PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Deandre Craft (ranked 6648 p4p, 0 weight class) and Adam King (ranked 4614 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Craft
vs
King

156 cm
18
150 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

176 cm
18
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Deandre Craft!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Adam King!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Matti Vanhoillinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Craft drives through with a takedown into guard.
Craft in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
King wants to stand up but Craft is controlling him.

Craft stands up from guard. Let's bang!
King looks for the body kick but Craft saw that one coming.
Craft seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Craft really is a fat lump.
Craft avoids the head kick by King.
Craft seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

Craft shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Craft showed some decent athleticism there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Craft escapes and gets back to his feet.

King shoots in and gets a takedown into Craft's guard.
King really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Craft. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Craft controlling King's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Craft manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.
Craft wants to stall.

King has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Craft uses from the top position.
King working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Craft.
King working a defensive guard here.

Craft gets to his feet - King follows without any prompting.
King throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Craft is trying hard to land a takedown here. King sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
King goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
As King looks to move away, Craft throws a big counter combo but King just gets out of the way.
Craft slips a jab and a cross from King.

King closes the distance and clinches.
Craft displaying some good clinch control by pressing King up against the cage.
Craft is trying to maintain a safe position but King gets an underhook and turns Craft into the cage.
King blocks an elbow strike from Craft.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Craft stalling against the cage.
Craft tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Deandre Craft.
Craft shoots in but no luck this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Craft shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says King as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Deandre Craft. That's going to take a lot out of him.

King moves into the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. King obliges.
Craft is breathing heavily.
Craft looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Craft is trying to stall.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

King manages to break the clinch.
King misses with the combination.

King closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Craft quickly recovers to half guard.

Craft has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but King is on him like a limpet, forcing Craft back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

King breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nice body punch from King.
A head kick misses from King.
King just manages to avoid a counter high kick fromCraft.

Craft gets caught napping as King dives in and scores a takedown. Craft manages to retain guard.
Craft seems keen to control King's posture.

Craft looking for a guillotine here but King defends easily.
Craft keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Adam King will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

King has Craft up against the cage in a clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Craft's face as he tries to break the clinch.

King breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

King closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Craft did well to prevent King getting side control.
Craft might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Craft looks like he's trying to stand up.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Craft gets back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King wants to control from the top but Craft keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Craft looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
King trying to control but Craft is working from the bottom.
King stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Craft swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Craft keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

King stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Craft shoots in but King avoids the takedown attempt easily.

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.
No joy there for King, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Craft tried to counter with a leg kick but King avoided it.
Adam King seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Craft shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says King as he avoids it easily.

Craft shoots in and bounces King off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
King trying to keep a closed guard but Craft is proving a slippery customer.
King will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

Craft gets to his feet. King looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King misses with a few strikes there.
Craft takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
King is breathing heavily.

King 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.

Craft manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.
King is looking to break free of the clinch but Craft has double underhooks.
Craft stalls.

King escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Craft gets caught flat footed, as King shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Craft manages to escape and get back to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

King shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. King showed some decent athleticism there.

Craft kicks off King and gets to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

King gets the takedown into side control.

Craft throws King to one side and escapes!

Craft is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in King's half guard.
Craft lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Craft decides to return to a standing position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Deandre Craft dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

King stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and King wants it to stay on the feet.

Craft gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Craft working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from King.
Craft keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.
Craft pulls King in close to his closed guard and prevents King from doing any damage or advancing position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Craft is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Deandre Craft overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Craft is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Craft looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks King with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Craft lands with a punch from half guard.
Craft working over King with some ground and pound. King looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Craft lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
King trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Craft manages to pass to mount!
King takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Craft controlling his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Craft punishing his opponent with strikes.
Craft wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
Craft breaks from King's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Craft controlling the position easily from mount.
King wants to hold on but Craft pushes him away.
A nice elbow there by Craft.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Craft lands with some strikes.
Craft looking to control and managing it successfully.
King is looking to improve his position but Craft isn't that keen on the idea.
Craft punishing his opponent with strikes.
King is trying desperately to improve position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
King in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Craft sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Craft lands a big shot there that rocks King but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Craft looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
King throwing hammer fists to the chest of Craft. What's that going to do exactly?

And that's the end of the fight!
Deandre Craft showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Craft 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Deandre Craft!