PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Scott Page (ranked 3883 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tiago Franco (ranked 4758 p4p, 0 weight class). Tiago Franco has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Scott Page's chin.

Page
vs
Franco

185 cm
35
170 lbs
16 - 10 - 0

180 cm
21
170 lbs
1 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Scott Page!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tiago Franco!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Russell Pearce and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Franco tries to clinch but Page moves out of range.
Franco tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Page swivels and escapes.
Page throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Franco's head.
Franco misses with a few strikes there.
Page keeps the fight on the outside.
Page connects with a high kick.
Franco takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
A head kick from Page lands but Franco takes it in his stride.

Page changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Franco looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Franco is rocked!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Franco is looking for a sweep.
Franco is still in real trouble! Can Page finish him?
Franco seems to have recovered his senses.
Franco can't do much from the bottom here.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
Page trying to control the action but Franco is working from the bottom.
Page is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Franco will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Franco wants to get back to his feet but Page drags him back down.
Page is chipping away with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Page is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Franco knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Page working the body and head with strikes.
Franco struggling a bit here.
Franco is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Franco is trying to work for a sweep but Page has mounted him!

Page swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Franco is now in Page's guard. A big mistake from Page there, giving up the dominant position!
Franco advances position into side control!
Page gets back to half guard.
Page is pressing down on Franco's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Page manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Franco manages to get himself to full guard.

Page sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Page throws a big elbow that misses.
Franco controls Page momentarily but Page frees himself.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Franco looking for a sweep. Not yet Franco, not yet.
Page wants to pass the guard but Franco is keeping the position.
Franco trying to control the position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Page makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Page postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Page forces his way into half guard.
Page trying to pass the guard but Franco defending well.
Franco is in trouble now - Page has advanced to mount!
Franco tries to hold on but Page postures up.
Page fails to advance to Franco's back.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Page avoids the attempt from Franco to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Page is working for a guillotine from mount but Franco frees his head quite easily.
Franco regains half guard.
Page looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Page is trying to control the action in half guard but Franco is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Franco is trying to control but Page passes into side control!
Franco manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Page moves into full guard.
Franco trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Scott Page dominated that 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.

Franco takes a kick to the side of the head.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Page!

Page manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Franco on his heels. He'll look to pass Franco's guard now, I'm sure.
Franco is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Page is controlling him.
Franco utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Page controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Page stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Franco swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Page postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Franco is on top in guard.

Page is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Franco with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Page lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Page pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Franco is keeping the position for now.
Franco looking to hit a scissor sweep but Page is one step ahead there.
Page scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Franco tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Page is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Page looking to pass the guard.
Page advances to half guard.
Page blocks the strikes from Franco.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Page is working away from the top position though.
Page prevents Franco from improving his position.
Page seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Franco does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Page is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Franco can do to turn this around?
Franco slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Page is fighting to break Franco's control of his arms but Franco is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Franco keeping full guard, as Page tries to pass.
Page passes Franco's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Page is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Franco!
Page pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Page looking to control but Franco is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco tries to hold on but Page pushes him away.
Page sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Page fails to move to back control.
Franco is in all sorts of trouble here.
Franco stops Page from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Franco wants to hold on but Page pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Franco tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Page looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Franco keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Franco sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Franco wants to control but Page is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Franco gets back to full guard.
Page trying to control but Franco is working from the bottom.
Page tries to free his leg and advance position but Franco is retaining full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Franco is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Page is stalling in the full guard.
Franco trying to keep a closed guard but Page is proving a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Scott Page dominated that second round.
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. This is the final round!

Page closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Franco's guard.
Franco looking to control.
Page pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Franco is keeping the position for now.
Scott Page overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Page controlling from the top position.
Page stops Franco from standing up.
Page advances to half guard.
Page trying to mount his opponent but Franco defends it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Page passes the guard and advances to mount!
Page controlling his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco manages to regain half guard. Good work.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Well, if Page is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Page takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Franco trying to control from the bottom.
Page frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Franco is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Franco wants to try and get back to his feet.
Page controlling his opponent.

Page has hold of Franco's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Franco manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franco taking shots to the head.
Page moves to take his opponent's back.

Page looking for the choke from the back.
Page not allowing Franco to control his hands.

Page looking for the RNC.
Page controlling well, preventing Franco from escaping the position.
Franco is trying to stand back up.
Franco trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Page has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Franco has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

Page is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Franco just trying to survive but Page is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.

Page working for a choke but Franco is defending well.
Franco breaks Page's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Franco keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Page's head.
Franco working some strikes from top position.
Page seems keen to control Franco's posture.
Tiago Franco has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franco looking to pass the guard.
Page is trying to control the position but Franco postures up.

Page throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Page is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Franco defends well.
Page looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Franco works over Page with some ground and pound from guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Page has control of Franco's left arm, preventing Franco from doing any damage.

Page looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Franco preventing the sweep.

And that's the end of the fight!
Scott Page showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Page 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 Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Scott Page!
Scott Page decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.