|
|
PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mark Spagnolo (ranked 4473 p4p, 4324 weight class) and Rory Birdwhistle (ranked 410 p4p, 400 weight class). Birdwhistle has chosen Davidian - Machine Head as his entrance music. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!
 |
|
 |
| 178 cm
20
165
4 - 6 - 0 |
|
174 cm
20
162
4 - 5 - 0 |
Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Good chin |
|
Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank |
|
| |
|
Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mark Spagnolo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Rory Birdwhistle!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Sano and Tatsuya Matsuyama.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Spagnolo swings widly with a right hand
and Birdwhistle cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Birdwhistle swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Spagnolo counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Birdwhistle has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Spagnolo uses from the top position.
Birdwhistle looking for a sweep. Not yet Birdwhistle, not yet.
Spagnolo trying to control the position from guard on top but Birdwhistle is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Spagnolo controlling from the top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Birdwhistle has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Spagnolo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Birdwhistle is keeping the position for now.
Birdwhistle wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Birdwhistle lands with a shot to the body.
Spagnolo fails to land with a series of punches.
Birdwhistle doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Spagnolo takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Birdwhistle tries to close the distance and clinch up but Spagnolo swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Birdwhistle lands with a good body shot.
Birdwhistle is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Spagnolo's half guard.
Birdwhistle thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birdwhistle keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Spagnolo on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Spagnolo tries to get out of the position.
Birdwhistle is thwarting Spagnolo's attempts to control the position.
Birdwhistle sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Spagnolo defending well though.
Birdwhistle seems to be working for a kimura but Spagnolo defends the submission attempt.
Birdwhistle performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Birdwhistle is keen to just control but Spagnolo is a slippery customer.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birdwhistle thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Spagnolo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Birdwhistle controlling the action here.
Spagnolo knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Birdwhistle on the ground.
Birdwhistle is looking to take a break and control but Spagnolo is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Birdwhistle thows a huge punch but Spagnolo dodges it nicely.
Birdwhistle is trying to control the action in half guard but Spagnolo is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
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.
Spagnolo swings for the body but Birdwhistle moves out of range.
Birdwhistle cracks Spagnolo with a good jab.
Spagnolo walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Birdwhistle checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Spagnolo is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Spagnolo misses with a lunging right hand
and Birdwhistle counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Birdwhistle takes the fight into the clinch.
I was talking to Spagnolo's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Spagnolo can't find room to land a body shot as Birdwhistle controls the action.
Spagnolo takes a shot to the head.
Spagnolo throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Birdwhistle has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Spagnolo clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Birdwhistle missing with punches from the back.
Birdwhistle misses with an elbow to the head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Rory Birdwhistle dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!
Nice shot lands for Birdwhistle.
Nice shot lands for Spagnolo.
Birdwhistle connects with a looping right hand.
Birdwhistle has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
Spagnolo looks to clinch
and Birdwhistle connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Spagnolo avoids the head kick by Birdwhistle.
Spagnolo gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Birdwhistle is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Spagnolo is defending well.
Birdwhistle has clasped his hands together around Spagnolo's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The ground and pound from Birdwhistle seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Birdwhistle tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Birdwhistle has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Birdwhistle throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Birdwhistle tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Birdwhistle is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Spagnolo knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Birdwhistle is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Spagnolo has escaped the position, nice work there.
Birdwhistle postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Birdwhistle misses with the ground and pound.
Spagnolo defending against the ground and pound.
That's two 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.
Birdwhistle tries to move to mount but Spagnolo blocks the move with his legs.
Birdwhistle has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Spagnolo is not content to let Birdwhistle control the position.
Birdwhistle happy to just control the position for now.
Spagnolo defending against the ground and pound.
Spagnolo is not content to let Birdwhistle control the position.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birdwhistle tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Birdwhistle throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Birdwhistle wants to control but Spagnolo is keeping him busy.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Spagnolo misses with a straight right.
Birdwhistle goes for a double leg but Spagnolo avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Spagnolo continues to drive forward.
Birdwhistle fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Spagnolo checks it well.
Birdwhistle cracks Spagnolo with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice shot by Birdwhistle.
Spagnolo misses the jab.
Spagnolo tries to land a front kick but Birdwhistle steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Birdwhistle throws out a powerful jab.
A decent looking cross lands there for Spagnolo.
Birdwhistle scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Spagnolo is not content to let Birdwhistle control the position.
Birdwhistle tries for a kimura but Spagnolo is defending well.
Birdwhistle working the ground and pound.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Rory Birdwhistle showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!
Birdwhistle scores with a shot to the body.
Birdwhistle throws a big shot that misses.
A low kick from Spagnolo misses
and Birdwhistle connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Birdwhistle ducks under a wild hook from Spagnolo.
Rory Birdwhistle seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Spagnolo throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Birdwhistle sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Spagnolo is looking to chop away at Birdwhistle's legs.
Birdwhistle lands a nice hook to Spagnolo's body. Spagnolo takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Birdwhistle closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Birdwhistle trying to control the action but Spagnolo is working from the bottom.
Spagnolo parries the strikes from Birdwhistle easily there. Birdwhistle is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Spagnolo to escape.
Birdwhistle throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Spagnolo being controlled for a moment.
Birdwhistle wants to lay and pray for a moment but Spagnolo keeps working.
Birdwhistle in side control, working for a kimura. He's got hold of an arm and he's torquing it... Spagnolo is tapping! That's the end of the fight!
Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:49 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Rory Birdwhistle!
Rory Birdwhistle decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
|
S |
C |
G |
|
energy
A | B |
|
hype
A | B |
|
pop
A | B |
|
mgr
A | B |
|
FIGHT
RATING
49% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
