PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ebubekir Siddik (ranked 1049 p4p, 3189 weight class) and Jeb Freeman (ranked 145 p4p, 440 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Siddik
vs
Freeman

184 cm
25
190
3 - 0 - 0

174 cm
25
185
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very quick

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ebubekir Siddik!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jeb Freeman!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Michael Johnstone and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Siddik looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Freeman!
Siddik definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Freeman is trying to get back to half guard.
Freeman is trying to control Siddik's posture but Siddik avoids it.
Freeman tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Siddik wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Siddik grinds an elbow into Freeman's temple.
Freeman should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Siddik wants to lay and pray for a moment but Freeman keeps working.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Siddik scores with a couple of short elbows.
Siddik working the head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Siddik controlling the position.
Siddik throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Siddik scores with a couple of short elbows.
Siddik landing a few strikes.
Siddik postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Siddik lands a nice forearm strike.
Siddik is looking to take a break and control but Freeman is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sloppy strikes there by Siddik.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Freeman is looking to reverse the position.
Siddik connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Freeman some visible discomfort.
Siddik is staying tight to Freeman's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Siddik trying to control the action but Freeman is working from the bottom.
Freeman can't do much from the bottom here.
Freeman takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Freeman regains half guard, as Siddik was trying to land strikes.
Siddik lands strikes from half guard.
Siddik wants to control but Freeman is keeping him busy.
Siddik trying to mount his opponent but Freeman defends it.
Siddik with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Freeman is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Siddik scores with a couple of nice shots.
Freeman is looking for a sweep. Siddik is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Siddik performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Freeman is trying to get back to full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Siddik wants to take a breather but Freeman is having none of it.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ebubekir Siddik dominated that 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.

Siddik darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Siddik lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Siddik sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Freeman defending well though.
Freeman regains full guard. Nicely done.
Freeman is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Freeman seems to be working for a kimura but Siddik defends the submission attempt.

Siddik is defending against the submission attempts here by Freeman.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Freeman is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Siddik has managed to free his arm - good work.
Siddik wants to control but Freeman is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Freeman is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Freeman is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Siddik trying to get back to full guard but Freeman takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Siddik wants to control but Freeman is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Freeman looking to secure an arm triangle but Siddik defends it well.
Siddik can't escape the position.

Freeman is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Siddik has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Siddik!
Siddik knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Freeman on the ground.
Freeman managing to control the position.
Freeman working a defensive guard here.
Ebubekir Siddik overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siddik has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Freeman is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Siddik stands up over Freeman, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Siddik not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Freeman has momentary wrist control but Siddik slips an elbow through the middle.
Siddik throws an elbow that misses. Freeman uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Siddik's guard. Nice move by Freeman!

Siddik has control of Freeman's left arm, preventing Freeman from doing any damage.
Siddik keeping moving, preventing Freeman from controlling successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ebubekir Siddik will probably get the nod.
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!

Siddik changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Freeman looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Freeman struggling a bit here.
Freeman sneaks back into half guard.
Siddik controlling the pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Siddik looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Siddik throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Siddik seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Freeman does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Siddik working Freeman over with strikes.
Freeman trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Siddik manages to pass to mount!
Siddik controlling his opponent.
BOOM! Siddik connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Siddik lands with some strikes.

It looks like Jeb Freeman has been cut.
Freeman bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Siddik is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Siddik keeping moving, preventing Freeman from controlling successfully.
Siddik looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Freeman drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Siddik dives on top into guard.

Siddik postures up.
Ebubekir Siddik is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Siddik's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Siddik is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siddik working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Siddik trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Freeman is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Siddik stays in close to Freeman's body and controls the position.
Siddik is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Freeman can do to turn this around?
Siddik working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Freeman not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Siddik is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Freeman has control of Siddik's left arm, preventing Siddik from doing any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Siddik gets the takedown into side control.
Freeman is looking to regain half guard here but Siddik keeps moving and retains side control.
Siddik landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Siddik scoring with punches from side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Siddik creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Check out the look on Siddik's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!

And that's the end of the fight!
Ebubekir Siddik showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Siddik 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 Peter Branson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ebubekir Siddik!