PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Billy Graham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Aldo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Graham comes to the cage accompanied by Get Ready To Deal. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Graham
vs
Aldo

170 cm
26
142 lbs
16 - 7 - 1

172 cm
27
157 lbs
10 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Crippler's Corner
Crippler's Corner

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 16 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Billy Graham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jose Aldo!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Chris Downing and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graham swinging wildly here.
Graham tries to clinch but Aldo is having none of it.
Aldo misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Aldo displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Graham throws out the jab.
Graham staying out of range there.
Graham looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Graham rushes Aldo and presses him up against the cage.

Graham is trying to trip Aldo. He has hold of a leg but Aldo is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Graham persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

Aldo has his feet on Graham's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Aldo looks to throw the jab but Graham is out of range.
Aldo throws a big shot that misses.
Aldo looks to land a right hand but Graham moved out of range.
Aldo gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Graham.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graham takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Graham takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Graham uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Aldo.
Graham throws a big shot that misses.
Graham avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Aldo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Graham.
Graham looks to throw the jab but Aldo is out of range.
Aldo thows a body shot but no joy.
Graham ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Aldo moves away.
Graham bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Billy Graham seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Graham closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Graham not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Graham is looking for a kimura here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graham passes to side control.
You can see the frustration on Aldo's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Graham scores with punches from side control.
Graham looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Aldo is avoiding damage well.
Aldo is looking to regain half guard here but Graham keeps moving and retains side control.
Graham prevents Aldo from escaping the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Graham trying to control the position but Aldo is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Graham sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Aldo is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Graham throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Aldo wants to get back to his feet.

Graham is trying to get an arm triangle but Aldo is defending well.
Graham wants to lay and pray for a moment but Aldo keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Aldo wants to control but Graham postures up.
Aldo defending against the ground and pound.
Graham working the head with strikes.
Graham trying to control the position but Aldo is working away.
Graham looking to control but instead Aldo has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Billy Graham dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Graham misses with a shot to the body
and Aldo counters with a left and a right that stings Graham.

Graham shoots in and bounces Aldo off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Graham has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Graham pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Aldo is keeping the position for now.
Aldo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Graham loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Aldo wants to stand up but Graham is controlling him.
Aldo keeping moving, preventing Graham from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graham throwing strikes from guard but Aldo blocks nicely.
Aldo preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Graham wants to pass the guard but Aldo is keeping the position.
Aldo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Graham.
Graham working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Aldo's head.
Graham is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Graham trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Aldo keeping moving, preventing Graham from controlling successfully.

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.
Aldo trying to keep a closed guard but Graham is proving a slippery customer.
Graham tries to free his leg and advance position but Aldo is retaining full guard.
Aldo is adopting a defensive guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Jose Aldo.
Aldo is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A shot to the body from Aldo misses
and Graham counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Aldo throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Aldo ducks under a wild hook from Graham.

Aldo forces Graham back against the cage and clinches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Aldo breaks the clinch.
Graham tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Aldo manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Graham lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Graham throws a lazy right hand but Aldo sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Graham lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Aldo circles away quickly and effectively.
Graham tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Graham takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Aldo stuffs the takedown.
Graham is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Aldo is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Graham throws out a powerful jab.
Aldo with a body punch. A glancing blow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Graham ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A jab from Aldo does it's job there.
Graham swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Graham misses with a wild combination.
Aldo tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Graham manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Aldo misses the shot to the body.
Graham blocks a jab.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Graham catches Aldo with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Nice uppercut lands for Graham. That snapped Aldo's head back.
Aldo uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Graham.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Billy Graham dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Aldo forces Graham back against the cage and clinches.
Graham keeps control of Aldo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Graham working aggressively here.
Aldo is trying to break free.

Graham wants the takedown. Aldo is fighting it off but Graham persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Aldo's guard against the cage.
Graham pushes down on Aldo's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Graham thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Graham wants to pass the guard but Aldo is defending well.
Graham is keen to just control but Aldo is a slippery customer.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Graham throwing shots but Aldo is blocking nicely.
Aldo regains full guard. Nicely done.
Aldo is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Graham throwing strikes from guard but Aldo blocks nicely.
Graham trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Graham trying to control the position from guard on top but Aldo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Graham throwing strikes from guard but Aldo blocks nicely.
Jose Aldo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Graham throws a strike but Aldo rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Aldo is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Some wild striking there from Aldo.
Aldo misses with a hook. Graham ducked under it nicely.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Graham is defended easily by Aldo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Aldo has Graham up against the cage in a clinch.

Aldo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Graham misses with a looping right.

Aldo gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Graham tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Graham working aggressively here.

Aldo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Aldo moves in looking to clinch but Graham pushes him off.
Graham throws a left and a right that both miss

and Aldo counters by clinching up.
Aldo prevents a takedown attempt there.
Graham is working for takedown but Aldo is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Billy Graham. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice right hand lands inside from Graham.
Graham lands a hook that snaps the head of Aldo backwards.
Aldo tries to circle away but Graham has him pinned against the cage.
Graham has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Aldo is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Graham tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Aldo just stands there and leans against the cage.
Aldo prevents a body shot from Graham.

Aldo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Graham takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Aldo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Aldo gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Graham to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Graham trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Graham is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Aldo is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Aldo has escaped and now he's on top!
Graham wants to sweep but no luck.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Jose Aldo.
I think Graham has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Billy Graham!