PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Barton Gallagher (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maestro Fresh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barton Gallagher has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Gallagher
vs
Fresh

225 cm
18
177 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

175 cm
24
175 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

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 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Barton Gallagher!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Maestro Fresh!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Johanna Lukiainen and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fresh shoots in for a takedown but Gallagher shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Gallagher moves into the clinch successfully.
Gallagher gets underhooks to prevent Fresh's takedown attempt.

Gallagher manages to break the clinch.

Gallagher pushes Fresh up against the cage in a clinch.
Fresh jumps guard but Gallagher turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Barton Gallagher has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Maestro Fresh.
Fresh goes for a takedown attempt but Gallagher pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Fresh will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gallagher takes the fight into the clinch.

Gallagher tightens his grip and picks Fresh up, before dumping him to the ground. Fresh manages to land in guard.
Fresh utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gallagher sitting in guard here, content to control.
Gallagher chips away with some ground and pound.
Gallagher slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Gallagher throws an elbow that misses. Fresh uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Gallagher's guard. Nice move by Fresh!

Gallagher has his foot on Fresh's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Fresh works his way back into a safe position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gallagher seems keen to control Fresh's posture.
Gallagher can't keep his opponent in guard - Fresh advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Fresh trying to control from Gallagher's half guard. Gallagher has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Gallagher doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Fresh wants to control from the top but Gallagher keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fresh pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gallagher is keeping the position for now.
Fresh passes into half guard.
Fresh trying to control the action but Gallagher is working from the bottom.
Gallagher wants to get back to his feet.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Fresh gets tackled into the cage by Gallagher. Gallagher maintains the clinch.
Gallagher really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Fresh wants to take the fight to the mat but Gallagher manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Gallagher is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.

Gallagher breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fresh dives in for a single leg takedown but Gallagher sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Fresh looks winded!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Fresh is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Gallagher gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barton Gallagher dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Gallagher clinches up against the cage.

Gallagher breaks from the clinch.

Gallagher looking to score a takedown here. Fresh is defending well but Gallagher drives through and ends up in Fresh's guard.
Gallagher wants to control from the top but Fresh keeps moving.
Our spies down at at MMA Sanok Training Center inform us that Fresh has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Fresh tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Gallagher throwing strikes but missing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gallagher trying to control the position from guard on top but Fresh is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fresh not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gallagher lands a couple of elbows.
Gallagher scoring with some ground and pound.
Fresh working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Gallagher.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Gallagher feints and as Fresh raises his hands in defense, Gallagher changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Gallagher throws a big right hand that misses.
Fresh is breathing heavily.
Gallagher throws a big right hand that misses.
Barton Gallagher overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gallagher is looking to work some ground and pound but Fresh has wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gallagher cracks Fresh with a solid left hand.
Gallagher in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gallagher stays in close to Fresh's body and controls the position.
Gallagher with a flurry of punches that miss.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Gallagher feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Gallagher throwing strikes from guard but Fresh blocks nicely.
Gallagher trying to control but Fresh is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fresh wants to control but Gallagher passes easily into half guard.
Ground and pound from Gallagher.
Gallagher looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Gallagher slips a nice elbow through Fresh's hands, connecting with Fresh's forehead.
Gallagher working Fresh over with strikes.
Well, if Gallagher is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Gallagher is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Fresh can do to turn this around?
Gallagher looks to land a strike but Fresh avoids it nicely and regains full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gallagher throws an elbow that misses. Fresh uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Gallagher's guard. Nice move by Fresh!

Gallagher throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Fresh escapes and throws Gallagher's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Fresh trying to control the position but Gallagher is working away.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gallagher is trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barton Gallagher dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Gallagher stuffs the takedown.

Gallagher rushes Fresh and presses him up against the cage.
Fresh jumps guard but Gallagher turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Fresh is looking for a takedown.
Barton Gallagher has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Maestro Fresh.

Gallagher turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Gallagher manages to end up in side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fresh struggling a bit here.
Gallagher scores with punches from side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gallagher in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Fresh takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Fresh is being controlled here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gallagher trying to control the position but Fresh is working away.
Gallagher landing a few strikes.
Fresh managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Gallagher.
You can see the frustration on Fresh's face as Gallagher controls the position.
Gallagher's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Gallagher scores with punches from side control.
Fresh can't do much from the bottom here.

That's two 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.
Gallagher wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fresh keeps working.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Fresh struggling a bit here.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Gallagher pushes Fresh up against the cage in a clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Gallagher manages to pull guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gallagher has his feet on Fresh's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Horrible takedown attempt by Fresh or perhaps it was just good defense by Gallagher, which made it look bad.

Gallagher closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Fresh wants to get back to his feet.
Gallagher wants to take a breather but Fresh is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gallagher not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Gallagher is trying to control. Fresh wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gallagher missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Gallagher sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Fresh defending well though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Barton Gallagher showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gallagher has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:26
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:26
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Barton Gallagher!
The defeated Maestro Fresh had this to say: 'Good battle out there tonight, proud of myself for how far I have come but have a long way to go!'.