PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Alex Gray (ranked 2504 p4p, 3977 weight class) and Blue River (ranked 338 p4p, 471 weight class). Blue River acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Gray
vs
River

186 cm
20
170
4 - 2 - 0

186 cm
20
182
5 - 4 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Powerful

Silverguard Outfitters ðŸ›¡
Furnace Performance ðŸ”¥

Furnace Performance ðŸ”¥
Silverguard Outfitters ðŸ›¡

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Alex Gray!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Blue River !
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Roosa Järviläinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gray comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Gray ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Gray stuns River with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Gray lands with a left to the head.

Gray escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gray thuds his right hand into River 's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Gray lands a body shot.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Gray, as that shot connected.
Gray keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Gray's jab looks to have found its range, popping River under the eye.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gray scores with a punch to the head.
Gray ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray scores with a crisp jab that stopped River in his tracks.
Gray smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
River throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gray sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Gray thuds a left hand into River 's body.
River 's coach down at The Factory was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on River 's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Gray throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Gray cracks River with a right hand to the side of the head.
Gray avoids the body shot from River .
Gray lands a really nice looking cross but River seems unphased.
River misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Gray.
Gray connects with a jab.
River walks into a stiff left hand from Gray.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
River tries to move into range but Gray moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Gray misses with a body shot.
Gray tries to clinch up.
River just misses with a punch to the body.
Gray lands a right hook to the body.
Gray sizes up River with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Gray lands a slapping body shot.
Gray lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
River walks into a left hand.
Gray scores with a nice strike.
We've been told by Gray's head coaches at Cope's that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Gray scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
River on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Gray wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
River takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Gray lands with a right hand.
River shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Gray cracks a nice hook into River 's ribs.
Gray lands a right hook to the body.
Gray lands a nice looking body shot.
Gray stuns River with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Gray lands a really nice looking cross but River seems unphased.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gray digs a good hook to River 's body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gray scores with a hook.
A big right from River misses.
A jab from Gray does it's job there.
River takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Gray ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Gray fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
River drops his hands momentarily and Gray takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Gray throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Gray listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
River misses with a hook.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Gray dominated that round.
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.

Gray throws a shot to the body.
River misses with a looping left.
Gray cracks River with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Gray fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Gray stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
River walks into a stiff left hand from Gray.
Gray changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Gray jabs at River 's body.
Gray throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
River takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Gray lands with a right hand.
Alex Gray seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
River looks to score with a jab to the body but Gray is just out of range.
River has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.

Gray clinches up with River and pushes him back against the cage.
Gray scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A head punch on the inside from Gray fails to land.
River prevents a body shot from Gray.
Gray softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Gray has a couple of punches blocked by River .
Gray misses with some punches.
Gray tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Gray's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Gray has a couple of punches blocked by River .
Gray lands with a right to the head.
River prevents a body shot from Gray.
Gray tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray pushes River back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Gray misses with a hook from the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on River 's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Gray tries a body shot but River blocks it.
River lands a shot to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gray working aggressively here.
Gray tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Gray throws a punch but it's blocked by River .
Gray misses with a hook to the ribs.
River blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Gray goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Gray is working River over against the cage.
Gray pushes River back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Gray digs a right hand underneath River 's ribcage. River let out a lung full of air as it connected.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
River blocks an uppercut.
A short left from Gray.
Gray misses with a hook to the ribs.
Gray misses with some punches.
Gray struggles to land a body shot inside as River controls his hands.
Gray lands a body shot.
Gray working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Gray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that River can do to turn this around?
Gray is working River over against the cage.
Gray misses with a short punch on the inside.
Gray fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Gray misses with some punches.
River is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Gray lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of River backwards.
Gray goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gray lands a right hand.
Gray lands a left hand.
A head punch blocked on the inside by River .
Gray throws a head punch that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Gray fails to land.
Gray lands with a left to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gray lands a body shot in the clinch.
Gray lands an uppercut.
A short right from Gray on the inside.
A short uppercut from Gray.
Gray can't find room to land a body shot as River controls the action.
Gray struggles to land a body shot inside as River controls his hands.
Gray can't find room to land a body shot as River controls the action.
Gray digs a right hand into River 's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on River 's gas tank.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Gray dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Gray scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Gray lands a head shot.
Gray jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Gray swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Gray pushes River up against the cage in a clinch.
Gray lands a shoulder strike.

River is rocked!
Gray misses with the head strike.
River is still on wobbly legs! Can Gray finish him?
Gray swings away with an uppercut that misses.
River seems to have recovered his senses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gray swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by River .
A right handed body shot lands from Gray.
Nice body punch from Gray - that landed with a thud.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Alex Gray has scored more points in the clinch so far.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gray.
Gray softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Gray scores with a shot to the side of River 's head.
Gray lands a hook that snaps the head of River backwards.
Gray misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Gray throws a blind hook that connects with the side of River s head.

Gray breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
River takes one on the button.
River takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Gray fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
River scores with a nice head shot.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
River takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray lands a nice shot that snaps River 's head back.
Gray lands a really nice looking cross but River seems unphased.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gray looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
River doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Gray dips to his left and cracks River with an uppercut!
Gray scores with a jab to the body.
Gray fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Gray cracks River with a right hand to the side of the head.
Jab from Gray.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gray dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Gray connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Gray lands a really nice looking cross but River seems unphased.
Gray darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Gray misses with a body shot.
It seemed like River was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
River lands a nice shot to the body.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Gray.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Gray.
Gray connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
River keeps the fight on the outside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
River takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Gray lunges at River with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by River 's hand.
Gray takes a swing at River 's ribcage but misses.
River looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Gray fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Gray ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Alex Gray is winning the standup battle so far.
Gray scores with a hook.
Gray jabs River to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Gray lands with a cross.
Gray keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Gray catches River with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Gray clearly takes that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Gray takes a swing at River 's ribcage but misses.
River has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Gray connects with a right hand. River shakes it off.
Gray staying out of range there.
River gets cracked there but stands up to it.
A slow jab from River misses its intended target.
Gray 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.
River takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
The fighters circle momentarily. Gray darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Gray bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Gray is looking to counter punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Gray dips to his left and cracks River with an uppercut!
Gray cracks River with a good jab.
Gray digs a good hook to River 's body.
Gray's corner calls for a 1-2. Gray obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Gray cracks River with a nasty uppercut that draws ooohs from the crowd and sends River tumbling backwards onto the mat. He tries to recover but Gray pounces and lands a hail of unanswered strikes that forces the referee to step in to end the fight! River is not happy but he gave the referee no choice!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:44 of round 4, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Alex Gray!
Alex Gray retains his welterweight title!