PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Junior Villanueva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and thaigo alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). alves is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: sandstorm. thaigo alves is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Villanueva
vs
thaigo alves

165 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

168 cm
21
145 lbs
2 - 6 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

Star & Star .Inc

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Junior Villanueva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, thaigo alves!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Matheus Silva and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Villanueva fails in his attempt to clinch.

Villanueva closes the distance and clinches.
alves has had enough of the clinch but Villanueva keeps him there for the moment.

alves escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Villanueva tries to close the distance and clinch but alves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
alves keeps the fight on the outside.

Villanueva gets in close and instigates a clinch.
alves prevents a body shot from Villanueva.

alves's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Villanueva shoots for a double leg takedown but alves sprawls well. He's pushed Villanueva's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
alves scores with a three punch combo!
Villanueva wants to clinch.
Villanueva defends well against a solid takedown attempt from alves.
alves shoots in but no luck this time.
alves swats away the attempt to clinch by Villanueva.

alves forces Villanueva back against the cage and clinches.
Villanueva tries to work over alves's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
alves tries to land a knee to the head but Villanueva blocks with his arms.

Villanueva is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. alves can't fight it off and eventually Villanueva manages to take the fight to the floor. alves looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Villanueva postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if alves can do anything to dispel that myth.
alves looking to control.
Villanueva is looking to work some ground and pound but alves has wrist control.
Villanueva lands a couple of digs.
Villanueva with a nice head shot there.
Villanueva missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Villanueva 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.
alves avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Villanueva throwing strikes from guard but alves blocks nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Villanueva throwing strikes but missing.

alves looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Villanueva working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
alves utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Villanueva landing some decent shots from guard.
Villanueva in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Villanueva working some strikes from top position.
alves not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Villanueva stands up over alves, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
alves looks gassed!
alves tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Villanueva stands up over alves, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Villanueva throws and elbow that misses. alves uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Villanueva's guard. Nice move by alves!
alves prevents Villanueva from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

alves stands up from Villanueva's guard - alves perhaps looking for a knockout.

Villanueva closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Villanueva lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Villanueva 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.
Villanueva is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
alves misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Villanueva is thwarting alves's attempts to control the position.
Villanueva scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Villanueva takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Villanueva is looking to advance position but alves won't allow it.
Villanueva drops an elbow to the side of alves's head.
Villanueva trying to control from half guard but alves is working away.
Villanueva lands strikes from half guard.
alves on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Villanueva looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks alves with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Villanueva lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Villanueva landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Villanueva winds up and cracks alves with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Villanueva connects with a nice short shot to alves's temple.
Villanueva is pressing down on alves's thigh, looking to free his foot. alves is holding on for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Villanueva dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Villanueva clinches but alves breaks the clinch

and alves counters by clinching up.
alves fails to pull guard.
alves creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Villanueva goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

alves manages to break the clinch.
Villanueva closes the distance looking to clinch

and alves moves into the clinch.
Villanueva pushes alves back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
alves pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Villanueva gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, alves regains guard.
Villanueva throws a strike but alves rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Villanueva scrambles and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - alves looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Villanueva stuffs the takedown.
Villanueva tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and alves holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Villanueva turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Villanueva scores with a couple of short elbows.
Villanueva landing a few strikes.
Villanueva scores with a couple of short elbows.
Villanueva lands a few punches from side control.
Villanueva grinds an elbow into alves's temple.
Check out the look on Villanueva's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Villanueva's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Villanueva lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
alves sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
alves is trying to control but can't.
Villanueva lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
alves is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Villanueva lands strikes from half guard.
Villanueva lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Villanueva is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Villanueva seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
alves is trying to control but can't.
alves on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
alves is trying to get back to full guard.
alves is looking to control Villanueva's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can alves avoid being mounted?
Villanueva takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Villanueva working the head and body with strikes.
alves has hold of Villanueva's hands but Villanueva slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

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.
Villanueva is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
alves trying to hold on to Villanueva's head to control him but Villanueva postures up.
Villanueva is pressing down on alves's thigh, looking to free his foot. alves is holding on for now.
Ground and pound from Villanueva.
Villanueva seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Villanueva working alves over with strikes.
alves trying to control here.
alves misses with some strikes from the bottom.
alves tries to roll over but Villanueva keeps him under control.

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

Villanueva moves into range and clinches up with alves.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Villanueva dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Villanueva.
Villanueva looks up at the clock and then as alves takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Villanueva smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
alves regains half guard, as Villanueva was trying to land strikes.
Villanueva tries to pass to full mount but alves defends it.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Villanueva lands a nice short elbow.
Ground and pound from Villanueva.
alves has hold of Villanueva's hands but Villanueva slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Villanueva thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed alves's head.
alves moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Villanueva with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Villanueva is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Junior Villanueva overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Villanueva working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Villanueva landing some decent shots from guard.
Villanueva is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Villanueva is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
alves wants to get back to his feet but Villanueva is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Villanueva scoring with punches to the head and body.
Villanueva thows a big elbow that misses.
Villanueva lands a couple of elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
alves has momentary wrist control but Villanueva slips an elbow through the middle.
Villanueva cracks alves with a solid left hand.
Villanueva stops alves from standing up.
Villanueva throws a big right hand that misses.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Villanueva is looking to clinch but alves is avoiding it.
Villanueva wants to clinch up but alves keeps it at a distance.
alves shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Villanueva as he avoids it easily.
alves shoots in for a takedown but Villanueva shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Villanueva shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. alves manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
alves is looking to stand up but Villanueva isn't so interested in that idea.
Villanueva trying to control the position from guard on top but alves is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
alves bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Villanueva's guard.
Villanueva is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
alves is looking to stand up but Villanueva won't let him.
Villanueva wants to stand but alves is controlling the position.

alves is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Villanueva wants to get back to his feet but alves is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

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.
alves wants to control from the top but Villanueva keeps moving.

Villanueva pushes alves off and scrambles back to his feet.
thaigo alves has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Villanueva shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. alves is trying to defend but Villanueva finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Villanueva working over alves with some ground and pound. alves looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

And that's the end of the fight!
Junior Villanueva showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Villanueva, 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Junior Villanueva!