PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Frank Till (ranked 4925 p4p, 456 weight class) and Jacob Graham (ranked 4931 p4p, 457 weight class). Frank Till had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 156.8lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Till
vs
Graham

184 cm
18
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Frank Till!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jacob Graham!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Joseph Jones and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Graham forces Till back against the cage and clinches.
Till looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Till pulls Graham into guard.

Graham gets to his feet - Till follows without any prompting.

Graham gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Till takes a shot to the head.
Graham has a couple of punches blocked by Till.

Graham manages to break the clinch.
Graham tries to clinch but Till moves out of range.
Till goes for a double leg but Graham avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Graham continues to drive forward.
Despite the aggression on Graham's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.

Till gets tackled into the cage by Graham. Graham maintains the clinch.

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

Graham drives through and clinches with Till against the cage.
Graham with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Till jumps guard and drags Graham to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graham is looking to stand up but Till won't let him.

Graham stands up from Till's guard - Graham perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Till keeps the fight on the outside.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch but Till swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Till fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Graham avoids it really well and circles away.

Graham drives through and clinches with Till against the cage.
Graham lands a knee to the head.
Graham tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Till smiles and moves away.
Graham fails with an attempt to clinch.

Graham has closed the distance and engaged Till in a clinch.

Graham manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graham fails in his attempt to clinch.
Till blocks a head kick by Graham.
Till keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Nice sprawl there from Graham as Till shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Till. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Graham wants to clinch.
Graham fails with an attempt to clinch.

Graham moves into the clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Till is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graham gets through Till's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

Graham's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Graham tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Till circles away from the clinch attempt.

Graham gets a clinch.

Graham escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Graham tries to clinch up.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Till paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Graham tries to clinch there but Till circles away.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch up but Till swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Till pivots, looking for a leg kick but Graham is out of range and Till settles back down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham tries to clinch there but Till circles away.
Graham goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
No luck for Graham with that takedown attempt.
Graham tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Till swivels and escapes.

Graham takes the fight into the clinch.
Graham is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Graham has Till pressed against the cage.

Till breaks the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jacob Graham dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Graham tries to clinch up but Till circles away and keeps his distance.
Frank Till is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Till pushes Graham up against the cage in a clinch.

Till ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Till no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Graham trying to control but Till is working from the bottom.
Graham stopping the sweep attempt from Till.

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

Graham moves into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graham trying to control the position but instead, Till has worked for underhooks and has pushed Graham into the cage.
Till wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Graham has him pressed against the cage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Graham breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Till keeps the fight on the outside.
Till keeps the fight on the outside.

Graham rushes Till and presses him up against the cage.

Graham breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Graham is looking to clinch but Till is avoiding it.
A little feinted left hand from Till on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Graham shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Till but Till pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Till tries to clinch but Graham moves out of range.
Graham raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Till circles away from the clinch attempt.
Till is looking to counter the offense by Graham and move into the clinch.
Graham moves in looking to clinch but Till pushes him off.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch but Till swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Till appears to be looking for a big counter.
Graham defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Till.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Till keeps the fight on the outside.
Jacob Graham seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch but Till swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Graham fails with an attempt to clinch.
Graham has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Graham doesn't manage to clinch there - Till circles away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Till keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Graham's efforts to push away.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Graham using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

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

Graham clinches up against the cage.
Till looking to stall.

Graham breaks from the clinch.
Graham scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Graham tries to clinch there but Till circles away.
Graham tries to clinch up but Till circles away and keeps his distance.
Graham tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Till went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Till paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham tries a head kick but it misses.
Jacob Graham seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Graham throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

Graham drives through and clinches with Till against the cage.
Graham with a knee to the head.
Graham misses with a punch on the inside.

Till breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Graham doesn't manage to clinch there - Till circles away.
Till is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Graham.
Graham is looking to clinch but Till is avoiding it.

Graham has taken the fight to the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Graham throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Graham jumps guard but Till turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Till is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jacob Graham showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Thud! ouch! good body kick from Graham - that will leave a mark!
Till fails with a takedown attempt.
Graham moves in looking to clinch but Till pushes him off.
Graham lands a jab-cross combination.
Graham fails with an attempt to clinch.

Graham fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Till, pushing him back against the cage.

Graham successfully pulls guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Till stops Graham from standing up.
Graham trying to control the position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Till stops Graham from standing up.
Till trying to control the position from guard on top but Graham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Graham scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Graham moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Graham is looking to clinch.
Graham fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Graham moves into range and clinches up with Till.
Graham trying to control the position but instead, Till has worked for underhooks and has pushed Graham into the cage.

Graham breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Graham tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Graham clinches.
Jacob Graham seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Graham swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Graham lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Till drops down looking for an ankle pick but Graham pulls his leg out and moves away.
Graham tries to close the distance and clinch up but Till swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Graham gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Jacob Graham is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Graham crunches a lovely knee into Till's ribcage.
Graham effectively controlling the action here.

Graham manages to break the clinch.
Graham tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Till counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham tests Till's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Till swats away the attempt to clinch by Graham.
Till shoots in but Graham avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Till. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Till has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Graham has worked on his takedown defense in the runup to this fight and it is paying off so far.

Graham gets a clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Till wants to take the fight to the mat but Graham manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jacob Graham comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Graham has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Jonathan Paton scores the fight 27:30
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 27:30
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jacob Graham!