PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Morgan Vrinceanu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and William Biah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). William Biah acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Vrinceanu
vs
Biah

179 cm
20
145 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

169 cm
21
135 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Morgan Vrinceanu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, William Biah!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, Santiago Holmes and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Biah is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Vrinceanu's half guard.

Biah postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Vrinceanu to stand up.
Vrinceanu tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Biah defends well and Vrinceanu ends up having to push Biah into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Biah replies with a solid counter kick to the body but Vrinceanu blocks it well.

Biah gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Biah escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Vrinceanu clinches up with Biah and pushes him back against the cage.

Biah escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Biah shoots in and gets a takedown into Vrinceanu's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Vrinceanu looking to control.
Biah is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Vrinceanu is pulling down on Biah's head. It's preventing any offense from Biah, at least for the moment.
Biah sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
It looks like Biah might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Vrinceanu wants to stand but Biah is controlling the position.

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.
Vrinceanu is trying to keep Biah in close.
Vrinceanu is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Biah is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Biah looking to pass the guard.
Biah with a flurry of punches that miss.
Biah tries to free his leg and advance position but Vrinceanu is retaining full guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Biah is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Biah has managed to clinch.
Biah tries to pull guard but Vrinceanu holds him up against the cage and eventually Biah drops back down to his feet.

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

Vrinceanu fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Biah, pushing him back against the cage.

Biah pulls guard successfully.
Biah is adopting a defensive guard.

Biah is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Vrinceanu is aware though and is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Vrinceanu drops back looking for a leg! Biah is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Biah manages to kick Vrinceanu off! Vrinceanu jumps back into Biah's guard.
Biah wants to stand but Vrinceanu is controlling the position.
Biah avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Biah wants to sweep here but Vrinceanu controlling him for the moment.
Biah trying to control the position here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Vrinceanu's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Biah dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Vrinceanu fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Biah closes the distance and clinches.
Vrinceanu is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Biah is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Vrinceanu is defending well.
Vrinceanu jumps guard but Biah turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Morgan Vrinceanu. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Biah breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Biah fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Vrinceanu, pushing him back against the cage.

Biah breaks the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vrinceanu shoots in and drives through. Biah sprawls well.

Biah drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Biah cracks Vrinceanu with a big right hand but Vrinceanu just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vrinceanu tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Biah is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Vrinceanu knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Vrinceanu parries the strikes from Biah easily there. Biah is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Vrinceanu to escape.
Vrinceanu takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Biah trying to control the action but Vrinceanu is working from the bottom.
Vrinceanu manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

That's two 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.
Vrinceanu has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Biah is working away from the top position though.
Vrinceanu gets full guard.
Biah pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Vrinceanu is keeping the position for now.
William Biah has got the better of the ground game so far.
Vrinceanu controls Biah momentarily but Biah frees himself.
Biah content to stall in guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Vrinceanu drops back, looking for a kneebar! Biah looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Biah looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Biah!

Biah decides to stand up, so the ref orders Vrinceanu to his feet.
Biah leaves Vrinceanu with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Biah tries to counter by closing the distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vrinceanu fails with the takedown

and Biah counters by clinching up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Biah displaying some good clinch control by pressing Vrinceanu up against the cage.

Biah gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Vrinceanu regains guard.
Biah stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Vrinceanu swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Biah gets to his feet. Vrinceanu looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Vrinceanu shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Biah as he avoids it easily.

Biah shoots in and bounces Vrinceanu off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Biah not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Biah showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Biah closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Vrinceanu bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Biah has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Vrinceanu plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Biah slaps away a takedown attempt from Vrinceanu, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Biah with the counter takedown but Vrinceanu avoids it easily.
Vrinceanu misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Biah works over Vrinceanu's head and body with a nice combination.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vrinceanu shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Biah sprawls well. Biah wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Vrinceanu gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Morgan Vrinceanu. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Biah darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Biah working the head and body with strikes.
Biah is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Vrinceanu is trying to control but can't.

Biah escapes and gets back to his feet.
Vrinceanu avoids the head kick by Biah.
Vrinceanu thinks about countering with a body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Biah scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Biah has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Vrinceanu scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Biah manages to mount him!
Biah lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vrinceanu is squirming around, avoiding Biah's attempts to control the action.
Biah landing punches.
Biah looking to finish Vrinceanu with some ground and pound. This is bad for Vrinceanu!
Biah controlling his opponent.
Biah looking to control but Vrinceanu is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Biah lands a big elbow.

Biah goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Vrinceanu turns into him and now he's in Biah's guard.
Biah pulls Vrinceanu in close to prevent any damage.

Vrinceanu got a little sloppy there for a moment and Biah has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Vrinceanu has managed to get both his arms back between Biah's legs - danger averted.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Biah had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Vrinceanu defends it easily.

Vrinceanu drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Vrinceanu jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Biah keeping moving, preventing Vrinceanu from controlling successfully.

Biah is looking for a triangle but Vrinceanu pushes his legs off easily.
Morgan Vrinceanu has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
William Biah is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

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

And that's the end of the fight!
William Biah comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Biah 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 Winston Alpacca scores the fight for William Biah!
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight for William Biah!
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight for William Biah!

William Biah wins by unanimous decision!