PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jamii Banana (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabriel Leissner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Leissner has chosen GoToSleep as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Banana
vs
Leissner

175 cm
24
179 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

188 cm
23
184 lbs
10 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jamii Banana!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 5 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Gabriel Leissner!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Sergei Dronov and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Banana throws a hook but Leissner blocks it.
Leissner takes one to the side of the head.
Banana throws the kick towards the body but Leissner avoids it.
A nice inside leg kick there by Leissner. That's going to slow Banana down.
Some wild striking there from Leissner.
Leissner drops his hands momentarily and Banana takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Banana looks to score with a jab to the body but Leissner is just out of range.
Leissner swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Leissner lands a lovely overhand right.
Leissner tries to clinch but Banana moves out of range.
Banana cracks Leissner with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Banana gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Leissner holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banana is trying to pull guard but Leissner turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Leissner unloads a knee to the mid-section. Banana lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Leissner lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Leissner dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Banana has had enough of the clinch but Leissner keeps him there for the moment.
Leissner stalling.
Leissner swings wildly with an uppercut but Banana uses good head movement to avoid it.
Banana tries to break the clinch but Leissner is controlling the position.
Banana trying to stall but Leissner improves his position.
Leissner with a knee to the head.

It looks like Jamii Banana has been cut.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Leissner.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leissner has Banana pushed against the cage.
Banana is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Leissner gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jamii Banana. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Leissner tries to land a knee to the head but Banana blocks with his arms.
Leissner stalling.
Leissner looks to throw an elbow but misses.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Banana creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Leissner keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Banana's efforts to push away.
Leissner with an attempt at a knee that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Leissner looking to throw knees to the head but Banana is blocking nicely.
Leissner with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Banana managing to block the knees to the body from Leissner.
Banana tries to break the clinch but Leissner is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leissner is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Leissner tries a knee to the head but Banana blocks it.
Banana tries to pull guard but Leissner won't allow it.

Banana escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Leissner misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Banana pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Banana defending well as Leissner loads up on a big left hand.
Leissner shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Leissner throws a right and a left that Banana avoids nicely.
Leissner misses with a combination
and Banana counters with a nice uppercut.
Banana blocks a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Banana is trying hard to land a takedown here. Leissner sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Jamii Banana seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Leissner tries to close the distance and clinch up but Banana swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Banana throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Leissner counters with a good low kick that Banana was not able to check.
Banana shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Leissner as he avoids it easily.
Banana shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Leissner defends it nicely.
Banana looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Leissner is fending him off so far but Banana persists. Nope, Leissner circles away and we're back to standing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Leissner stuffs the takedown.
Banana swings for the body but Leissner moves out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Leissner dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jamii Banana's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Leissner avoids the body shot from Banana.

Banana drives through with a takedown into Leissner's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Banana got a little sloppy there for a moment and Leissner has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Banana has managed to get both his arms back between Leissner's legs - danger averted.
Banana postures up in Leissner's guard and throws a big left but Leissner blocks it.

Leissner has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Banana can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Banana throwing strikes but missing.
Banana trying to control the position from guard on top but Leissner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Banana passes into half guard.
Leissner moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leissner has his hands on Banana's head, controlling the position.
Banana looking to pass the guard.

Banana avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Banana passes Leissner's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Leissner looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Banana is looking for a kimura here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Banana seems to be working for a kimura but Leissner defends the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Leissner is trying to maintain the position but Banana is very close to passing his half guard.
Leissner is looking to escape.
Leissner wants to stand back up but Banana manages to pass into side control.
Leissner looking for a sweep but Banana has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Banana sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Banana looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Banana fails to move to back control.
Banana thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Leissner is working to get back to half guard.
Banana landing shots from mount.
Leissner tries to hold on but Banana postures up.
Leissner bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Jamii Banana overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Leissner avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leissner throws a big elbow that misses.
Banana 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.
Banana keeping moving, preventing Leissner from controlling successfully.

Leissner stands up from Banana's guard - Leissner perhaps looking for a knockout.
This has been an exciting period of action!
No joy there for Leissner, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Leissner uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Banana.
Leissner wants to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Jamii Banana will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Jamii Banana's cut.
That's time! Banana's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Banana walks into a jab.
Banana blocks a jab.
Banana just misses with a punch to the body.
Nice body punch from Leissner.
Banana keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Leissner gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Banana to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Leissner working for a triangle but Banana defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Banana passes into half guard.
Leissner regains full guard. Nicely done.

Leissner has his feet on Banana's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Banana dips to his left and cracks Leissner with an uppercut!
Leissner throws a right and a left that Banana avoids nicely.
Leissner is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Leissner has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leissner is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Banana is keeping busy.
Leissner tries to land a knee to the head but Banana blocks with his arms.
Leissner gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Banana tries to circle away but Leissner has him pinned against the cage.
Banana drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Leissner gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Knees to the body from Leissner.
Leissner throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Banana blocks it with crossed arms.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Banana turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
The ground and pound from Banana seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Banana is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Leissner has escaped the position, nice work there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Leissner sneaks back into half guard.
Banana prevents Leissner from standing back up.

Leissner kicks off Banana and gets to his feet.
Leissner misses with a straight left.
Leissner throws a low kick, looking for Banana's leg but Banana calmly moves out of range.
Banana circles away from the clinch attempt.
A telegraphed right hand from Banana misses the target.
An inside leg kick lands from Leissner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leissner avoids a punch combination nicely.
Leissner tries to clinch there but Banana circles away.
Leissner loads up on a big right hand but Banana slips the punch.
Leissner connects with a jab.
Banana throws out a loose jab but Leissner uses good head movement to avoid it.
Leissner walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Banana throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Banana keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Gabriel Leissner.
I think Leissner 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gabriel Leissner!
A relieved looking Gabriel Leissner thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.