PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between John St Francis (ranked 6334 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jerry Zhou (ranked 8404 p4p, 0 weight class). Zhou has chosen Lord Zhou's Domain as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

St Francis
vs
Zhou

170 cm
25
142 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

168 cm
18
130 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, John St Francis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jerry Zhou!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Russell Pearce and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
St Francis stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and St Francis wants it to stay on the feet.
St Francis feinted with a counter takedown.
No luck with that takedown attempt from St Francis.
Zhou tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
St Francis went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
St Francis blocks the body kick.
St Francis misses with a head kick.
St Francis darts in looking for a takedown but Zhou gets double underhooks and turns St Francis into the cage.
St Francis moves out of the way of the counter high kick fromZhou.
Zhou doesn't manage to clinch there - St Francis circles away.

St Francis clinches up against the cage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by St Francis as Zhou tries to tie him up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Zhou is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. St Francis can't fight it off and eventually Zhou manages to take the fight to the floor. St Francis looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Zhou throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as St Francis works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Francis keeping moving, preventing Zhou from controlling successfully.
Zhou won't allow St Francis to sweep him here.

St Francis escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Zhou gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
St Francis looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
St Francis has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
St Francis keeping full guard, as Zhou tries to pass.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Zhou closes this distance looking for a takedown but St Francis circles away.
St Francis bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Zhou's head.
St Francis blocks a head kick by Zhou.
Zhou moves out of range of the body kick from St Francis.
Zhou shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. St Francis defends it nicely.
John St Francis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jerry Zhou.
Zhou fails with the takedown.
Zhou looks winded!
Zhou shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts St Francis as he jumps to the side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhou keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

St Francis forces Zhou back against the cage and clinches.
Zhou blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Zhou gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from St Francis.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
A short right from St Francis on the inside.
St Francis tries to circle away but Zhou has him pinned against the cage.
Zhou wants to take the fight to the mat but St Francis manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St Francis has Zhou pushed against the cage.
Zhou is defending well against a takedown attempt.

St Francis pulls guard.

St Francis kicks Zhou off and gets to his feet.
St Francis fails with a takedown attempt.
Zhou only half commits to the counter leg kick.

St Francis darts in and clinches Zhou up against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Zhou is trying to push St Francis away but St Francis has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Zhou keeps the fight in the clinch, despite St Francis's efforts to push away.
Zhou is looking to break free of the clinch but St Francis has double underhooks.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John St Francis dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

St Francis shoots in for a takedown but Zhou shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Zhou looks like he wanted to counter with a high kick but didn't throw it.
Zhou misses with a lunging right hand

and St Francis counters by clinching up.
St Francis will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Zhou up against the cage.

St Francis jumps guard.

St Francis has scooted to the edge of the canvas and used the cage to get back to his feet. Zhou has stuck on his opponent and is forcing him back against the cage.
Zhou is trying to pull guard but St Francis turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
St Francis is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Zhou gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
St Francis wants to get back to striking at distance but Zhou won't allow it.
Zhou tries to pull guard but St Francis holds him up against the cage and eventually Zhou drops back down to his feet.
Zhou tries to pull guard but St Francis forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
John St Francis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jerry Zhou.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from St Francis.
St Francis working hard to break the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on St Francis's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Zhou trying to control the position but instead, St Francis has worked for underhooks and has pushed Zhou into the cage.
Zhou is looking for a takedown up against the cage. St Francis gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Zhou wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but St Francis has him pressed against the cage.
St Francis keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Zhou's efforts to push away.
St Francis stalls.
Zhou is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Zhou is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Zhou tries to break the clinch but St Francis is controlling the position.
Zhou goes for a takedown attempt but St Francis pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

St Francis closes the distance and pushes Zhou back into the cage.

St Francis wants the takedown. Zhou is fighting it off but St Francis persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Zhou's guard against the cage.
St Francis slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Zhou is letting St Francis control him for a moment.
Zhou is trying to control St Francis's posture but St Francis avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

St Francis stands up.
St Francis darts in looking for a takedown but Zhou gets double underhooks and turns St Francis into the cage.
Zhou takes a jab right on the kisser.

St Francis rushes Zhou and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
St Francis is trying to push Zhou away but Zhou has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
St Francis is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

St Francis has picked Zhou up - he's going for a ride! St Francis dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Zhou pushes St Francis off but St Francis dives into side control.
John St Francis overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

St Francis tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no St Francis has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

St Francis is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Zhou is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
St Francis is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

St Francis is trying to get an arm triangle but Zhou is defending well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Zhou is being controlled here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John St Francis dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

St Francis shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Zhou pinned against the cage. Zhou gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Zhou tries to keep at a distance but St Francis has taken the fight into the clinch.
St Francis wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
St Francis is trying to break free.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

St Francis successfully pulls guard.
Zhou wants to control from the top but St Francis keeps moving.
Zhou pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. St Francis is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Francis keeping moving, preventing Zhou from controlling successfully.
St Francis bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Zhou's guard.

St Francis sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Zhou's guard.
St Francis is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Zhou can do to turn this around?
St Francis thows a huge punch but Zhou dodges it nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zhou is trying to get back to full guard.
Zhou takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
St Francis missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Francis slows the pace down in half guard.
St Francis is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhou blocking the ground and pound.
St Francis sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Zhou keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Zhou holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as St Francis tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
St Francis avoids the attempt from Zhou to control.
St Francis sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zhou is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
St Francis controlling his opponent.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Zhou defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from St Francis.
Jerry Zhou has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
John St Francis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
St Francis takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
John St Francis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well St Francis has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:27
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:27
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John St Francis!
Jerry Zhou was interviewed post fight and said 'You've only made me stronger'.