PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Shinya Aoki (ranked 1897 p4p, 3968 weight class) and Mateo Garcia (ranked 243 p4p, 473 weight class). Aoki's entrance music is Shinya Aoki. A fine choice. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Mateo Garcia enters the cage!

Aoki
vs
Garcia

180 cm
26
168
3 - 1 - 0

180 cm
22
155
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Barry Bonds Performance Enhancers $120 3 160Q
SMESH Nutrition 160Q

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shinya Aoki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Mateo Garcia!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Jonathan Paton and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Garcia has taken the fight to the clinch.
Aoki fails to pull guard.
Garcia trying to stall but Aoki improves his position.
Garcia tries to work over Aoki's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Garcia stalls.
Aoki tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Garcia smiles and moves away.

Garcia has Aoki up against the cage in a clinch.

Aoki successfully pulls guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Aoki working for a triangle but Garcia defends it easily.
Aoki is adopting a defensive guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia wants to stand but Aoki has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Aoki seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Aoki managing to control the position.
Garcia tries to stand but Aoki is controlling from the bottom.
Aoki has control of Garcia's left arm, preventing Garcia from doing any damage.

Aoki looking for a guillotine here but Garcia defends easily.
Aoki has his hands on Garcia's head, controlling the position.

Aoki is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Garcia defends well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki pulls Garcia in close to prevent any damage.
Garcia trying to stand up but can't free himself from Aoki's guard.
Aoki seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Garcia has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Aoki is proving hard to escape from.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Aoki seems keen to control Garcia's posture.
Garcia wants to get up but he can't break Aoki's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Garcia's corner is telling him to maintain position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
A left and a right from Garcia both land. Nice combination.
Garcia lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Aoki takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.

Aoki gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Garcia to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Aoki pulls Garcia in close to his closed guard and prevents Garcia from doing any damage or advancing position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mateo Garcia dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Garcia pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Aoki feinted with a counter takedown.
Garcia chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Garcia throws a head kick but Aoki moves out of range.
Garcia with a nice calf kick.

Garcia forces Aoki back against the cage and clinches.
Garcia wants to stall.

Aoki pulls guard.
Aoki has control of Garcia's left arm, preventing Garcia from doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aoki continues to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Garcia postures up in Aoki's guard and throws a big left but Aoki blocks it.
Aoki has a closed guard, preventing Garcia from standing up.

Aoki working for a triangle but Garcia defends it easily.
Garcia trying to stand up but can't free himself from Aoki's guard.
Garcia being controlled here momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Aoki has a closed guard, preventing Garcia from standing up.
Aoki seems keen to control Garcia's posture.
Garcia wants to stand but Aoki has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Garcia instigates a clinch.
Garcia wants to break free but Aoki has control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Garcia looking to slow down the pace here.
Garcia wants to stall.

Aoki jumps into guard, dragging Garcia to the mat.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Aoki holds on and takes a little breather.
Garcia has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Garcia tries to stand but Aoki is controlling from the bottom.
Aoki has his hands on Garcia's head, controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Garcia is looking to stand up but Aoki won't let him.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Aoki is controlling Garcia's posture.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Aoki goes for a double leg but Garcia avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Garcia continues to drive forward.
Aoki tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Garcia smiles and moves away.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mateo Garcia showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Aoki forces Garcia back against the cage and clinches.
Aoki is trying to pull guard but Garcia has him pressed against the cage.

Garcia breaks from the clinch.

Aoki gets caught napping as Garcia dives in and scores a takedown. Aoki manages to retain guard.
Garcia wants to stand but Aoki is controlling his posture from full guard.

Garcia wants to stand up, so he's looking to wriggle free of Aoki's closed guard. He's half up but Aoki has locked on to an arm! Uh oh! Aoki pivots and extends the arm, Garcia falls face first to the mat and taps??... does he?? YES! He's tapping! Excellent counter grappling there by Aoki! Well done that man!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:49 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Shinya Aoki!
Shinya Aoki very nearly forgot to thank SMESH Nutrition 160Q amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.