PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Leopoldo Gamble (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Albert Maridan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Gamble
vs
Maridan

221 cm
18
161 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

170 cm
18
154 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Leopoldo Gamble!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Albert Maridan!
The judges for this bout are Francis DeMontford, Bruno Hogan and Chris Dean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gamble fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Maridan's coach down at MMA My Way was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Maridan's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Maridan looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!

Maridan tries to keep at a distance but Gamble has taken the fight into the clinch.

Gamble gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Maridan regains guard.
Gamble scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Gamble really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Gamble with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Gamble connects with a couple of short punches.
Gamble postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gamble postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Gamble is looking to work some ground and pound but Maridan has wrist control.
Gamble slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Gamble gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maridan throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Maridan slaps away a takedown attempt from Gamble, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Gamble tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Maridan defends well and Gamble ends up having to push Maridan into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Leopoldo Gamble. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Maridan misses with a combination

and Gamble counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Maridan!
Gamble working the ground and pound.
Maridan on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Gamble lands a decent elbow from side control.
Maridan tries to escape but Gamble is in control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gamble in side control lands a decent elbow.
Gamble scoring with punches from side control.
Gamble creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gamble scoring with punches and elbows.
Maridan is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maridan is trying to control Gamble's posture but Gamble avoids it.
Maridan takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Gamble cracks Maridan with a big elbow.
Maridan taking punishment in the form of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gamble working the ground and pound.
Gamble is chipping away with strikes.
Maridan taking a bit of punishment here - Gamble scoring with strikes.
Gamble in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Gamble seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Maridan for as long as he can get away with.
Gamble works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gamble is looking to take a break and control but Maridan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Gamble will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Gamble cracks Maridan with a big elbow.
Gamble landing strikes.
Gamble lands a decent elbow from side control.
Gamble working the ground and pound from side control.
Gamble lands a decent elbow from side control.
Gamble scores with a couple of short elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Gamble forces Maridan back against the cage and clinches.

Gamble manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Gamble manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.
Gamble working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Gamble is looking to take this one to the mat.

Gamble jumps guard.

Gamble has his foot on Maridan's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Maridan works his way back into a safe position though.
Gamble has Maridan pulled in close to control his posture.
Maridan won't allow Gamble to sweep him here.
Gamble is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Maridan is breathing heavily.
Gamble bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Maridan's guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gamble throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Maridan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Gamble stands up over Maridan, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gamble throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Maridan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Gamble controlling from the top position.
Gamble is looking to work some ground and pound but Maridan has wrist control.
Gamble is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Maridan can do to turn this around?
Gamble lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Gamble keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Maridan's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gamble slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Gamble distracts Maridan with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Gamble works over Maridan with some ground and pound from guard.
Gamble connects with a couple of short punches.

Gamble decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Maridan, up you get!

Gamble closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Maridan to the mat! Maridan manages to get full guard.
Gamble postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Maridan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gamble. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gamble lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Gamble connects with a couple of short punches.

Maridan is working an open guard so Gamble takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Horrible takedown attempt by Gamble or perhaps it was just good defense by Maridan, which made it look bad.

Gamble looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Gamble throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Gamble is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Gamble prevents Maridan from standing back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Gamble.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Gamble lands a nice short elbow.
Gamble seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Maridan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Gamble seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Gamble 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.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gamble is controlling the pace.
Maridan has hold of Gamble's hands but Gamble slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leopoldo Gamble dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Maridan misses the jab.
Maridan leaves Gamble with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Maridan stuffs the takedown.
Maridan jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Gamble gets a clinch.
Maridan takes a knee to the side of the body.

Gamble gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Gamble is taking a breather. Maridan says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Leopoldo Gamble overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Maridan tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Gamble manages to move to mount!
Maridan trying desperately to get to his feet.
Maridan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maridan is squirming around, avoiding Gamble's attempts to control the action.
Gamble landing strikes from the mount and Maridan is in trouble!
Gamble postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Maridan looks a forlorn figure.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gamble cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Gamble unloading with bombs!

Maridan is rocked!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gamble cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Maridan is still in real trouble! Can Gamble finish him?
Gamble lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gamble lands a nice shot to the head.
Maridan taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gamble landing shots from mount.

Gamble is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Maridan can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gamble has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Maridan's face.
Gamble is landing with some decent strikes but Maridan is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Gamble postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Maridan in real trouble here! The ref calls for Maridan to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:35 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Leopoldo Gamble!