PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Albin Polak (ranked 4665 p4p, 4776 weight class) and Finalizador Esqueca (ranked 256 p4p, 0 weight class). Albin Polak looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Polak
vs
Esqueca

173 cm
25
135
1 - 1 - 0

160 cm
20
144
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Albin Polak!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Finalizador Esqueca!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Bart Greer and Winston Alpacca.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Esqueca moves in looking to clinch but Polak pushes him off.
Polak avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Esqueca 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.
The fight stays on the outside here - Esqueca looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Esqueca shoots in for a double leg but Polak sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Esqueca drives through with a takedown into guard.
Esqueca trying to control but Polak is working from the bottom.

Polak kicks Esqueca off and gets to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Polak misses with a kick to the body.
Esqueca tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Esqueca shoots in but no luck this time.

Polak feints and as Esqueca raises his hands in defense, Polak changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Polak controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Esqueca is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Esqueca wants to sweep here but Polak controlling him for the moment.
Esqueca will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Esqueca not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Polak slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Finalizador Esqueca seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Esqueca shoots in and gets a takedown into Polak's guard.
Polak is wriggling around but Esqueca manages to pass to half guard.
Polak is breathing heavily.

Polak controlling the position well.
Esqueca is pressing down on Polak's thigh, looking to free his foot. Polak is holding on for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esqueca keeps trying to improve his position.
Esqueca not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Esqueca trying to control the action but Polak is working from the bottom.
Polak is trying to stand.
Polak is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Island Gym, so we'll see if he gets out of it.

That's four 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.

Esqueca stands up out of the half guard.
Esqueca tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Esqueca forces Polak back against the cage and clinches.
Polak tries to pull guard but Esqueca won't allow it.
Polak is trying to push Esqueca away but Esqueca has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Polak has had enough of the clinch but Esqueca keeps him there for the moment.
Esqueca is looking to take this one to the mat.
Albin Polak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Finalizador Esqueca.

Esqueca's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Esqueca shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Polak sprawls well. Polak wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Esqueca gets slowly back to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Albin Polak will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Polak throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Esqueca wants to clinch up but Polak keeps it at a distance.
Polak tried to counter with a leg kick but Esqueca avoided it.
Esqueca looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Polak is fending him off so far but Esqueca persists. Nope, Polak circles away and we're back to standing.
Esqueca is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Polak throws a quick counter head kick but Esqueca was just out of range.
Polak stuffs the takedown attempt from Esqueca. Esqueca gets slowly back to his feet.
As Esqueca backs away, Polak returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Albin Polak is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A head kick misses from Esqueca.

Polak pushes Esqueca up against the cage in a clinch.
Esqueca is looking to control Polak's arms but Polak gets an underhook and turns him. Now Esqueca has his back to the cage.
Esqueca fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Polak tries to circle away but Esqueca has him pinned against the cage.

Esqueca breaks from the clinch.
Esqueca tries to close the distance and clinch but Polak swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A head kick misses from Polak.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Esqueca goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Esqueca gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Polak counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Esqueca scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Polak manages to mount him!
Albin Polak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Finalizador Esqueca.
Esqueca tries to reverse the position but Polak maintains control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Polak.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Polak controlling from mount.
Esqueca tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Polak controlling from mount.
Polak avoids the attempt from Esqueca to control.
Polak with a couple of short strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Polak cracks Esqueca with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Esqueca's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Polak will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Polak looking to control and managing it successfully.
Polak is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Esqueca can do to turn this around?
Esqueca taking shots to the head.

Polak is standing up, even though he is in mount.
Esqueca is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Polak throwing a counter right hand but Esqueca manages to avoid it.
Esqueca misses with a head kick.
Polak throws a head kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Polak blocks a head kick by Esqueca.
Polak throws a counter high kick but Esqueca was just alert enough to avoid it.
A clash of legs there as Esqueca blocks the low kick.
Polak tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Polak scores with a decent looking hook.
A low kick from Esqueca misses

and Polak counters with a takedown into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Polak avoids the strikes from the bottom by Esqueca.
Esqueca is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Albin Polak overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Polak trying to control the pace.

Polak stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Esqueca to get to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Albin Polak dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Esqueca throws a leg kick but Polak checks it.
A head kick misses from Polak.
And Esqueca tries to counter it with a takedown but Polak pushes his down on his head and steps out.

Esqueca has taken the fight to the clinch.
Esqueca keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Polak's efforts to push away.
Polak stalling the fight.

Polak jumps into guard, dragging Esqueca to the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Esqueca with a flurry of punches that miss.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Esqueca wants to control from the top but Polak keeps moving.
Esqueca looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esqueca trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Esqueca throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Esqueca throws a strike but Polak rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Polak prevents Esqueca from getting back to his feet.
Polak is stalling in the full guard.
Esqueca has a closed guard, preventing Polak from standing up.

That's two 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.
Polak won't allow Esqueca to get back to his feet.
Polak won't allow Esqueca to sweep him here.

Esqueca throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Esqueca had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Polak defends it easily.
Albin Polak is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Polak controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esqueca wants to stand and escape but Polak is having none of it.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Polak manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Esqueca on his heels. He'll look to pass Esqueca's guard now, I'm sure.
Esqueca is looking to stand up but Polak isn't so interested in that idea.
Esqueca can't keep his opponent in guard - Polak advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Polak is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Polak trying to control from half guard but Esqueca is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esqueca gets back to full guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Esqueca is on top in guard.

Polak is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Esqueca prevents Polak from getting back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Albin Polak.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Polak, 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 Santiago Holmes scores the fight 30:28
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight 30:27
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Albin Polak!
A victorious Albin Polak thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.