PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jorge Baroza (ranked 816 p4p, 772 weight class) and Giancarlo Zuniga (ranked 65 p4p, 63 weight class). The key to victory for Jorge Baroza has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Baroza
vs
Zuniga

174 cm
26
132
6 - 2 - 0

173 cm
26
135
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jorge Baroza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Giancarlo Zuniga!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Bart Greer and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Zuniga forces Baroza back against the cage and clinches.
Baroza wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A bit of stalling here from Zuniga.
Zuniga holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Zuniga is trying to pull guard but Baroza turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Baroza breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Zuniga forces Baroza back against the cage and clinches.
Baroza is trying to break the clinch but Zuniga has him pressed against the cage.
Baroza softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Baroza definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Baroza wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Zuniga has him pressed against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Baroza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Zuniga drives through and clinches with Baroza against the cage.
Baroza takes a shot to the head.

Baroza manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zuniga wants to clinch but Baroza slips to the side
and Baroza counters with a thumping low kick.
Zuniga is looking to clinch but Baroza is avoiding it.
Baroza feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Zuniga tries to clinch
and Baroza counters with a nice leg kick.

Baroza tries to keep at a distance but Zuniga has taken the fight into the clinch.
Zuniga jumps guard but Baroza turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Baroza throws a punch but it's blocked by Zuniga.
Zuniga tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Jorge Baroza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Giancarlo Zuniga.

Baroza pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Zuniga darts in and clinches Baroza up against the cage.
Baroza gets through Zuniga's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Zuniga tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Baroza just stands there and leans against the cage.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zuniga tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Baroza just stands there and leans against the cage.
Zuniga is struggling to control the position.

Baroza breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Zuniga tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Baroza paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Giancarlo Zuniga seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Baroza swats away the attempt to clinch by Zuniga.
Zuniga moves to clinch but Baroza breaks away
and Baroza counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baroza lands a body shot in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baroza wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Zuniga is trying to pull guard but Baroza turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Baroza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Zuniga fails with an attempt to clinch.
A quick step to the side and Baroza tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Zuniga throws a poor cross that misses
and Zuniga takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Zuniga has Baroza up against the cage in a clinch.
Zuniga jumps guard but Baroza stands there with Zuniga around his waist. Zuniga gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Zuniga tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Baroza just stands there and leans against the cage.
Baroza working hard to break the clinch.
Baroza stalling in the clinch.
Zuniga tries to pull guard but Baroza holds him up against the cage and eventually Zuniga drops back down to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baroza looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Baroza wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Baroza breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Zuniga has closed the distance and engaged Baroza in a clinch.
Zuniga is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Baroza to keep the fight standing.
Baroza is trying to push Zuniga away but Zuniga has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Baroza misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A frustrated look appears on Baroza's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Baroza goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Baroza breaks from the clinch.
Zuniga wants to clinch but Baroza slips to the side
and Baroza counters with a nice leg kick.

Zuniga moves into the clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Zuniga wants to clinch.

Zuniga has managed to clinch.
Zuniga will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Baroza up against the cage.

Baroza pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zuniga closes the distance looking to clinch
letting Baroza counter with a right hand.
Zuniga is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zuniga tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Baroza counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Zuniga tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Baroza counters with a straight right hand.
Baroza circles away from the clinch attempt.
Baroza thinks about countering with a body kick.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza is having none of it.
A quick step to the side and Baroza tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Zuniga wants to clinch up but Baroza keeps it at a distance.
Baroza throwing a counter right hand but Zuniga manages to avoid it.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza moves out of range.
Baroza is looking to counter with head kicks.
Zuniga swings widly with a right hand
and Baroza counters with a good low kick that Zuniga was not able to check.

Zuniga clinches with his opponent.

Zuniga has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Baroza uses from the top position.
Zuniga is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Baroza postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zuniga controlling the position.
Zuniga controls Baroza momentarily but Baroza frees himself.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Zuniga is pulling down on Baroza's head to control his posture.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Jorge Baroza is winning the standup battle so far.
Zuniga closes the distance looking to clinch
letting Baroza counter with a right hand.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza moves away
and Baroza counters with a stiff right hand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zuniga tries to clinch up but Baroza circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Baroza tries to keep at a distance but Zuniga has taken the fight into the clinch.
Baroza has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Zuniga misses with a punch on the inside.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Baroza.
Zuniga is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Baroza is keeping busy.

Zuniga pulls Baroza into guard.
Zuniga is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Baroza wanted to stand there but Zuniga had control of the position.
Baroza is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Zuniga can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zuniga looking to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Baroza circles away from the clinch attempt
and Baroza counters with a nice uppercut.

It looks like Giancarlo Zuniga has been cut.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Zuniga rushes Baroza and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Baroza really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Zuniga is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jorge Baroza dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Giancarlo Zuniga's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Zuniga moves in looking to clinch but Baroza pushes him off.
Baroza fires out a quick counter leg kick but Zuniga just manages to avoid it.
Giancarlo Zuniga has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Baroza avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza moves away
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Zuniga doesn't manage to clinch there - Baroza circles away.
Zuniga is looking to clinch.
Baroza half committed to a counter leg kick.
Baroza keeps the fight on the outside.
Zuniga moves to clinch but Baroza breaks away
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Zuniga tries to clinch
and Baroza makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Zuniga moves into range and clinches up with Baroza.

Baroza manages to break the clinch.
Zuniga tries to clinch up
and Baroza counters with a nice kick to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zuniga darts in trying to clinch
and Baroza makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Zuniga darts in trying to clinch
and Baroza counters with an outside leg kick.
Zuniga tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Baroza counters with a nice leg kick.
Zuniga looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

Zuniga takes the fight into the clinch.

Baroza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Zuniga wants to clinch
and Baroza counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zuniga pushes Baroza up against the cage in a clinch.

Baroza breaks from the clinch.
Zuniga wants to clinch but Baroza slips to the side
and Baroza makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.

Zuniga clinches up against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Baroza is looking to break free of the clinch but Zuniga has double underhooks.
Zuniga leaning his opponent against the cage.
Zuniga's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A frustrated look appears on Baroza's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Zuniga prevents a body shot from Baroza.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Baroza breaks the clinch.

Zuniga takes the fight into the clinch.

Baroza breaks the clinch.

Zuniga forces Baroza back against the cage and clinches.
Stalling in the clinch from Zuniga.
A short body shot lands from Baroza as the two fighters clinch.
Baroza tries to break free but Zuniga pushes him back against the cage.

Baroza manages to break the clinch.

Zuniga clinches with his opponent.
Zuniga has Baroza pressed against the cage.

Baroza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza moves away
letting Baroza counter with a right hand.

Zuniga gets in close and instigates a clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Zuniga.

Baroza breaks the clinch.
Zuniga tries to clinch but Baroza moves away
and Baroza cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zuniga looks to clinch
and Baroza counters with a nice low kick that buckles Zuniga's knee momentarily.

Zuniga clinches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Zuniga.
Zuniga jumps guard but Baroza stands there with Zuniga around his waist. Zuniga gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Baroza pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Zuniga misses with a lunging right hand
and Baroza counters with a nice body shot.
Jorge Baroza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Zuniga swings widly with a right hand
and Baroza counters with a low kick, right behind Zuniga 's knee.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jorge Baroza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Baroza, 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 Sandra Marshall scores the fight 30:27
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jorge Baroza!