PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Putte Ro (ranked 490 p4p, 459 weight class) and Diego Lacasa (ranked 36 p4p, 33 weight class). Lacasa is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Lie, Cheat & Steal. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Ro
vs
Lacasa

170 cm
25
139
12 - 8 - 0

172 cm
24
139
14 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Shadow Realm Apparel
30th Century Beer Store

NARCOS
30th Century Beer Store

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Putte Ro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Diego Lacasa!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Ben Hemmingworth and Topper Green.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Ro misses.
Lacasa throws a hook to the side of Ro's head but Ro sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Ro takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Lacasa looks to land a combination. Ro sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Lacasa lands a glancing blow to the side of Ro's head.
Ro looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Lacasa lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Lacasa throws a sloppy body shot
letting Ro counter with a right hand.
Lacasa swings and misses with a shot to the body

and Ro counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Ro.
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!
Ro content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Ro postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Ro throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ro 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.
Lacasa is pulling down on Ro's head. It's preventing any offense from Ro, at least for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ro wants to control from the top but Lacasa keeps moving.
Ro pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Lacasa is keeping the position for now.
Ro trying to control but Lacasa is working from the bottom.
Lacasa managing to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Ro wants to pass the guard but Lacasa is keeping the position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Ro's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Lacasa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ro lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Lacasa has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Ro stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Lacasa swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lacasa wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Ro with a flurry of punches that miss.
Ro wants to control from the top but Lacasa keeps moving.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Lacasa defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ro.
Lacasa scores with a jab to the body.
Lacasa swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Ro gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Lacasa.
Ro moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Lacasa bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Lacasa connects with a nice looking jab.
Ro uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Lacasa.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ro dives in for a single leg takedown but Lacasa sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Ro misses with a punch on the inside.
Lacasa lands a right hand.
Ro has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Lacasa after a bit of a struggle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Putte Ro. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ro swings wildly with an uppercut but Lacasa uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ro's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
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!
Lacasa lands a shoulder strike.
Ro fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ro tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ro softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Ro swings wildly with an uppercut but Lacasa uses good head movement to avoid it.
Lacasa misses with the head strike.
A short body shot lands from Ro as the two fighters clinch.
Ro lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ro misses with some punches.
Lacasa is working Ro over against the cage.
Lacasa swings away with an uppercut that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Diego Lacasa will probably get the nod.
That's time! Ro's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Ro displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Lacasa throws out the jab.
Ro is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Lacasa.
Lacasa lands a body shot.
Diego Lacasa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice defenses there by Ro.
Ro moves out of range of the strikes.
Lacasa swings away with a body shot that misses
and Ro counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
A left lands for Lacasa.
Lacasa throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Lacasa connects with a nice looking jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lacasa misses with an uppercut.
A swing and a miss from Lacasa.
Ro tries to counter with a takedown but Lacasa is quick to defend against it.
Lacasa listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Lacasa has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Lacasa swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Lacasa's corner calls for a 1-2. Lacasa obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lacasa takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Ro just misses with a punch to the body.
Lacasa misses with a hook

and Ro decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Lacasa's guard.
Lacasa preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Lacasa has his hands on Ro's head, controlling the position.
Ro stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Lacasa swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lacasa keeping moving, preventing Ro from controlling successfully.
Ro being controlled here momentarily.
Ro 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lacasa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ro.
Putte Ro overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lacasa pulls Ro in close to prevent any damage.
Ro looking to pass the guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Lacasa swings for the body but Ro moves out of range.
Lacasa swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Lacasa misses with a straight right.
Ro uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Lacasa.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lacasa lands with a nice combination. Ro backs away looking to recover.
Lacasa misses with a straight right.
Lacasa looks to land a combination but Ro avoids it well.
Lacasa walks into a stiff left hand from Ro.
Lacasa cracks a nice hook into Ro's ribs.
Lacasa lands with a nice body punch.
Ro lands a nice hook to Lacasa's body. Lacasa takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
No joy there for Lacasa, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Ro throwing a counter right hand but Lacasa manages to avoid it.
Ro steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Lacasa.

Ro pushes Lacasa up against the cage in a clinch.
Ro working aggressively here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ro misses with a punch to the body.
Lacasa tries a body shot but Ro blocks it.
A short right from Ro on the inside.
Lacasa misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lacasa lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Ro misses with a short punch on the inside.
Lacasa tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ro misses with a punch to the body.
Ro lands a right hand.
A nice right hand lands inside from Ro.
Ro misses with a punch to the body.
Ro misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Lacasa pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Lacasa misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Ro cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Ro takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Lacasa throws a left and a right that both miss

and Ro counters with a single leg into guard. Lacasa didn't expect that.
Ro sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Lacasa's guard.
Lacasa wants to control but Ro passes into side.

Ro wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Lacasa, who protects the arm well.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Putte Ro will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Ro throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Ro misses with a wild combination.
Ro displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Lacasa throws out the jab.
Ro displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Lacasa throws out the jab.
Ro throwing a counter right hand but Lacasa manages to avoid it.
Lacasa scores with a hook to the body. Ro takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Lacasa moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Lacasa lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lacasa missing with a left hand there. Ro was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
It looked like Ro wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Lacasa lands a nice shot that snaps Ro's head back.
Lacasa scores with a jab.
Lacasa throws a combination. Ro tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ro blocks a jab.
Ro swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Ro doesn't manage to clinch there - Lacasa circles away.
Decent striking displayed by Lacasa there.
Lacasa wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Jab from Lacasa.
Lacasa fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Ro shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Lacasa sprawls well. Lacasa wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ro gets slowly back to his feet.
Lacasa scores with a body shot.
Lacasa feints a jab promting Ro to slip. Lacasa then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Ro slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lacasa misses with a body shot

and Ro counters with a shoot takedown. Lacasa fights it but they end up in guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ro landing some decent shots from guard.
Lacasa controls Ro momentarily but Ro frees himself.
Ro landing some decent shots from guard.
Ro wants to control from the top but Lacasa keeps moving.
Lacasa keeping full guard, as Ro tries to pass.
Lacasa is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ro controls from within his opponent's guard.
Lacasa is pulling down on Ro's head. It's preventing any offense from Ro, at least for the moment.
Ro wants to control from the top but Lacasa keeps moving.
Ro working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

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.
Lacasa not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Good shot there by Lacasa.
Lacasa stuns Ro with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Lacasa misses with a wild body shot.
An attempted straight right counter from Ro misses the target.
Ro has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Lacasa finds it's way round the side to connect with Ro's head.
Lacasa moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Lacasa misses with a body shot

and Ro counters with a nice double leg into side control. Lacasa won't be happy with that.
Ro working the ground and pound.
Lacasa can't do much from the bottom here.
Ro landing strikes.
Ro is putting a hurting on Lacasa here, landing some big shots from side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Diego Lacasa comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Lacasa has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Damien Edna scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 28:29
Judge Topper Green scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Diego Lacasa!
During a confident post fight interview, Diego Lacasa thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.