PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Malakai Rios (ranked 4117 p4p, 3159 weight class) and Jun Young Hong (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Rios
vs
Hong

175 cm
25
155
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
25
148
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Malakai Rios!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jun Young Hong!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Sandra Marshall and Peter Branson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hong stuns Rios with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Rios tries to close the distance and clinch but Hong swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Hong lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Rios closes this distance looking for a takedown but Hong circles away.
Hong misses with a wild combination.
Hong on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Malakai Rios seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rios tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Hong swivels and escapes.
Hong just misses with a punch to the body.

Rios throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Hong tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Rios is in Hong's guard.
Rios is looking to work some ground and pound but Hong has wrist control.
Rios 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.
Rios wants to control from the top but Hong keeps moving.
Rios loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rios is fighting to break Hong's control of his arms but Hong is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Rios stopping the sweep attempt from Hong.
Hong is adopting a defensive guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Rios looks to throw the jab but Hong is out of range.
Rios throws a sloppy head kick and Hong moves out of range easily.
Hong looks for a takedown but Rios sprawls well.

Hong closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Rios quickly recovers to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hong stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Rios to get to his feet.
Rios throws a head kick that misses

and Hong counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Hong with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hong is looking to stand up but Rios won't let him.
Hong with a nice head shot there.
Rios keeping moving, preventing Hong from controlling successfully.

Rios kicks Hong off and gets to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rios cracks Hong with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Rios shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hong defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Malakai Rios. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rios throws a nice looking combination but Hong bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Hong throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Rios appears to be looking for a big counter.
Rios throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Hong.
Rios misses with a few strikes there.
Hong is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Rios shoots in for a double leg but Hong sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Rios is breathing heavily.
Hong throws a right hand that Rios ducks under and follows up with a left that Rios also avoids with ease.
Hong slips a jab from Rios.
Rios shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Hong counters with a three punch combo that has Rios backing up. Rios nods at Hong to acknowledge the strikes.
Hong ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hong drops Rios with a right and a left! Hong comes rushing in but Rios regains his composure and manages to keep Hong in guard.

Rios is rocked!
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!

Rios looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Oh Rios is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Rios is striking off his back. Hong thinks nothing of it though and passes easily into half guard.
Rios seems to have got his legs back now.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Hong lands a nice short elbow.
Rios wants to control but Hong is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Hong is nestled in close to Rios, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Hong lands a nice short elbow.
Hong working the head and body with strikes.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Hong looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rios with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Well, if Hong is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

No luck with that takedown attempt from Hong.
Malakai Rios is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rios tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Hong swivels and escapes.
Hong is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Rios throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Hong fails to land with a series of punches.
Rios misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A combination from Hong does no damage.
Rios went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Rios rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Hong moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hong shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Rios wants to control but Hong is keeping busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hong scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Rios wants to improve his position but Hong is controlling well.
Rios is staying active underneath Hong, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Hong not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hong looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rios with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Rios trying to control here.
Hong trying to control the action but Rios is working from the bottom.
Hong is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Hong is looking to stall here but Rios recovers full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hong trying to control the position from guard on top but Rios is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hong looking to pass the guard.
Hong must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Rios is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Rios controlling the position.
Rios is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Hong trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hong missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Rios utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Hong is working Rios over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Hong trying to control the position from guard on top but Rios is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hong sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Rios's guard.
Hong drops an elbow to the side of Rios's head.
Rios gets back to full guard.
Hong lands a couple of digs.
Rios keeping moving, preventing Hong from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hong is looking to work some ground and pound but Rios has wrist control.
Hong has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Rios wants to sweep here but Hong controlling him for the moment.
Hong wants to control from the top but Rios keeps moving.

Rios looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Hong is defending well. Rios quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Hong has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Rios celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Malakai Rios!