PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Graham England (ranked 24884 p4p, 0 weight class) and Franco Crisp (ranked 5724 p4p, 515 weight class). Franco Crisp has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Graham England's chin.

England
vs
Crisp

167 cm
19
177 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

185 cm
18
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Graham England!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Franco Crisp!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Vladimir Khabensky and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crisp punishes England's body with a nice straight punch.
Crisp throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and England counters by clinching up.
Crisp working hard to break the clinch.

England pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Crisp shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. England is trying to defend but Crisp finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crisp not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Crisp seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but England does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
England is trying to stand back up but Crisp is controlling him
Crisp throws a strike but England avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Crisp controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.

Crisp shoots in and bounces England off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Crisp content to stall in guard here.
England keeping moving, preventing Crisp from controlling successfully.
Crisp postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Crisp is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Crisp loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Crisp trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Crisp has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of England is proving hard to escape from.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Crisp throwing strikes from guard but England blocks nicely.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
England moves out of range of the body kick.
England seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Crisp fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt England.
Some wild striking there from Crisp.
Crisp fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Crisp gets the takedown into side control.

England explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
England shoots in looking for a takedown. Crisp tries to sprawl out of it but England keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Crisp manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Crisp misses with a combination

and England counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Crisp is looking to stand back up but England counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Crisp.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

England sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Crisp defending well though.
Crisp trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but England manages to pass to mount!
Crisp tries to hold on but England postures up.
England looking to control and managing it successfully.
Crisp is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Graham England will probably get the nod.
That's time! England's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

England tries a head kick but it misses.
Crisp lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

Crisp closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Crisp looks to land a strike but England avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
England controls Crisp momentarily but Crisp frees himself.
Crisp wants to control from the top but England keeps moving.

England kicks Crisp off and gets to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Crisp bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Crisp scores with a one two! England had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
England will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
England sets himself, and Crisp steps forward looking for the clinch! England avoids it this time.
Crisp moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Crisp doesn't manage to clinch there - England circles away.
Crisp looks to clinch

and England counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Crisp wants to stand but England is controlling the position.
England loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Graham England overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
England with a nice head shot there.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as England accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Crisp wants to control but England passes easily into half guard.
England content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
England winds up and cracks Crisp with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
England is thwarting Crisp's attempts to control the position.
Crisp avoiding damage under a succession of punches from England.
England scoring with strikes to the body and head.
England sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Crisp defending well though.
England missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Crisp missing with punches from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Crisp throws a head kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Crisp clinches with his opponent.
Crisp tries to break the clinch but England is controlling the position.
Crisp prevents a takedown attempt there.

Crisp turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!

England bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Crisp is breathing heavily.
England avoids the body shot from Crisp.

England clinches.
Crisp is looking to break free of the clinch but England has double underhooks.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Graham England dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

England instigates a clinch.

Crisp turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Crisp manages to end up in side control.

England throws Crisp to one side and escapes!
Franco Crisp seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Crisp throws a wild body kick that England sees coming a mile off.
Crisp misses with the combination.
Crisp is looking to land body kicks.

Crisp decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

England makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's one minute gone in the round.
England swats away the attempt to clinch by Crisp.
Crisp takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Crisp tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Crisp pulls out of a head kick attempt.

England clinches with his opponent.

Crisp gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.

England makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
England is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Crisp.

England takes the fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Crisp working hard to break the clinch.
Crisp is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Crisp wants to break free but England has control.

England gets control of Crisp's arms and successfully pulls guard. England will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Crisp really doesn't want to stay on the ground with England. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
England is trying to control the position from the bottom.
England manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Crisp manages to get himself to full guard.

Crisp preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
England is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Crisp can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
England postures up in Crisp's guard and throws a big left but Crisp blocks it.
Crisp looking to control but England passes into half guard.
England controlling the action here.
England seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
England could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
England missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Franco Crisp has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Nice strikes from England there.
Crisp trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but England manages to pass to mount!
England putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Crisp wants to hold on but England pushes him away.
A nice elbow there by England.
Crisp is trying desperately to improve position.
England fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

And that's the end of the fight!
Graham England showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for England, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Graham England!
Franco Crisp was interviewed post fight and said 'Respect to my opponent. Going to go back to the gym and get to work. Don't worry I'll be back.'.