PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gabriel Fransisco (ranked 3679 p4p, 3231 weight class) and Anton Ilmarinen (ranked 459 p4p, 410 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Fransisco
vs
Ilmarinen

188 cm
25
193
2 - 0 - 0

186 cm
25
198
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Gabriel Fransisco !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Anton Ilmarinen!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Trevor Gratis and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ilmarinen throws out a loose jab but Fransisco uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ilmarinen looks to land a left hand but Fransisco moved out of range nicely.
Fransisco seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Fransisco misses with a leg kick

and Ilmarinen counters with a nice double leg into side control. Fransisco won't be happy with that.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ilmarinen scores with a couple of short elbows.
Ilmarinen working the ground and pound from side control.
Ilmarinen lands some shots froms side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ilmarinen working the body and head with strikes.
Fransisco is pushing Ilmarinen's head away, looking to escape. Ilmarinen manages to hold on to the position though.
Ilmarinen slows the pace down.
Ilmarinen landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fransisco is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Ilmarinen asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Ilmarinen working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Fransisco seems a little lost for a moment, as Ilmarinen dominates the positioning.
Ilmarinen in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Fransisco is trying to get back to his feet.
Ilmarinen lands an elbow.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Ilmarinen looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Fransisco taking punishment in the form of punches.
Fransisco pushes Ilmarinen away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Ilmarinen gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Ilmarinen scores with a couple of short elbows.
Ilmarinen cracks Fransisco with a big elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen controlling the position.
Fransisco is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Ilmarinen controls the position.
Fransisco is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Ilmarinen asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Ilmarinen cracks Fransisco with a big elbow.
Ilmarinen cracks Fransisco with a big right hand but Fransisco just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Fransisco is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Ilmarinen has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Ilmarinen controls the position from side control.
Fransisco looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Ilmarinen is working Fransisco over with some ground and pound from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fransisco prevents Ilmarinen from moving into mount.
Ilmarinen controls the position from side control.
Fransisco is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Ilmarinen asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Fransisco being controlled for a moment.
Fransisco takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ilmarinen lands a nice forearm strike.
Fransisco is working to avoid the ground and pound but Ilmarinen connects with a decent elbow.
Fransisco takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Ilmarinen working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Ilmarinen prevents Fransisco from escaping the position.
Ilmarinen scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Fransisco to see if he's OK.
Fransisco is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Ilmarinen has just dragged him back down to the mat.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ilmarinen slows the pace down.
Ilmarinen lands a few punches from side control.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Anton Ilmarinen dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Fransisco thuds a left hand into Ilmarinen's body.
Fransisco scores with a sloppy right hand. Ilmarinen should have avoided that one.

It looks like Anton Ilmarinen has been cut.
Ilmarinen throws out a loose jab but Fransisco uses good head movement to avoid it.
Fransisco seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Ilmarinen throws a low kick but it's checked well by Fransisco .
Fransisco fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Fransisco avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Ilmarinen thows a leg kick but Fransisco checks it
and Fransisco counters with a three punch combo that has Ilmarinen backing up. Ilmarinen nods at Fransisco to acknowledge the strikes.
Fransisco jabs at Ilmarinen's body.
Ilmarinen ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Fransisco moves away.
Ilmarinen throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Fransisco misses with a leg kick

and Ilmarinen decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Fransisco 's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ilmarinen connects with a couple of short punches.
Ilmarinen postures up and lands a big shot to Fransisco 's brow.
Ilmarinen passes Fransisco 's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Ilmarinen not doing much here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ilmarinen is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Ilmarinen stops Fransisco from getting back to his feet.
Ilmarinen has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Ilmarinen stalling.
Anton Ilmarinen has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Fransisco looks like he's trying to stand up.
Ilmarinen perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Ilmarinen working Fransisco over with strikes.
Fransisco on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Fransisco has hold of Ilmarinen's hands but Ilmarinen slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ilmarinen is controlling the pace.
Ilmarinen is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Ilmarinen lands a nice short elbow.
Ilmarinen slows the pace down in half guard.
Nice strikes from Ilmarinen there.
Ilmarinen seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Fransisco is looking to escape.
Ilmarinen lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Fransisco looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen controlling the action here.
Ilmarinen working Fransisco over with strikes.
Fransisco looks like he's trying to stand up.
Ilmarinen looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nice strikes from Ilmarinen there.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Anton Ilmarinen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Anton Ilmarinen's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Ilmarinen looks to land a right hand but Fransisco moved out of range.
Ilmarinen avoids a punch combination nicely.
A low kick from Fransisco is predictable there

and Ilmarinen counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Fransisco !
Ilmarinen lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Fransisco down.
Fransisco wants to get back to his feet but Ilmarinen drags him back down.
Ilmarinen moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Fransisco is working to avoid the ground and pound but Ilmarinen connects with a decent elbow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ilmarinen is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Fransisco will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Fransisco wants to get back to his feet but Ilmarinen drags him back down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ilmarinen controls the position.
Ilmarinen lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Ilmarinen landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Ilmarinen in side control lands a decent elbow.
Ilmarinen controls the position from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen advances to mount.
Ilmarinen lands with some strikes.
Ilmarinen lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Fransisco hang on?
Ilmarinen raining down shots from the mount!
Ilmarinen landing strikes from the mount.

Fransisco is rocked!
Ilmarinen unloading with bombs!
Oh Fransisco is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Ilmarinen landing strikes, looking to finish!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Whack. That's a big, big shot from Ilmarinen! Fransisco is out cold! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Anton Ilmarinen!