PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jeff Brennan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Draco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Steve Draco enters the cage!

Brennan
vs
Draco

160 cm
18
193 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

187 cm
19
191 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Can Moonwalk

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 Helsinki, Jeff Brennan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Steve Draco!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Marco Blurström and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Brennan has managed to clinch.
Brennan could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

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

Draco closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Brennan tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Brennan is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Draco's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Brennan is looking to control Draco's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Brennan avoid being mounted?
Draco is taking a breather. Brennan says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Draco wants to take a breather but Brennan is having none of it.
Brennan is looking to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Draco content to control rather than advance.
Draco is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Brennan is looking to clinch but Draco is avoiding it.
Draco tries to counter by closing the distance.

Brennan closes the distance and pushes Draco back into the cage.
Brennan will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Draco up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Brennan is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Draco gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Draco gets control of Brennan's arms and successfully pulls guard. Draco will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Draco looks winded!
Draco lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Brennan looking to hit a scissor sweep but Draco is one step ahead there.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Brennan holds on and takes a little breather.
Draco wants to control from the top but Brennan keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Brennan is on top in guard.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Draco looking to control.
Draco working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Brennan.
Brennan trying to control but Draco is working from the bottom.
Brennan wants to stand but Draco has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Draco is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Brennan gets to his feet - Draco follows without any prompting.
Brennan tries to close the distance and clinch up but Draco swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Brennan is trying hard to land a takedown here. Draco sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Brennan clinches up with Draco and pushes him back against the cage.

Draco breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Draco gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Brennan drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Draco gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jeff Brennan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Brennan looking to stall.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Brennan is working for takedown but Draco is calmly controlling the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Draco dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

A solid leg kick lands there for Draco.
Draco's coach down at Cozad MMA Helsinki was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Draco's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.

Draco manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Brennan on his heels. He'll look to pass Brennan's guard now, I'm sure.
Brennan lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Brennan stopping the sweep attempt from Draco.

Brennan is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Brennan preventing the sweep.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Draco controls Brennan momentarily but Brennan frees himself.
Brennan with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Draco is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Draco keeping moving, preventing Brennan from controlling successfully.
Brennan controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Brennan has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Brennan postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Draco has his foot on Brennan's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Brennan works his way back into a safe position though.

Brennan stands up from Draco's guard - Brennan perhaps looking for a knockout.
Draco avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Draco changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.

Draco gets tackled into the cage by Brennan. Brennan maintains the clinch.

Draco pulls Brennan into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Draco keeping moving, preventing Brennan from controlling successfully.
Brennan lands a couple of digs.

Brennan stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Brennan clinches up against the cage.
Brennan leaning his opponent against the cage.
Brennan slows down the pace here.

Brennan has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Draco uses from the top position.
Brennan is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brennan controlling Draco's posture.
Draco trying to control the position from guard on top but Brennan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Draco trying to stand up but can't free himself from Brennan's guard.

Brennan looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Draco trying to control but Brennan is working from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Brennan tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Draco paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Brennan tries to sprawl but Draco drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Brennan is trying to maintain the position but Draco is very close to passing his half guard.
Draco trying to control from half guard but Brennan is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Steve Draco will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Brennan clinches up with Draco and pushes him back against the cage.

Draco jumps guard and drags Brennan to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Brennan trying to control the position from guard on top but Draco is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Draco is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Brennan is controlling him.
Draco looking to hit a scissor sweep but Brennan is one step ahead there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Draco keeping moving, preventing Brennan from controlling successfully.

Brennan drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Draco manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Brennan has Draco in his guard.

Draco takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brennan wants to sweep but no luck.
Draco postures up.
Steve Draco has got the better of the ground game so far.
Draco seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Brennan trying to control the position.

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.
Draco preventing the sweep.
Brennan keeping moving, preventing Draco from controlling successfully.
Brennan manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Draco manages to get himself to full guard.

Draco is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Draco tries to strike from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Brennan stands up from Draco's guard - Brennan perhaps looking for a knockout.
Brennan tries to clinch up but Draco circles away and keeps his distance.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Nice body punch from Brennan.
Brennan is trying to pull guard but Draco has him pressed against the cage.

Brennan successfully pulls guard.

Draco drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Brennan dives on top into guard.

Brennan sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Brennan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Brennan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brennan scoring with punches to the head and body.
Brennan trying to control the position from guard on top but Draco is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Draco wants to sweep here but Brennan controlling him for the moment.
Brennan wants to control from the top but Draco keeps moving.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Draco is trying to control the position from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jeff Brennan showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Draco has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:29
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Steve Draco!