PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Gunnar Goransson (ranked 5770 p4p, 25447 weight class) and Justin Merchant (ranked 582 p4p, 632 weight class). Gunnar Goransson is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Goransson
vs
Merchant

198 cm
23
218
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
25
220
0 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Self confident

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Intelligent

Island clothing lite

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Gunnar Goransson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Justin Merchant!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Winston Alpacca and Michael Johnstone.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Goransson has his takedown stuffed
and Merchant counters with a nice body shot.
Nice uppercut there from Merchant.
Goransson tries for a takedown but Merchant circles away easily
enabling Merchant to counter with a crisp jab.
Merchant comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Goransson gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Merchant counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gunnar Goransson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Goransson with a poor takedown
and Merchant counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Goransson looks for a takedown but Merchant sprawls well.
A little jabbing left from Merchant on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Good work by Goransson as he checks the leg kick.
Merchant connects with a jab.
Goransson has a takedown stuffed.
Goransson looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Goransson takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merchant lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Justin Merchant is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Danga de danga de dang - Merchant scores with a four punch combination!
Merchant ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Goransson moves away.
Goransson on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Goransson gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Merchant cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Merchant with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Goransson looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Merchant is fending him off so far but Goransson persists. Nope, Merchant circles away and we're back to standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Goransson shoots and misses
and Merchant counters with a straight right hand.
Goransson shoots in for a double leg but Merchant sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Merchant fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Goransson has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Goransson shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Merchant counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Goransson is breathing heavily.
Goransson shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Merchant as he avoids it easily.
Merchant lands with a nice body punch.
Goransson with a lazy takedown attempt
and Merchant counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Merchant lands a jab to the head.
Merchant digs a good body shot into Goransson's ribs.
Goransson doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Merchant makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Goransson takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Goransson takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Goransson keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Goransson attempts a counter takedown but Merchant avoids it well and moves away.
Merchant is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Goransson had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
Goransson has his takedown stuffed
and Merchant counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Goransson blocks a leg kick.
Merchant connects with a body shot.
Merchant lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Goransson shoots in for a double leg but Merchant sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Goransson looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Goransson walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Goransson drops his hands momentarily and Merchant takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merchant lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Goransson at a distance.
A low kick from Merchant misses

and Goransson counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Merchant is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Goransson thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Merchant keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Goransson is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Goransson seems to be looking for submissions.

Goransson is working for a kimura but Merchant is defending it quite comfortably.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Merchant is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Goransson is working for a submission of some sort.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Merchant can do anything to dispel that myth.
Merchant avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Goransson.

Goransson wants to work for an arm triangle but Merchant is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Goransson is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Merchant is controlling Goransson's trapped leg to prevent Goransson from advancing to side control.

Goransson is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Merchant sees it coming and defends easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Goransson is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Merchant trying to hold on to Goransson's head to control him but Goransson postures up.

Goransson is looking for a kimura here.

Goransson is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Merchant has managed to free his arm - good work.
Goransson not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Merchant is looking to control Goransson's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Merchant avoid being mounted?
Merchant is looking to improve his position.

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

Goransson is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Merchant has managed to free his arm - good work.
Goransson prevents Merchant from improving his position.

Goransson is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Goransson not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Merchant wants to improve his position but Goransson is controlling well.

Goransson looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Merchant has his hands clasped together around Goransson's back. He's all about the action.
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 Gunnar Goransson 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!

Goransson with a poor takedown
and Merchant counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Nice sprawl there from Merchant as Goransson shoots in.
Merchant tries to counter with a clinch but Goransson shakes him off and moves away.
Merchant fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Goransson is out of range.
Goransson has his takedown stuffed
and Merchant counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Goransson thinking.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gunnar Goransson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Merchant lands with a nice body punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Merchant lands a right hook to the body.
Merchant tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Goransson is able to avoid easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merchant misses the shot to the body.
As Merchant backs away, Goransson returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Merchant ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Merchant scores with a shot to the body.
Some wild striking there from Merchant.
Merchant lands the left hand.
Goransson looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Justin Merchant seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A left and a right from Merchant both land. Nice combination.
Goransson gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Merchant connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Merchant throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Merchant thuds a left hand into Goransson's body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Goransson doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Merchant counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Goransson has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Goransson there as he acknowledges the shot.
We've been informed that Merchant has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Merchant throws a low kick but it's checked well by Goransson.
Goransson feinted with a counter takedown.
Merchant scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Merchant lands with a nice body punch.
Merchant does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
A combination from Merchant does no damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Merchant tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Goransson tries to counter with a takedown but Merchant is quick to defend against it.
Merchant takes a swing at Goransson's ribcage but misses.
Merchant throws a shot to the body.
Goransson takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Merchant lands a nice shot to the body.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Goransson doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Merchant counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Justin Merchant comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Merchant has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 26:30
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 26:29
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Justin Merchant!