PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jean Pierre Papin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Javier Esposito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Pierre Papin
vs
Esposito

202 cm
29
211 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

186 cm
28
205 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Amped Performance

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 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jean Pierre Papin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Javier Esposito!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Eddie Farnsworth and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Papin will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Esposito tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Papin is able to avoid easily.
Esposito throws a leg kick but Papin sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Esposito throws an off balance right hand
and Papin counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Jean Pierre Papin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Papin closes the distance and pushes Esposito back into the cage.
Papin misses with a hook from the clinch.
Esposito lands an uppercut.

Esposito breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Esposito looks to land a right hand but Papin moved out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Papin tries to close the distance and clinch but Esposito swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Papin moves into the clinch.
Esposito lands a body punch.
Papin lands a right hand that snaps the head of Esposito backwards.
Papin blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Papin blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Esposito tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Esposito wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Papin misses with a hook to the ribs.
Esposito's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Papin lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Papin scores with a nice hook to the head.
Esposito blocks an uppercut.
Esposito misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Papin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Papin sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Esposito misses with a hook.
Papin swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Papin connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Esposito lands a jab-cross combination.
Jean Pierre Papin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Esposito lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Papin backwards.
Papin lands a nice shot to the body.
Esposito tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
I was talking to Papin's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Esposito misses with a short punch on the inside.
Papin misses with a hook to the ribs.
Papin's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Papin content to slow the pace in the clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Esposito.
Papin avoiding damage.
Papin fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Esposito lands a left hand.
Papin blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
With the fighters up against the cage, Papin throws an elbow but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Papin.
Papin misses with a hook to the ribs.
Papin goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Papin misses with a hook from the clinch.
Esposito scores with a shot to the side of Papin's head.
Papin leaning against his opponent.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

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

Esposito drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Papin is rocked!
Esposito content to stall in guard here.
Oh Papin is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Papin seems to have got his legs back now.
Esposito throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esposito throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Papin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Papin will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Esposito accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Esposito engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Esposito is working Papin over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Papin wants to sweep but no luck.
Esposito stops Papin from standing up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Papin ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
A nice inside leg kick there by Esposito. That's going to slow Papin down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Javier Esposito will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Papin moves in looking to clinch but Esposito pushes him off.
Papin swings widly with a right hand
and Esposito cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Papin tries to clinch but Esposito moves out of range.
Papin tries to close the distance and clinch but Esposito swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Papin getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Esposito throws an overhand right that lands on Papin's shoulder, as Papin tries to avoid the shot.
Papin is looking for a counter combo.
Papin tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Papin throws a shot to the body.

Papin clinches up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A short right from Papin on the inside.
Papin struggles to land a body shot inside as Esposito controls his hands.
Esposito works on Papin's body with a couple of short punches.
Jean Pierre Papin has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Papin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Papin tries to clinch but Esposito is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Papin tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Esposito paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Papin looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Esposito bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Esposito drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Papin defends it well.
Papin lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Esposito backs up against the cage.

It looks like Javier Esposito has been cut.
Papin lands a nice hook to Esposito's body. Esposito takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Papin throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Papin is looking to clinch.
Esposito looks to throw the jab but Papin is out of range.
A little feinted left hand from Papin on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Esposito throws a wild body kick that Papin sees coming a mile off.
Esposito connects with a good right hand that stumbles Papin. Papin circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Esposito lands with a thumping leg kick.

Papin has managed to clinch.
Esposito throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Esposito has Papin pressed against the cage.
Esposito lands a left hand.
Papin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Papin lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Esposito goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Esposito breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Papin tries to bum rush Esposito with a series of wild strikes but Esposito uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Esposito is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Esposito keeps the fight on the outside.
Papin is looking to clinch.
Esposito feints the counter takedown.
A jab from Esposito misses.
Papin throwing a counter right hand but Esposito manages to avoid it.
Esposito throws a nice inside leg kick.
Esposito keeps the fight on the outside.
Esposito changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Papin lands a jab to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esposito digs a good body shot into Papin's ribs.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Esposito.

Papin instigates a clinch.
Papin looking to throw knees to the head but Esposito is blocking nicely.

Esposito has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Papin clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Papin rolls, trying to escape but Esposito keeps control of the position.
Esposito lands punches and elbows.
Papin is trying to get back to his feet but Esposito has full control of the position and if anything, Papin has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Papin manages to reverse the position and now he's in Esposito's guard. Nice work there by Papin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Esposito looking to hit a scissor sweep but Papin is one step ahead there.
Esposito is trying to keep Papin in close.
Esposito seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Papin is stalling in the full guard.
Esposito keeping full guard, as Papin tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Jean Pierre Papin will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Javier Esposito's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Papin is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Papin tries to clinch but Esposito is having none of it.
Papin wants to clinch
and Esposito counters with a right hand to the body.
Papin takes a swing at Esposito's ribcage but misses.
Esposito swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Esposito throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Papin on the side of the head.
Papin keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Papin was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Papin misses with a double jab.
Esposito walks into a left hand.
Papin bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
No joy there for Papin, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esposito ducks under a wild hook from Papin.
Esposito throws a push kick but Papin slaps the foot to one side.
Esposito scores with a nice strike.
Papin tries to clinch up but Esposito circles away and keeps his distance.
Esposito throws out a counter right but Papin avoids it with no problem.
Esposito keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Papin gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Esposito gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:31 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Javier Esposito!