PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gracko Roman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hank Hardin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Roman
vs
Hardin

199 cm
26
201 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

189 cm
18
189 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Gracko Roman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hank Hardin!
The judges for this bout are , Jack Bonds and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardin lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Roman takes a kick to the side of the head.
Roman on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Roman throws a combination that misses
and Hardin counters with a stiff right hand.
Hardin throws a head kick that misses

and Roman counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Hardin!
Roman content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Roman advances nicely into full mount.
Roman controlling the pace for now.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Roman is trying to take his opponent's back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roman controlling the position easily from mount.
Roman has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hardin prevents Roman from taking his back.
Roman controlling his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Roman's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gracko Roman dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A head kick by Roman misses
and Hardin counters with a big head kick but Roman shrugs it off.

Roman closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Hardin's guard.
Roman content to stall in guard here.
Roman looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Roman postures up.
Gracko Roman overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Roman controls from within his opponent's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Roman.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Roman on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

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.
Roman is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hardin.

Roman moves into the clinch.

Roman drags the fight down to the ground.
Hardin must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Roman controlling the position.
Roman looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hardin is fighting to break Roman's control of his arms but Roman is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardin preventing the sweep.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Roman holds on and takes a little breather.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Hardin tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Roman tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Hardin manages to circle out of the way.
Hardin goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

Roman bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Hardin is trying to escape the position but Roman is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Roman has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Hardin!
Roman controlling from the full mount.
Roman seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Hardin for as long as he can get away with.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Further stalling from Roman.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gracko Roman dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Crunch! Hardin slams his shin into Roman's torso.
Good leg kick by Hardin there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

Roman closes the distance and pushes Hardin back into the cage.

Roman gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Well, if Roman is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Roman is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hardin can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Roman trying to pass the guard but Hardin defending well.
Hardin is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roman seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Roman continues to hold on tight.
Roman tries to pass the half guard into mount. Hardin knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Roman gets a takedown into half guard.
Roman sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Roman is stinking the place up with his stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Hank Hardin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Roman crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Hardin - the referee stops the clock and Roman gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Hardin. Roman manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Hardin throws a sloppy head kick

and Roman counters with a takedown into side control.
Hardin is letting Roman control him for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gracko Roman showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Roman, 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gracko Roman!