounces and finishes the fight with more strikes! Nice KO for Taisumov.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:21 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mairbek Taisumov!
During a confident post fight interview, Mairbek Taisumov thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.