PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Saleem Ritte (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jack de La Rocha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ritte comes to the cage accompanied by Hell's Bells. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Ritte
vs
de La Rocha

199 cm
22
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

189 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Saleem Ritte!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jack de La Rocha!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Chris Downing and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ritte blocks a jab.
Ritte misses with the combination.
Ritte scores with a body shot.
Ritte keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
de La Rocha misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ritte.
Ritte throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
de La Rocha throws a left and a right that both miss
and Ritte counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
de La Rocha looks to score with a jab to the body but Ritte is just out of range.
de La Rocha stuffs the takedown.
Saleem Ritte seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ritte fails with an attempt to clinch.
de La Rocha misses with a hook. Ritte ducked under it nicely.
de La Rocha throws a big shot that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de La Rocha fails to land with a series of punches.
de La Rocha throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ritte shoots in for a takedown but de La Rocha shows good takedown defense.
Ritte throws a series of punches but de La Rocha moves out of range.
Ritte shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says de La Rocha as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Saleem Ritte. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ritte lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
de La Rocha throws out a loose jab but Ritte uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ritte misses with a two punch combination.

de La Rocha scores a takedown into full mount!
Ritte sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
de La Rocha landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ritte has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. de La Rocha is working away from the top position though.
Ritte is not content to let de La Rocha control the position.
de La Rocha working over Ritte with some ground and pound. Ritte looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

de La Rocha is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Ritte is trying to stand back up but de La Rocha is controlling him
de La Rocha 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.
de La Rocha looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Ritte looks like he's trying to stand up.
Ritte moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de La Rocha throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Ritte working a defensive guard here.
de La Rocha working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
de La Rocha in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ritte wants to stand but de La Rocha is controlling the position.
de La Rocha working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
de La Rocha would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Ritte not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Ritte wants to sweep but no luck.
de La Rocha makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
de La Rocha missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
de La Rocha really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ritte. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Ritte misses with a takedown attempt
and de La Rocha counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

It looks like Saleem Ritte has been cut.
Ritte is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
de La Rocha throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ritte looks to land a combination. de La Rocha sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Ritte tries to close the distance and clinch up but de La Rocha swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ritte uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by de La Rocha.
Ritte tries to close the distance and clinch up but de La Rocha swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ritte misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Ritte tries to clinch but de La Rocha is having none of it.
de La Rocha checks a leg kick.
Ritte misses with a double jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jack de La Rocha dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Saleem Ritte's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

de La Rocha shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
de La Rocha connects with a couple of short punches.
de La Rocha trying to control the position from guard on top but Ritte is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
de La Rocha postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Ritte throws a nice elbow from the bottom.

Ritte looking for a guillotine here but de La Rocha defends easily.

Ritte looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
de La Rocha wants to control from the top but Ritte keeps moving.
Ritte wants to stand and escape but de La Rocha is having none of it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
de La Rocha trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de La Rocha wants to get up but he can't break Ritte's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
de La Rocha postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells de La Rocha's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Ritte not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
de La Rocha thows a big elbow that misses.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Ritte looks to land a combination but de La Rocha avoids it well.
de La Rocha swinging wilding here.
Good work by de La Rocha as he checks the leg kick.
Ritte misses with a jab, cross combination.
A punch combination from Ritte misses.
Ritte is looking to clinch but de La Rocha is avoiding it.

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.
Ritte misses with a wild combination.
Ritte throws a nice looking combination but de La Rocha bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

de La Rocha closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

de La Rocha is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
de La Rocha is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
de La Rocha is keen to just control but Ritte is a slippery customer.
Ritte gets full guard.
Ritte strikes from his own guard.
de La Rocha must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Ritte is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst de La Rocha is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

de La Rocha is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Ritte is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Ritte has escaped and now he's on top!
Ritte lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ritte preventing the sweep.
Ritte postures up and lands a big shot to de La Rocha's brow.
de La Rocha striking off his back but it's not causing Ritte any problems.
Ritte won't allow de La Rocha to get back to his feet.
Ritte makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Ritte stands up over de La Rocha, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Ritte would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
de La Rocha fails to land with a series of punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
de La Rocha tries for a takedown but Ritte sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
de La Rocha showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ritte.
A jab from de La Rocha misses.

de La Rocha gets the takedown into side control.
de La Rocha in side control, throwing shots but Ritte defends.
Jack de La Rocha has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ritte dodges the ground and pound from de La Rocha.
de La Rocha wants to control for a moment but Ritte uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
It looks like Ritte is going to stand back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jack de La Rocha will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Saleem Ritte's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

de La Rocha shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Ritte is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Ritte throws some wild strikes from the bottom.
Ritte wants to control but de La Rocha is having none of it.
Ritte is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Ritte wants to control but de La Rocha is having none of it.
de La Rocha connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Ritte is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de La Rocha lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Ritte hang on?
Ritte sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Ritte is pressing down on de La Rocha's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
de La Rocha trying to control but Ritte is working from the bottom.
de La Rocha postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells de La Rocha's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Ritte has momentary wrist control but de La Rocha slips an elbow through the middle.
de La Rocha in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ritte looking to hit a scissor sweep but de La Rocha is one step ahead there.
de La Rocha is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Ritte is looking to stand up but de La Rocha isn't so interested in that idea.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ritte wants to sweep but no luck.
de La Rocha works over Ritte with some ground and pound from guard.
Ritte is trying to keep de La Rocha in close.
de La Rocha lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
de La Rocha trying to control but Ritte is working from the bottom.
Ritte looking to control.
de La Rocha trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Ritte looking for a triangle here. de La Rocha is fighting it but it looks tight! Ritte pulls the arm across and this one won't last much longer! Nope, de La Rocha is tapping out - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:03 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Saleem Ritte!