PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ronaldo Gomes (ranked 2521 p4p, 3574 weight class) and Didier Tsabalala (ranked 344 p4p, 453 weight class). Tsabalala has chosen Fight Like the Devil as his entrance music. Ronaldo Gomes has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gomes
vs
Tsabalala

190 cm
21
185
4 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
172
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

Arcticus University: London
Brooklyn Apothecary

Pit Bull Development

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 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ronaldo Gomes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Didier Tsabalala!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Richard Clark and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tsabalala shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Gomes pinned against the cage. Gomes gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Tsabalala tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Didier Tsabalala seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tsabalala throws a head kick that misses

and Gomes counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Gomes.
Gomes 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gomes slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Gomes tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Gomes has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gomes is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Tsabalala has escaped the position, nice work there.
Gomes advances to mount.
Gomes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Gomes is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Tsabalala has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Tsabalala!
Gomes has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gomes is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Tsabalala looks winded!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gomes wants to pass to mount but Tsabalala is defending the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tsabalala has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Gomes is working away from the top position though.
Gomes controlling the action here.

Gomes is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Gomes trying to control the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gomes has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.

Gomes 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.

That's four 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.
Gomes is figuring out what he wants to do next.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ronaldo Gomes dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Tsabalala tries to clinch

so Gomes counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Gomes is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Gomes stands and throws Tsabalala's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Gomes just content to control the position.
Tsabalala tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Gomes wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Tsabalala is breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gomes moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Gomes moves into full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gomes moves to take his opponent's back.

Gomes has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Tsabalala! Can he survive? No! He's out! Gomes gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:34 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Ronaldo Gomes!
During a confident post fight interview, Ronaldo Gomes thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.