PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mercito Gesta (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Amir Khan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Gesta
vs
Khan

182 cm
28
190 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

175 cm
22
185 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mercito Gesta!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Amir Khan!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Donatello Bradman and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gesta throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Khan drives through with a takedown into Gesta's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Khan stays in close to Gesta's body and controls the position.
Gesta keeping moving, preventing Khan from controlling successfully.
Khan working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Gesta trying to control the position here.
Gesta looking for a sweep. Not yet Gesta, not yet.
Khan content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Khan trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Gesta lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Khan!
Khan can't escape the position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gesta landing punches.
Khan sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Gesta thows a huge punch but Khan dodges it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gesta thows a huge punch but Khan dodges it nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Khan is looking for a sweep. Gesta is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Gesta wants to lay and pray for a moment but Khan keeps working.

Khan actively working from the bottom here.
Khan is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Gesta blocks the strikes from Khan.

Gesta is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Khan defends it well.
Gesta lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Khan works his way to full guard. Good work.
Gesta in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Khan looking for a guillotine here but Gesta defends easily.
Gesta wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan looking for a sweep. Not yet Khan, not yet.
Gesta wants to pass the guard but Khan is keeping the position.
Gesta is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gesta stands up over Khan, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gesta throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Gesta preventing the sweep.
Gesta stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Khan swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gesta won't allow Khan to sweep him here.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gesta accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gesta wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.
Khan looking for a sweep. Not yet Khan, not yet.

Khan looking for subs off his back but Gesta has passed one foot through into half guard.
Gesta is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Khan!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gesta in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Gesta lands a heavy elbow.
Khan manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Khan is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Gesta pulls his head out easily.
Gesta is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Gesta 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.
Gesta scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gesta seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Khan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Khan regains full guard. Nicely done.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Khan keeping moving, preventing Gesta from controlling successfully.
Gesta working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Gesta wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.
Khan looking for a sweep. Not yet Khan, not yet.

Khan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Gesta wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.
Gesta has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Khan is proving hard to escape from.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Khan keeping moving, preventing Gesta from controlling successfully.

We're going to have a standup here because Mercito Gesta wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Gesta throws a head kick but Khan moves out of range.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Gesta enables Khan to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Gesta manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Mercito Gesta will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Gesta misses with a takedown attempt - Khan sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Khan shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Gesta manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Khan must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Gesta keeping moving, preventing Khan from controlling successfully.
Khan with a flurry of punches that miss.
Khan postures up.
Gesta is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Khan is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gesta had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Khan defends it easily.

Gesta escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Khan gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Khan is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Khan trying to control but Gesta is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gesta is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Gesta is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Khan regains full guard. Nicely done.

Khan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Gesta decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Gesta throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

Khan drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Check out the look on Khan's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gesta is looking to reverse the position.
Gesta sneaks back into half guard.

Khan is looking for a kimura here.
Gesta has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Khan is working away from the top position though.
Amir Khan has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gesta is staying active underneath Khan, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Gesta trying to hold on to Khan's head to control him but Khan postures up.

Khan is trying to work for a kimura but Gesta is defending well.
Gesta is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan wants to lay and pray for a moment but Gesta keeps working.
Gesta won't allow Khan to pass to mount.
Khan seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Gesta does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Khan works his way into full mount!
Khan lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Khan has hold of Gesta's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Gesta manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Khan tries to control but Gesta wriggling away.
Gesta is looking to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gesta is trying to reverse the position but instead Khan has taken his back - oops!
Khan throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Gesta!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Khan lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
Khan is controlling the position but Gesta somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.
Khan is trying to control the action in half guard but Gesta is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Khan prevents Gesta from improving his position.
Gesta keeping hold of Khan's head, controlling as best he can.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Khan wants to work for an arm triangle but Gesta is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Amir Khan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Gesta gets caught napping as Khan dives in and scores a takedown. Gesta manages to retain guard.
Gesta is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Gesta working Khan over with strikes.

Khan actively working from the bottom here.
Khan is trying to get back to full guard.

Gesta seems to be looking for submissions.

Gesta is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Khan is trying to stand up here but Gesta is controlling him well.
Khan is looking for a sweep. Gesta is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Khan slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Gesta postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Khan looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Khan keeping moving, preventing Gesta from controlling successfully.
Khan is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Gesta is controlling him.
Khan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Gesta postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Khan working for a triangle but Gesta defends it easily.
Khan manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gesta manages to get himself to full guard.
Gesta looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Khan won't allow Gesta to get back to his feet.
Gesta is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Khan stands up over Gesta, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Gesta is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Khan is controlling him.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gesta trying to control the position.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Khan chips away with some ground and pound.
Khan with a nice head shot there.
Khan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Gesta keeping moving, preventing Khan from controlling successfully.
Khan is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gesta is looking for a triangle but Khan pushes his legs off easily.
Khan prevents Gesta from getting back to his feet.
Khan is in close to Gesta's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Khan content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Gesta is trying to control the position but Khan postures up.
Khan trying to control the position from guard on top but Gesta is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gesta is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Gesta keeping moving, preventing Khan from controlling successfully.
Gesta utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Gesta looking to hit a scissor sweep but Khan is one step ahead there.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Khan shoots in and gets a takedown into Gesta's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
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!
Khan cracks Gesta with a solid left hand.
Khan works over Gesta with some ground and pound from guard.
Khan wants to get up but he can't break Gesta's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Gesta is looking for a triangle but Khan pushes his legs off easily.
Khan looking to sit in guard and control but Gesta gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Gesta wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.
Khan tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Khan is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Gesta 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.

Khan is looking for a kimura but Gesta is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Khan to get the leverage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Amir Khan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Khan 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 28:29
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Amir Khan!