PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ryan Noel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cabelo Junior (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Junior has chosen BT - Fourth Floor as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Noel
vs
Junior

176 cm
21
183 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

185 cm
19
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ryan Noel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Cabelo Junior!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Paulo Santos and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Noel tries to close the distance and clinch up but Junior swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ryan Noel seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Noel shoots for a takedown but Junior saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Junior shoots and misses

and Noel decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Junior's guard.
Noel trying to control but Junior is working from the bottom.
Junior controlling the position.
Junior keeping moving, preventing Noel from controlling successfully.

Noel thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Noel wants to pass the guard but Junior is keeping the position.
Junior wants to stand up but Noel is controlling him.
Junior looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

Junior has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Noel can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Noel scores a takedown into full mount!
Noel takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Noel with the ground and pound from mount.
Junior is squirming around, avoiding Noel's attempts to control the action.
Junior wants to control but Noel is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Noel controlling from the full mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Noel looking to ground and pound but Junior is blocking nicely.
Noel controlling from the full mount.
Junior really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Noel. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Junior is trying to stand.
Noel tries to control but Junior wriggling away.

Noel is going olschool here, as he tries to force Junior to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Junior shrugs it off.

Noel goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Junior turns into him and now he's in Noel's guard.
Noel is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Noel holds on and takes a little breather.
Noel is trying to control the position but Junior postures up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Noel is on top in guard.
Junior keeping full guard, as Noel tries to pass.
Noel wants to control from the top but Junior keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Noel thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Junior can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Noel controls the pace.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Ryan Noel just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Junior closes the distance and pushes Noel back into the cage.

Junior decides to pull guard.
Junior controlling the position.
Noel sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Noel won't allow Junior to get back to his feet.
Junior preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryan Noel dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Junior closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Junior lands in his opponent's guard.
Noel trying to keep a closed guard but Junior is proving a slippery customer.
Junior is fighting to break Noel's control of his arms but Noel is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Noel trying to control the position.
Noel is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Junior is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Noel pulls Junior in close to his closed guard and prevents Junior from doing any damage or advancing position.
Noel has a closed guard, preventing Junior from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Junior with a flurry of punches that miss.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Noel fails with the takedown
and Junior counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Good shot there by Junior.
Noel tries for a takedown but Junior circles away easily
and Junior counters with a two punch combo.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Junior!
A cross from Junior lands.

Junior clinches.

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

Noel shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Junior's guard.
Junior seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Noel looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Noel trying to control but Junior is working from the bottom.
Junior working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Noel.

Junior escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Noel gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Noel pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Junior is keeping the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Junior is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Noel feints and as Junior raises his hands in defense, Noel changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Noel looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Noel trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Junior keeping moving, preventing Noel from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Noel controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Noel accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Junior keeping moving, preventing Noel from controlling successfully.

Noel drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Noel jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Junior misses with a takedown

and Noel counters with a nice double leg into side control. Junior won't be happy with that.
Noel controls the position from side control.
Noel tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ryan Noel 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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Noel scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Junior being controlled for a moment.
Noel wants to lay and pray for a moment but Junior keeps working.
Junior struggling a bit here.
Junior is pushing Noel's head away, looking to escape. Noel manages to hold on to the position though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Junior is not content to let Noel control the position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Noel just content to control the position.
Noel wants to control but Junior is keeping him busy.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Noel gets the takedown into side control.
Noel works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Junior isn't going anywhere.

Noel tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Noel has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Ryan Noel overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Noel wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Junior, who protects the arm well.
Noel wants to lay and pray for a moment but Junior keeps working.
Junior can't do much from the bottom here.
Noel is looking to take a break and control but Junior is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Junior stops Noel from passing to mount.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Noel.
Junior looks to land a combination but Noel avoids it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Junior works over Noel's head and body with a nice combination.
Noel misses with a takedown attempt

and Junior counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Junior.
Junior won't allow Noel to sweep him here.
Ryan Noel is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Junior wants to pass the guard but Noel is keeping the position.
Noel pulls Junior in close to prevent any damage.
Junior wants to stand but Noel has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Noel is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Noel trying to mount his opponent but Junior defends it.
Cabelo Junior has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Noel moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Junior.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Ryan Noel.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Noel, 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ryan Noel!