PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sly Cheese (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Josh Barsanti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barsanti has chosen Bawitdaba as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Cheese
vs
Barsanti

200 cm
22
275 lbs
1 - 0 - 1

200 cm
19
255 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sly Cheese!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Josh Barsanti!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Tiny Johnson and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cheese looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Nice jab there from Cheese.
Cheese looks to land a combination but Barsanti avoids it well.
Some wild striking there from Cheese.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Cheese misses with a series of wild punches.
Cheese scores with a spinning back kick!
Cheese throws a jab when Barsanti was well out of range.
Cheese fails with an attempt to clinch.
Cheese wants to clinch up but Barsanti keeps it at a distance.
Cheese lands with a hook. Barsanti tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Cheese takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
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!
Some wild striking there from Cheese.
Cheese avoids the body shot from Barsanti.
Barsanti throws a big shot that misses.

Cheese shoots in and bounces Barsanti off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Barsanti is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheese with a nice head shot there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Barsanti wriggles free and stands up.

Cheese scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Barsanti looks gassed!
Barsanti on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Cheese controlling the position.
Sloppy strikes there by Cheese.
Cheese connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Barsanti some visible discomfort.
Cheese remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Cheese 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.
Cheese in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheese creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Barsanti is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cheese is controlling him well.
Cheese content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Cheese working the ground and pound from side control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Barsanti can do anything to dispel that myth.
Cheese grinds an elbow into Barsanti's temple.
Cheese staying calm.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cheese throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Barsanti is letting Cheese control him for a moment.
Cheese in side control, throwing shots but Barsanti defends.
Barsanti takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Cheese happy to just control the position for now.
Cheese lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Barsanti down.
Barsanti takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Cheese throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Cheese is putting a hurting on Barsanti here, landing some big shots from side control.
Cheese controlling the position from side mount.
Cheese misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cheese is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Barsanti will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sly Cheese dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Barsanti misses with a wild body shot.
Cheese lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Cheese looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Cheese looks to land a combination but Barsanti avoids it well.
Cheese throws a nice looking combination but Barsanti bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Barsanti keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Barsanti lands a jab to the nose.
Cheese ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Cheese misses with a double jab.
Barsanti misses with a few strikes there.
Cheese lands a nice shot to the body.
A decent looking cross lands there for Barsanti.
Cheese blocks a jab.
Cheese misses with a double jab.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Left hook, right uppercut from Barsanti.
Cheese misses with a few strikes there.
Cheese works over Barsanti's head and body with a nice combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barsanti looks to land a combination but Cheese avoids it well.
Sly Cheese is winning the standup battle so far.
Cheese looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Barsanti is fending him off so far but Cheese persists. Nope, Barsanti circles away and we're back to standing.
Cheese misses with a straight right.
Barsanti scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Cheese throws a nice looking combination but Barsanti bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Barsanti fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Barsanti throws a right and a left that both miss.
Cheese tries to bum rush Barsanti with a series of wild strikes but Barsanti uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Barsanti throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Josh Barsanti is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Crunch! Cheese slams his shin into Barsanti's torso.
Barsanti looks to land a left hand but Cheese moved out of range nicely.
Cheese displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Barsanti throws out the jab.
Cheese tries to bum rush Barsanti with a series of wild strikes but Barsanti uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Barsanti misses with a series of wild punches.
Barsanti throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
enabling Cheese to counter with a crisp jab.
Barsanti keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Cheese buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Cheese rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Barsanti moves out of range and avoids them all 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.
Cheese slips a jab and a cross from Barsanti.
Cheese connects with a jab.
Cheese throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Barsanti counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Cheese misses with a double jab
letting Barsanti counter with a right hand.
Cheese has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sly Cheese. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barsanti scores with a nice strike.
Barsanti looks to score with a jab to the body but Cheese is just out of range.
Cheese lands a jab-cross combination.
Barsanti jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Sly Cheese seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cheese swinging wilding here.
Barsanti scores with a nice head shot.
A telegraphed right hand from Cheese misses the target.
Some wild striking there from Barsanti.
Barsanti thows a left - swing and a miss!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Cheese misses.
Cheese takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Cheese shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Cheese throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cheese trying to control the position from guard on top but Barsanti is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barsanti avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Cheese scoring with some ground and pound.
Cheese postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Cheese scoring with punches to the head and body.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cheese is looking to work some ground and pound but Barsanti has wrist control.
Barsanti wants to stand and escape but Cheese is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cheese thows a big elbow that misses.
Barsanti can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Cheese controls the pace.
Barsanti working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cheese.
Barsanti working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cheese.
Barsanti preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Cheese fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Barsanti scores with a jab. Cheese acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Barsanti takes one to the chin there.
Cheese gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Barsanti throws a hook to the side of Cheese's head but Cheese sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A punch combination from Cheese misses.
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 Sly Cheese will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Cheese missing with a left hand there. Barsanti was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Barsanti might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

Cheese drives through and clinches with Barsanti against the cage.
Cheese wants to get back to striking at distance but Barsanti won't allow it.
Cheese tries to break the clinch but Barsanti is controlling the position.
Barsanti keeps control of Cheese as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Barsanti is looking to break free of the clinch but Cheese has double underhooks.

Cheese lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Well, if Cheese 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.
Barsanti keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cheese thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Barsanti's head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cheese slows the pace down in half guard.
Barsanti tries to kick Cheese off but Cheese keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheese lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Cheese not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sly Cheese overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cheese takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Cheese seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Barsanti for as long as he can get away with.
Barsanti blocking the ground and pound attempt from Cheese.
Cheese missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Cheese missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Cheese is taking a breather. Barsanti says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Barsanti is staying active underneath Cheese, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Sly Cheese just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Cheese lands a nice shot that snaps Barsanti's head back.
Cheese shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Barsanti as he avoids it easily.
Barsanti smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Barsanti stuns Cheese with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Barsanti scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Barsanti scores with a hook.
Barsanti connects with a single shot there.
Sly Cheese is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cheese scores with a jab to the jaw.
Josh Barsanti has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cheese with a hook.
Cheese pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Cheese swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Barsanti counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Nice shot lands for Barsanti.

Cheese shoots in and bounces Barsanti off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Cheese controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cheese trying to control but Barsanti is working from the bottom.
Sly Cheese is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cheese seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Cheese trying to control but Barsanti is working from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sly Cheese showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Cheese 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sly Cheese!