PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between aa aa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hank Zitto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). aa aa has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

aa
vs
Zitto

200 cm
22
200 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

177 cm
23
207 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, aa aa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hank Zitto!
The judges for this bout are Matheus Silva, Luis Engracia and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zitto bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Zitto shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Zitto looking to land elbow strikes but aa uses the position to regain half guard.
Zitto passes the guard and advances to mount!
Zitto scoring with strikes but aa is staying in there.
aa is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Zitto throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
aa knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Zitto on the ground.
aa is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Zitto postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. aa looks a forlorn figure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zitto looking to ground and pound but aa is blocking nicely.
aa is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Zitto unloading with bombs!
Zitto lands with some vicious ground and pound - can aa hang on?
Zitto lands a nice shot to the head.
Zitto thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
aa taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zitto throwing strikes here but aa is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Zitto punching from mount but aa doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Zitto controlling from mount.
BOOM! Zitto connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Zitto won't let aa get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
A nice elbow there by Zitto.
Zitto with good strikes from the mount here!
aa wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Zitto.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zitto lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Zitto cracks aa with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Zitto lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Zitto trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Zitto throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
aa is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Zitto controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
aa squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Zitto with shots to the head and body - aa looks very uncomfortable down there.
Zitto with the ground and pound from mount.
aa wants to get back to his feet.
aa on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if aa tries to get out of the position.
aa is bucking up trying to escape but Zitto cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Zitto lands a heavy elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hank Zitto 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.

aa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Zitto.

It looks like aa aa has been cut.
aa pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Zitto changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. aa looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Zitto misses with the ground and pound.
aa managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Zitto.
The ground and pound from Zitto seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Zitto working the ground and pound.
Hank Zitto has got the better of the ground game so far.
Zitto throws a strike aimed at the side of aa's head but aa avoids it well.
Zitto scoring with punches from side control.
Zitto cracks aa with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Zitto connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused aa some visible discomfort.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zitto advances nicely into full mount.
Zitto breaks from aa's wrist control and lands an elbow.
aa holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Zitto tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
aa wants to get back to his feet.
Zitto can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as aa is looking to escape.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zitto pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zitto is landing with some decent strikes but aa is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Zitto landing strikes from the mount and aa is in trouble!
Zitto postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. aa looks a forlorn figure.
Zitto throws some wild stikes that aa manages to avoid easily.
aa is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Zitto lands a big shot there that rocks aa but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
aa is trying to stand.
Zitto landing strikes from the mount.
Zitto looking to finish aa with some ground and pound. This is bad for aa!
Zitto looking to control but aa is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
aa avoids a series of strikes thrown by Zitto.
Zitto looking to control but aa is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
aa taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
aa is bucking up trying to escape but Zitto cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
A nice elbow there by Zitto.
Zitto fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The referee warns aa that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
aa avoids a series of strikes thrown by Zitto.
A nice elbow there by Zitto.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Zitto cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The referee warns aa that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
aa is trying to stand.
aa is squirming around, avoiding Zitto's attempts to control the action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hank Zitto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on aa aa's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Zitto fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. aa looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Zitto throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around aa's waist but aa gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zitto off to one side.
aa throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Zitto sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Zitto blocks a jab.
Zitto uses good head movement to avoid the hook from aa.
Zitto slips under a jab.
aa is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Zitto.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Zitto is defended easily by aa.
aa throws a jab but it's blocked by Zitto.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zitto ducks under a wild hook from aa.
Zitto moves out of range as aa strikes.
Zitto ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
aa loads up on a big right hand but Zitto slips the punch.
aa aa is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zitto keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from aa.
A telegraphed right hand from aa misses the target.
Zitto will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
aa aa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hank Zitto.
Zitto fails with the takedown.
Zitto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
aa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Zitto.
A big left from aa misses.
Zitto displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as aa throws out the jab.
aa throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Zitto sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A telegraphed right hand from aa misses the target.

Zitto looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
aa pushes Zitto off looking to stand but Zitto dives back in and keeps control.
Zitto has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
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. Zitto connects with a nice short shot to aa's temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zitto is keen to just control but aa is a slippery customer.
aa is trying to stand up here but Zitto is controlling him well.
Zitto thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed aa's head.
Zitto drops an elbow to the side of aa's head.
Zitto not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Zitto scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Zitto works his way into full mount!
Zitto landing punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zitto is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Zitto trying to control but aa is having none of it.
Zitto with good strikes from the mount here!
aa is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Zitto has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of aa's face.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zitto lands a big shot there that rocks aa but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Zitto throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for aa because Zitto loaded up on that one.
Zitto thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Zitto lands a nice shot to the head.
aa wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Zitto.
Zitto wants to control the pace but aa is squirming around nicely.
aa aa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hank Zitto is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Zitto with a couple of short strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hank Zitto comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Zitto winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Matheus Silva scores the fight 25:30
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 25:30
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hank Zitto!