PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Clarke (ranked 1920 p4p, 3600 weight class) and Patricio Balduino (ranked 224 p4p, 400 weight class). Balduino has chosen Heaven Sent - John Digweed as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Clarke
vs
Balduino

185 cm
28
275
8 - 4 - 0

194 cm
22
255
3 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Insanely flexible

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Bondi MMA ðŸï¸

Furnace Performance ðŸ”¥
Knockaround Guys Fight Gear

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 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Mark Clarke!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Patricio Balduino!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Marco Blurström and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Clarke misses with a straight left.
Clarke avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

Clarke looking to score a takedown here. Balduino is defending well but Clarke drives through and ends up in Balduino's guard.

Balduino escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Clarke gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Clarke is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Clarke has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

Clarke got a little sloppy there for a moment and Balduino has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Clarke has managed to get both his arms back between Balduino's legs - danger averted.
Clarke is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Balduino had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Clarke defends it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clarke trying to control but Balduino is working from the bottom.

Clarke got a little sloppy there for a moment and Balduino has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Clarke has managed to get both his arms back between Balduino's legs - danger averted.
Clarke has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Balduino is looking for a triangle but Clarke pushes his legs off easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clarke showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Clarke lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Clarke chips away with some ground and pound.
Balduino is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Balduino is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Clarke pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Balduino is keeping the position for now.
Clarke postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Clarke's corner is telling him to maintain position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Balduino had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Clarke defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Clarke's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Clarke avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Clarke wants to control from the top but Balduino keeps moving.

Clarke avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Clarke lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Balduino throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Clarke escapes and throws Balduino's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Clarke scores with punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balduino can't do much from the bottom here.
Clarke cracks Balduino with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Balduino manages to work his way to half guard, despite Clarke's best efforts.
Clarke looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Clarke working the head and body with strikes.
Clarke drops an elbow to the side of Balduino's head.
Balduino is looking to control Clarke's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Balduino avoid being mounted?
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Balduino on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Clarke with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Balduino is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clarke scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Balduino looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Balduino looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Balduino trying to control from the bottom.
Clarke takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Clarke looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Balduino with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Clarke is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Clarke sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Clarke is trying to control the action in half guard but Balduino is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Balduino tries to bum rush Clarke with a series of wild strikes but Clarke uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Balduino swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Clarke.
Balduino misses with a hook. Clarke ducked under it nicely.

Clarke looking to score a takedown here. Balduino is defending well but Clarke drives through and ends up in Balduino's guard.
Balduino has momentary wrist control but Clarke slips an elbow through the middle.

Balduino looking for a guillotine here but Clarke defends easily.
Clarke wants to control from the top but Balduino keeps moving.
Balduino is trying to keep Clarke in close.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Balduino is looking for a triangle but Clarke pushes his legs off easily.
Clarke is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Clarke is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Balduino can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clarke stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Balduino swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Clarke postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Clarke working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Balduino has momentary wrist control but Clarke slips an elbow through the middle.

Balduino is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Clarke is aware though and is defending well.
Clarke trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Balduino keeping moving, preventing Clarke from controlling successfully.

Balduino throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Clarke trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Clarke controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Balduino had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Clarke defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clarke postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Balduino has his foot on Clarke's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Clarke works his way back into a safe position though.
Clarke working some strikes from top position.
Clarke trying to control but Balduino is working from the bottom.
Clarke makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Clarke drops back looking for a leg! Balduino is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Balduino manages to kick Clarke off! Clarke jumps back into Balduino's guard.
Clarke controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

Balduino is looking for a triangle but Clarke pushes his legs off easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balduino working a defensive guard but Clarke passes into half guard.
Clarke working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Clarke wants to lay and pray for a moment but Balduino keeps working.
Balduino wants to get back to full guard.
Clarke sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Clarke seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Balduino does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Clarke is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Balduino is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Balduino is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Clarke scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clarke seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Balduino is trying to get back to full guard.

Balduino looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Balduino wants to improve his position but Clarke is controlling well.
Nice strikes from Clarke there.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Balduino is looking to improve his position.

Balduino looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Clarke landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Clarke dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Clarke scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Balduino is trying to control but can't.
Balduino manages to get to full guard.
Clarke scoring with punches to the head and body.
Clarke looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Clarke postures up and lands a big shot to Balduino's brow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clarke pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Balduino is keeping the position for now.
Clarke content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Clarke distracts Balduino with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Balduino keeping moving, preventing Clarke from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clarke engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Clarke's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Clarke wants to pass the guard but Balduino is keeping the position.

Balduino working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Clarke doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Clarke manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Balduino looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Clarke has picked Balduino up and slammed him! Balduino can't keep hold of the triangle and Clarke manages to pass to side control!
Clarke trying to control the action but Balduino is working from the bottom.
Clarke working away.
Mark Clarke is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balduino tries to buck Clarke off but Clarke is having none of it.
A lull in the action here as Clarke stalls from top position.
Balduino prevents Clarke from moving into mount.
Clarke takes a little break here. Balduino wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Clarke seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Balduino for as long as he can get away with.
Clarke's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balduino can't do much from the bottom here.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
You can see the frustration on Balduino's face as Clarke controls the position.
Balduino tries to bench press Clarke off him but Clarke keeps the position.
Clarke moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Clarke dives in and scores a takedown into Balduino's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clarke controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Balduino looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Clarke controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Mark Clarke overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Clarke stands and throws Balduino's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Balduino seems a little lost for a moment, as Clarke dominates the positioning.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Balduino tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Clarke wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Patricio Balduino has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Balduino is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Clarke off and has taken his back!

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Clarke showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Clarke, 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Clarke!
After the fight, Mark Clarke was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.