PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Alex Pereira (ranked 4932 p4p, 4814 weight class) and Gawain Balian (ranked 529 p4p, 525 weight class). Pereira comes into the arena with 50 Cent - Many Man blaring out of the sound system. The key to victory for Alex Pereira has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Pereira
vs
Balian

195 cm
25
180
1 - 1 - 0

177 cm
18
165
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Alex Pereira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Gawain Balian!
The judges for this bout are Trevor Gratis, Elvis Blanc and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pereira lands a head kick!
Pereira connects with a looping right hand.
Balian misses with a body shot
and Pereira counters with a stiff right hand.
Balian looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Balian gets in close and instigates a clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Balian - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Pereira doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Pereira avoiding damage as Balian throws knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balian jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pereira walks away with a smile on his face. Balian gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Pereira tries to clinch there but Balian circles away.
Balian staying out of range there.

Balian gets the takedown into side control.

Pereira explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alex Pereira is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Pereira scores with a sloppy right hand. Balian should have avoided that one.
Balian's coach down at LAVA Core Gym was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Balian's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Pereira with a nice calf kick.
Pereira lands with a slapping head kick.
Pereira moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
The fight stays on the outside here - Pereira looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Pereira is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Pereira gets caught napping as Balian dives in and scores a takedown. Pereira manages to retain guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Balian controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Balian stands up and waves to Pereira to follow him.
Balian swats away the attempt to clinch by Pereira.
Balian takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Balian throws a right and a left that both miss.
Pereira thuds a left hand into Balian's body.
Pereira tries to clinch up but Balian circles away and keeps his distance.

Balian drives through and clinches with Pereira against the cage.
Pereira unloads a knee to the mid-section. Balian lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pereira lands an elbow that stopped Balian in his tracks for a moment.
Balian dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

Pereira breaks from the clinch.
Pereira throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Balian.
As Pereira backs off Balian throws a huge counter combo but Pereira manages to avoid it all.
Pereira bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Balian's head.
Pereira doesn't manage to clinch there - Balian circles away.
Balian with the counter takedown but Pereira avoids it easily.
Pereira bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Balian's head.

Balian has closed the distance and engaged Pereira in a clinch.
Pereira wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Balian has him pressed against the cage.
The referee is keeping an eye on Balian - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Balian manages to break the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice cross by Pereira.

Balian clinches up with Pereira and pushes him back against the cage.
Balian lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Pereira is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Pereira.
Balian tries to pull guard but Pereira forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Alex Pereira has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gawain Balian.
Balian scores with a shoulder strike.
Balian stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Pereira lands a nice elbow.
Balian avoids the elbow strike from Pereira, against the cage.
Balian is working for takedown but Pereira is calmly controlling the position for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Pereira dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

A head kick by Pereira misses

and Balian counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Balian.
Pereira really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Balian postures up.

Balian gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Pereira darts in trying to clinch

and Balian counters with a single leg into guard. Pereira didn't expect that.
Balian content to stall in guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pereira will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Balian stops Pereira from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balian's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Pereira looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Balian puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Pereira tries to roll over but Balian keeps him under control.
Balian working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Pereira's thigh. Pereira counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Pereira definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Pereira wants to hit a sweep here but Balian passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Pereira there!
Pereira tries to hold on but Balian pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Balian.
Balian looking to control and managing it successfully.

Balian is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!

Balian changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Pereira looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Balian stands up.
Balian shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balian has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Gawain Balian is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Balian has his takedown stuffed
and Pereira makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Balian shoots for a takedown but Pereira saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Balian tries for a takedown but Pereira circles away easily
and Pereira counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Alex Pereira has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gawain Balian.
Balian is breathing heavily.
Pereira throws a head kick that misses.
Pereira listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Nice jab there from Pereira.
Alex Pereira is winning the standup battle so far.
Pereira keeps the fight on the outside.

Balian gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Pereira is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Balian has had enough of the clinch but Pereira keeps him there for the moment.
Balian jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pereira walks away with a smile on his face. Balian gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pereira throws a quick inside leg kick.
Balian shoots in for a takedown but Pereira shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Pereira fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Balian.
Pereira is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Balian can do to turn this around?
Pereira lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Pereira throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Balian's head.
Balian fails with the takedown
enabling Pereira to counter with a crisp jab.
Pereira lands a nice shot that snaps Balian's head back.
Balian shoots and misses
and Pereira cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Pereira scores with a jab.
A head kick from Pereira lands but Balian takes it in his stride.
Pereira lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Pereira throws a nice head kick!
Pereira thows a body kick. Balian tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Pereira throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Pereira dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Balian with a lazy takedown attempt
and Pereira counters with a head kick. That will keep Balian thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Pereira lands with a slapping head kick.

Balian looking to score a takedown here. Pereira is defending well but Balian drives through and ends up in Pereira's guard.
Balian throws a strike but Pereira rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Pereira preventing the sweep.
Pereira postures up.

Balian has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Pereira can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Balian keeping full guard, as Pereira tries to pass.
Balian takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Pereira is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balian controls Pereira momentarily but Pereira frees himself.
Balian wants to improve his position but instead Pereira has moved into half guard.
Balian is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Pereira seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Balian does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Balian tries to get to full guard but Pereira has control of the leg.

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.
Pereira thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Balian moves into full guard.
Balian pulls Pereira in close to his closed guard and prevents Pereira from doing any damage or advancing position.

Pereira gets to his feet - Balian follows without any prompting.
Balian closes the distance looking to clinch
and Pereira counters with a left to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pereira scores with a nice strike.

Balian closes the distance and pushes Pereira back into the cage.
Pereira wants to break the clinch but can't.
Pereira creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Balian's defenses.
Pereira lands a nice elbow.
Pereira working some nice short punches in the clinch.

Pereira manages to break the clinch.
Balian with a poor takedown
and Pereira counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Balian forces Pereira back against the cage and clinches.
Pereira missing with knees to the body.
Balian is trying to pull guard but Pereira turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Alex Pereira has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gawain Balian.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pereira tries to circle away but Balian has him pinned against the cage.
Pereira lands a damaging elbow.
Balian wants to break the clinch but can't.
Nice elbow from Pereira.
Gawain Balian has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Pereira escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Pereira stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Pereira wants it to stay on the feet.
Balian looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pereira cracks Balian with an open hand slap.
Pereira throws a quick inside leg kick.
Pereira bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Balian's head backwards.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Pereira showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Pereira, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Pereira!
In his post fight interview, Alex Pereira started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.