PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Na Tae Woo (ranked 4673 p4p, 4621 weight class) and Brandon Gray (ranked 298 p4p, 292 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Tae Woo
vs
Gray

172 cm
18
145
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
18
145
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Na Tae Woo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Brandon Gray!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Ben Zyskovitsi and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gray with a poor takedown
and Tae Woo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gray misses with a double jab
and Tae Woo counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Gray thinking.
Gray misses with a takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a stiff right hand.
Gray tries to clinch but Tae Woo moves away
and Tae Woo counters with a straight right hand.
Gray has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Tae Woo finds it's way round the side to connect with Gray's head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gray shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a right hand to the body.
Na Tae Woo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Brandon Gray.
Gray throws a lazy head kick
and Gray takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tae Woo cracks Gray with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Gray misses with a takedown attempt
and Tae Woo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Gray fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Tae Woo to the ground. Gray is now in Tae Woo's guard.
Gray trying to control the position from guard on top but Tae Woo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tae Woo has Gray pulled in close to control his posture.
Gray trying to control the position from guard on top but Tae Woo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Gray throwing strikes from guard but Tae Woo blocks nicely.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Gray closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Gray seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Tae Woo does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Gray is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Gray has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tae Woo wants to improve his position but Gray is controlling well.
Gray tries to stand but can't do so whilst Tae Woo controls his leg.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tae Woo keeping hold of Gray's head, controlling as best he can.
Gray is trying to control the action in half guard but Tae Woo is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Gray fails with the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Gray shoots and misses
and Tae Woo counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Gray shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Gray tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Tae Woo counters with a left to the body.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gray gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tae Woo counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Na Tae Woo dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Gray misses with a takedown
and Gray takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Gray takes the fight into the clinch.

Tae Woo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Gray tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Tae Woo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gray throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Tae Woo counters with a right hand to the body.
Tae Woo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gray can do to turn this around?
Gray throws a lazy head kick
and Tae Woo counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray tries to clinch up
letting Tae Woo counter with a right hand.
Gray gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tae Woo counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

Gray moves into range and clinches up with Tae Woo.
The referee is keeping an eye on Tae Woo - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Gray is trying to break the clinch but Tae Woo is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray is looking for a takedown.
Na Tae Woo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Brandon Gray.

Tae Woo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Tae Woo lands with a right hand.

Tae Woo gets caught napping as Gray dives in and scores a takedown. Tae Woo manages to retain guard.
Tae Woo keeping moving, preventing Gray from controlling successfully.
Gray trying to stand up but can't free himself from Tae Woo's guard.
Gray advances position into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gray trying to control the position but Tae Woo is working away.
Tae Woo can't do much from the bottom here.
Tae Woo tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Gray wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gray trying to control the position but Tae Woo is working away.
Gray throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Gray postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Brandon Gray has got the better of the ground game so far.
Tae Woo prevents Gray from improving position.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gray wants to control but Tae Woo is keeping him busy.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Na Tae Woo dominated that second 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. And we move into the final round!

Gray with a lazy takedown attempt
and Tae Woo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gray throws a leg kick
and Tae Woo counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Gray thinking.
Gray throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Gray shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a right hand to the body.
Gray tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Tae Woo makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gray darts in trying to clinch
and Tae Woo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray with a poor takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Na Tae Woo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Brandon Gray.

Gray has Tae Woo up against the cage in a clinch.
Gray is looking to break free of the clinch but Tae Woo has double underhooks.

Tae Woo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Gray tries to clinch
and Tae Woo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Gray throws a body kick that misses
and Tae Woo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Na Tae Woo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tae Woo avoids the head kick by Gray.
Gray has his takedown stuffed
and Gray takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Gray misses with a takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Gray doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a stiff right hand.
Gray throws a body kick that misses
and Tae Woo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gray looks to clinch
and Tae Woo counters with a nice uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gray moves to clinch but Tae Woo breaks away
and Tae Woo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Gray gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tae Woo counters with a right hand to the body.
Gray tries to clinch
and Tae Woo counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Gray gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tae Woo counters with a nice uppercut.
Gray tries to clinch
and Tae Woo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gray with a poor takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Gray misses with a kick to the body
and Tae Woo counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gray tries to clinch
and Tae Woo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gray gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tae Woo counters with a nice uppercut.
Gray takes one on the button.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gray fails with the takedown
and Tae Woo counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Brandon Gray has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gray throws a sloppy head kick
and Tae Woo counters with a lovely shot to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Na Tae Woo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Tae Woo, 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:26
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:26
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Na Tae Woo!
After the fight, Na Tae Woo was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.