PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ronald Griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Malvin Mandi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Malvin Mandi has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Griffin
vs
Mandi

168 cm
28
152 lbs
11 - 10 - 0

180 cm
27
157 lbs
3 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Amped Performance

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 11 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ronald Griffin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Malvin Mandi!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Dean Styles and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Griffin keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Mandi.
A punch combination from Griffin misses.
A combination from Mandi does no damage.
Griffin looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Mandi tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Griffin was well out of range. Poor timing from Mandi.
Mandi throws a series of punches but Griffin avoids them all with ease.
Griffin will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Griffin keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Mandi.
Griffin throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Mandi's waist but Mandi gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Griffin off to one side.
Mandi looks to land a combination but Griffin avoids it well.
Griffin fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ronald Griffin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mandi takes a swing at Griffin's ribcage but misses.
Mandi swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Mandi stuffs the takedown.
Mandi wants to counter with a clinch but Griffin pushes him away.
Griffin shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Mandi pinned against the cage. Mandi gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Mandi throws a counter combo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandi misses with a body shot.
Griffin changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Griffin fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Mandi avoids it really well and circles away.
Griffin throws a right and a left that both miss.
Mandi lands with a straight right. Griffin didn't see that one coming.
Griffin on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
A punch combination from Mandi misses.
Mandi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Griffin moves away from the strike by Mandi.
Griffin avoids the body shot from Mandi.
Mandi misses with a looping left.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mandi lands a two punch combo.
Griffin will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Griffin fails to land the takedown.
Griffin shoots in for a double leg but Mandi sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Mandi misses with a series of wild punches.
Mandi misses with a looping right.
Mandi just misses with a punch to the body.
Griffin with a poor takedown

and Mandi counters by moving into the clinch.

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

Mandi tries to sprawl but Griffin drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Mandi pushes Griffin off and gets back to his feet.
Mandi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Griffin is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Mandi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mandi misses with a few strikes there.
Griffin appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Griffin tests Mandi's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Malvin Mandi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Mandi gets caught flat footed, as Griffin shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Griffin is looking to advance position but Mandi has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Griffin tries to hold on but Mandi postures up.
Griffin is working to get back to half guard.
Mandi controlling the pace for now.
Griffin gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffin wants to control but Mandi is keeping busy.
Mandi looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Griffin looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Griffin wants to get back to full guard but Mandi has mounted him!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Griffin is wriggling around trying to escape.
Griffin tries to lock up and control but Mandi gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Malvin Mandi dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nice takedown defense from Mandi. No joy for Griffin on that attempt.
Mandi lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Griffin circles away quickly and effectively.
Mandi scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Mandi throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Griffin.

Griffin shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Mandi manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Griffin landing with the ground and pound.
Griffin tries to free his leg and advance position but Mandi is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffin works over Mandi with some ground and pound from guard.
Griffin tries to free his leg and advance position but Mandi is retaining full guard.
Malvin Mandi has got the better of the ground game so far.
Griffin sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Mandi's guard.
Griffin controlling the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Griffin stops Mandi from getting back to his feet.
Griffin is trying to control. Mandi wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Mandi has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Griffin stalling away here and it's allowed Mandi to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Griffin controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Griffin chips away with some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Mandi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Mandi keeping moving, preventing Griffin from controlling successfully.
Mandi can't keep his opponent in guard - Griffin advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Griffin has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Griffin is working for a kimura but Mandi is defending it quite comfortably.

Mandi is defending against the submission attempts here by Griffin.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Griffin is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Mandi sees it coming and defends easily.
Griffin is keen to just control but Mandi is a slippery customer.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Griffin looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Griffin looking to score a takedown here. Mandi is defending well but Griffin drives through and ends up in Mandi's guard.
Mandi keeping moving, preventing Griffin from controlling successfully.
Mandi working a defensive guard here.
Griffin might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffin stops Mandi from standing up.
Mandi keeping full guard, as Griffin tries to pass.
Griffin trying to control but Mandi is working from the bottom.
Griffin pushes down on Mandi's leg and manages to get into half guard.

Griffin is looking for a kimura here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Mandi wants to control but Griffin is keeping busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ronald Griffin dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Griffin goes for a double leg but Mandi avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Mandi continues to drive forward.
Griffin bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Mandi misses with a two punch combination.
Mandi lands a two punch combo.
Jab from Mandi.
Griffin goes for a double leg but Mandi avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Mandi continues to drive forward.
Mandi lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Mandi defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Griffin.
Mandi is looking for the big counter here.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ronald Griffin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mandi throws a right and a left that both miss.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Griffin is defended easily by Mandi.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mandi tries to bum rush Griffin with a series of wild strikes but Griffin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Griffin shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Mandi sprawls well. Mandi wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Griffin gets slowly back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffin shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Mandi but Mandi pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Griffin takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Mandi is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Griffin avoids the body shot from Mandi.

Griffin drives through with a takedown into guard.
Mandi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Griffin wants to control from the top but Mandi keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin is really struggling to control Mandi but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Griffin throws a big right hand that misses.
Griffin trying to control the position from guard on top but Mandi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Griffin is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Mandi is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Mandi throws a body punch but Griffin moves out of range.
Mandi misses with a body shot.
Horrible takedown attempt by Griffin or perhaps it was just good defense by Mandi, which made it look bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mandi throws a right hand that Griffin ducks under and follows up with a left that Griffin also avoids with ease.
Ronald Griffin is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Griffin fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Mandi to the ground. Griffin is now in Mandi's guard.

Mandi wriggles free and stands up.
Griffin looks for a takedown but Mandi sprawls well.
Mandi throws a combination. Griffin tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Griffin uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Mandi.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Mandi misses with the combination.
Griffin misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mandi digs a good body shot into Griffin's ribs.
Griffin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Griffin drops down looking for a counter takedown but Mandi sprawls and moves away.
Malvin Mandi seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Griffin looks for a takedown but Mandi sprawls well.
Griffin closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mandi circles away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Griffin gets the takedown into side control.
Griffin wants to lay and pray for a moment but Mandi keeps working.
Mandi is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Griffin has just dragged him back down to the mat.
A lull in the action here as Griffin stalls from top position.
Mandi dodges the ground and pound from Griffin.

And that's the end of the fight!
Malvin Mandi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Mandi 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 Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 28:29
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Malvin Mandi!