PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Antonio da Costa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Valchek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

da Costa
vs
Valchek

181 cm
24
167 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

179 cm
24
162 lbs
5 - 2 - 1

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Convicted
Convicted

FNF Energy - (Sale!)
Nemesis Cage Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Antonio da Costa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joe Valchek!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
da Costa wants to land a leg kick but Valchek is out of range.
da Costa scores with a head kick.
da Costa throws a right hand that Valchek ducks under and follows up with a left that Valchek also avoids with ease.
Valchek misses with a body kick.
Valchek tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
da Costa pulls out of a head kick attempt.
da Costa closes the distance and clinches up with Valchek, looking for a takedown. da Costa pushes Valchek against the cage but Valchek circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Valchek tries to clinch up but da Costa circles away and keeps his distance.
da Costa does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
da Costa scores with a head kick.
da Costa throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Valchek misses with a takedown attempt
letting da Costa counter with a right hand.
A good leg kick by da Costa.
da Costa takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
da Costa swings away with a leg kick that misses.
da Costa moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Valchek shoots in looking for a takedown. da Costa tries to sprawl out of it but Valchek keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. da Costa manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
da Costa throws a leg kick that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
da Costa shoots and misses

and Valchek counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
da Costa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Valchek missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
da Costa is looking to improve his position.
da Costa moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Valchek got a little sloppy there for a moment and da Costa has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Valchek has managed to get both his arms back between da Costa's legs - danger averted.

da Costa is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Valchek defends well.
da Costa is breathing heavily.
Valchek with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Valchek accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
da Costa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
da Costa wants to sweep but no luck.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Valchek postures up.
Valchek wants to pass the guard but da Costa is keeping the position.
Valchek is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Valchek throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as da Costa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
da Costa seems keen to control Valchek's posture.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Valchek wants to clinch but da Costa slips to the side
and da Costa counters with a nice low kick that buckles Valchek's knee momentarily.
Valchek takes a swing at da Costa's ribcage but misses.
da Costa pulls out of a head kick attempt.
da Costa pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Valchek looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? da Costa is fending him off so far but Valchek persists. Nope, da Costa circles away and we're back to standing.
Antonio da Costa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joe Valchek.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
da Costa slips under a jab from Valchek.
da Costa dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Valchek. That did some damage!
A chopping leg kick lands by da Costa.
da Costa avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Valchek throws a nice head kick!

da Costa gets the takedown into side control.
Valchek can't do much from the bottom here.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

da Costa tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no da Costa has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
da Costa working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
da Costa trying to control the action but Valchek is working from the bottom.
Valchek is looking for a sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

da Costa is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Valchek is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
da Costa moves into full mount!
da Costa thowing shots but they're missing.
Valchek is wriggling around trying to escape.
da Costa thowing shots but they're missing.
Valchek tries to lock up and control but da Costa gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
da Costa punching from mount but Valchek doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Valchek tries to lock up and control but da Costa gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Valchek manages to regain half guard. Good work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antonio da Costa dominated that round.
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.

Valchek throws a hook to the side of da Costa's head but da Costa sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
da Costa keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
da Costa throws a quick inside leg kick.
Valchek takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Valchek tries to clinch but da Costa moves away
and da Costa counters with a nice low kick that buckles Valchek's knee momentarily.
da Costa throws a sloppy head kick
and Valchek counters with a nice uppercut.
da Costa shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
da Costa misses with a low kick.
da Costa keeps the fight on the outside.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Valchek checks a leg kick.
da Costa misses with a low kick.
da Costa attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Valchek looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? da Costa is fending him off so far but Valchek persists. Nope, da Costa circles away and we're back to standing.
da Costa throws a push kick but Valchek slaps the foot to one side.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valchek takes a head kick and keeps coming.
da Costa throws a wild body kick that Valchek sees coming a mile off.
The fight stays on the outside here - Valchek looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Valchek drives through and clinches with da Costa against the cage.
Valchek throws a knee to the head but misses.
da Costa wants to get back to striking at distance but Valchek won't allow it.
Valchek throws a punch but it's blocked by da Costa.
Valchek tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. da Costa just stands there and leans against the cage.
Valchek jumps guard but da Costa stands there with Valchek around his waist. Valchek gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Antonio da Costa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joe Valchek.
Valchek lands a shoulder strike.
da Costa blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Valchek throws a knee to the head but misses.

da Costa breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
da Costa throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Valchek feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Valchek is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

da Costa is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Valchek defends well.

da Costa escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Valchek gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Valchek working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
da Costa working a defensive guard here.

da Costa is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valchek postures up in da Costa's guard and throws a big left but da Costa blocks it.
da Costa is trying to keep Valchek in close.
da Costa tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Valchek throwing strikes but missing.
Valchek trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
da Costa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Valchek misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Valchek throws a body punch but da Costa moves out of range.
da Costa misses with a low kick.
Valchek fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches da Costa on the side of the head.
Valchek tries a head kick but it misses.
da Costa throws a quick inside leg kick.

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.
Valchek tries a head kick but it misses.
da Costa throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
da Costa swats away the attempt to clinch by Valchek.
da Costa misses with a leg kick.
Valchek shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as da Costa sprawls well. da Costa wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Valchek gets slowly back to his feet.
Valchek tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but da Costa was well out of range. Poor timing from Valchek.
Valchek throws a head kick but da Costa moves out of range.
da Costa lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

Valchek has taken the fight to the clinch.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Valchek just misses with a elbow thrown towards da Costa's brow.
Valchek jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as da Costa walks away with a smile on his face. Valchek gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
da Costa gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Valchek holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
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 Antonio da Costa will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Valchek on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Valchek doesn't manage to clinch there - da Costa circles away.
da Costa tries to work over Valchek's front leg with a kick but Valchek checks it.
Valchek wants to clinch up but da Costa keeps it at a distance.
da Costa throws a sloppy head kick and Valchek moves out of range easily.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from da Costa, right into the meat.
da Costa throws a head kick that Valchek semi-blocks.
A head kick misses from Valchek.
da Costa is looking to slow Valchek down with leg kicks.
Valchek tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but da Costa paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A nice leg kick lands there from da Costa.
Valchek wants to clinch
and da Costa counters with a head kick.
Valchek takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
da Costa takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
da Costa throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Valchek's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
da Costa slaps away a takedown attempt from Valchek, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Valchek darts in trying to clinch
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Valchek walks into a stiff left hand from da Costa.
da Costa jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
da Costa pulls out of a head kick attempt.
da Costa misses with a takedown attempt

and Valchek counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in da Costa's guard now.
da Costa looking for a sweep. Not yet da Costa, not yet.
da Costa not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

da Costa is working for submissions here. He's thrown up his legs looking for a tringle but Valchek frees his head nicely. Oh but da Costa has switched to an armbar! Valchek is tapping furiously! Lovely submission there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:03 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Armbar). Antonio da Costa!