PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Connor McGuinness (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rahkim Abdullah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Connor McGuinness has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

McGuinness
vs
Abdullah

183 cm
30
185 lbs
17 - 10 - 0

190 cm
32
182 lbs
18 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 17 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Connor McGuinness!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rahkim Abdullah!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Anthony Taglia and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Abdullah gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and McGuinness counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Abdullah takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
McGuinness jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Abdullah misses with an uppercut
and Abdullah takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Abdullah throws a jab but it's blocked by McGuinness.
Abdullah misses with a body shot
and McGuinness counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Abdullah jabs at McGuinness's body.
Abdullah misses with a hook to the body
enabling McGuinness to counter with a crisp jab.
The crowd cheers as Abdullah lands an impressive looking overhand right. McGuinness doesn't seem phased though.
McGuinness takes one to the side of the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
McGuinness misses with a two punch combination.
Abdullah jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
McGuinness keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Abdullah looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
McGuinness takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abdullah has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
McGuinness takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Abdullah is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down McGuinness rather than just go for the knockout.
Abdullah fails to land the takedown.
McGuinness throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Abdullah scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. McGuinness doesn't seem bothered though.
Abdullah falls off balance throwing a combination
and McGuinness counters with a two punch combo.
Abdullah misses with a straight left.
It looked like McGuinness wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Abdullah lands a glancing blow to the side of McGuinness's head.
Abdullah throws a body punch but McGuinness moves out of range.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Abdullah connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between McGuinness's hands.

Abdullah changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. McGuinness looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McGuinness sneaks back into half guard.
Abdullah not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McGuinness wants to improve his position but Abdullah is controlling well.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Abdullah lands a nice short elbow.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

McGuinness looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
McGuinness is staying active underneath Abdullah, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Abdullah looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Abdullah winds up and cracks McGuinness with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
McGuinness wants to get back to full guard.
Abdullah working over McGuinness with some ground and pound. McGuinness looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
McGuinness tries to roll over but Abdullah keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abdullah lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Abdullah is controlling the pace.
McGuinness is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Abdullah scores with a couple of nice shots.
Abdullah is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Abdullah looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks McGuinness with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Abdullah lands a nice short elbow.

McGuinness is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Abdullah pulls his head out easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Abdullah working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Abdullah scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Abdullah seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Abdullah passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for McGuinness!
Abdullah putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
McGuinness keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Abdullah lands a nice shot to the head.
Abdullah lands with some vicious ground and pound - can McGuinness hang on?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rahkim Abdullah dominated that round.
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.

Abdullah fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Abdullah keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
McGuinness takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Abdullah shoots in and drives through. McGuinness sprawls well.
Abdullah misses the shot to the body.
Rahkim Abdullah seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Abdullah throws a body punch but McGuinness moves out of range.
McGuinness throws a series of punches but Abdullah avoids them all with ease.
Abdullah throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent McGuinness stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

Abdullah feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Abdullah stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. McGuinness swivels though and keeps the full guard.

McGuinness has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Abdullah can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
McGuinness avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.

McGuinness looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Abdullah passes into half guard.
Abdullah drops an elbow to the side of McGuinness's head.

Abdullah is looking for a kimura here.
McGuinness is looking to improve his position.

Abdullah is working for a kimura but McGuinness is defending it quite comfortably.
Abdullah is keen to just control but McGuinness is a slippery customer.

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.

McGuinness looking for submissions off his back.
McGuinness trying to control from the bottom.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Abdullah connects with a nice short shot to McGuinness's temple.
Abdullah is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Abdullah controlling the pace.
McGuinness is looking to get back to full guard here but Abdullah has managed to pass to side control instead.
McGuinness is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abdullah cracks McGuinness with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Abdullah cracks McGuinness with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Abdullah is looking to take a break and control but McGuinness is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Abdullah in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Abdullah lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear McGuinness down.
McGuinness is trying to improve his position.
McGuinness is letting Abdullah control him for a moment.
Let's hope that Abdullah has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abdullah grinds an elbow into McGuinness's temple.
Abdullah working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
McGuinness tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Abdullah wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Abdullah wants to control but McGuinness is keeping him busy.
Abdullah working the ground and pound from side control.
Abdullah lands a decent elbow from side control.
You can see the frustration on McGuinness's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
McGuinness takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
McGuinness tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Abdullah wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Abdullah is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down McGuinness's shoulder. That is not cool.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rahkim Abdullah showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Abdullah shoots in looking for a takedown. McGuinness tries to sprawl out of it but Abdullah keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. McGuinness manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
It looked like McGuinness was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Abdullah fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
McGuinness misses with a body shot.
Abdullah throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck McGuinness on the side of the head.
Abdullah looks to score with a jab to the body but McGuinness is just out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
McGuinness ducks under a wild hook from Abdullah.
Abdullah misses with a few strikes there.
Abdullah swings and misses with a hook to the body.
McGuinness misses with a wild body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abdullah scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
McGuinness takes one on the chin but seems OK.
McGuinness stuffs the takedown.

Abdullah drives through with a takedown into guard.
Abdullah trying to control the position from guard on top but McGuinness is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Abdullah scoring with some ground and pound.
McGuinness not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Abdullah with a nice head shot there.
Abdullah trying to control but McGuinness is working from the bottom.
Abdullah is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

McGuinness looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Abdullah is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Abdullah content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Abdullah makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Abdullah preventing the sweep.
Abdullah lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Abdullah has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Abdullah engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Abdullah scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

McGuinness throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Abdullah slips nicely into half guard.

Abdullah looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Abdullah is nestled in close to McGuinness, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's four 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.
Abdullah winds up and cracks McGuinness with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Abdullah is trying to control. McGuinness wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
McGuinness trying to get back to full guard but Abdullah takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Abdullah lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Abdullah trying to control but McGuinness is having none of it.
Abdullah lands a big elbow.
Abdullah in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Abdullah connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
McGuinness is wriggling around trying to escape.
Connor McGuinness has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Abdullah pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rahkim Abdullah comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Abdullah has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 27:30
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rahkim Abdullah!