PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between VITOR BEMFORT (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rodney Ferguson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). BEMFORT comes to the cage accompanied by Pregador Luo - Bate Pesadão. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

BEMFORT
vs
Ferguson

183 cm
23
184 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

200 cm
23
185 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, VITOR BEMFORT!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rodney Ferguson!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

BEMFORT shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Ferguson wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by BEMFORT.
Ferguson throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Ferguson wants to try and get back to his feet.
Ferguson is trying desperately to improve position.
BEMFORT throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Ferguson because BEMFORT loaded up on that one.
BEMFORT thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
BEMFORT looking to ground and pound but Ferguson is blocking nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, BEMFORT cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

It looks like Rodney Ferguson has been cut.
BEMFORT punishing his opponent with strikes.
BEMFORT can't control as he wanted to and Ferguson manages to get the fight back to his half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
BEMFORT not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
BEMFORT sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ferguson defending well though.

BEMFORT decides to stand and escape the position.

Ferguson darts in and clinches BEMFORT up against the cage.
BEMFORT wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Ferguson has him pressed against the cage.
Ferguson lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
BEMFORT has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Ferguson is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Ferguson pulls guard effortlessly.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as BEMFORT accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
BEMFORT throws a strike but Ferguson rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
BEMFORT wants to sweep here but Ferguson controlling him for the moment.
BEMFORT is trying to keep Ferguson in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BEMFORT will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Ferguson tries to free his leg and advance position but BEMFORT is retaining full guard.
Ferguson slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
BEMFORT doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

BEMFORT 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.
BEMFORT postures up.
BEMFORT distracts Ferguson with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
BEMFORT is looking to stand up but Ferguson won't let him.
BEMFORT is breathing heavily.
BEMFORT tries to free his leg and advance position but Ferguson is retaining full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
BEMFORT wants to control from the top but Ferguson keeps moving.
BEMFORT advances to half guard.
Ferguson keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

BEMFORT is working for a submission of some sort.
Ferguson looks like he's trying to stand up.
Ferguson is not content to let BEMFORT control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
BEMFORT looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Ferguson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
BEMFORT is looking to stall here but Ferguson recovers full guard.
BEMFORT thows a big elbow that misses.
BEMFORT working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
BEMFORT landing with the ground and pound.
BEMFORT wants to get up but he can't break Ferguson's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

VITOR BEMFORT dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rodney Ferguson's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ferguson shoots and misses

and BEMFORT counters with a takedown into side control.
Ferguson is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
BEMFORT throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Ferguson works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
Ferguson controlling the position for now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ferguson tries to kick BEMFORT off but BEMFORT keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Ferguson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from BEMFORT.
BEMFORT not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
BEMFORT not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ferguson is breathing heavily.
Ferguson blocking the ground and pound attempt from BEMFORT.

That's one minute gone in the round.
BEMFORT is looking to take a break and control but Ferguson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Ferguson fails with the takedown

and BEMFORT counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by BEMFORT.
BEMFORT postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
BEMFORT lands a couple of elbows.

BEMFORT gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

BEMFORT drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
BEMFORT looking to sit in guard and control but Ferguson gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Ferguson is stalling in the full guard.
Ferguson must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
BEMFORT keeping full guard, as Ferguson tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BEMFORT is trying to control the position but Ferguson postures up.
BEMFORT wants to sweep here but Ferguson controlling him for the moment.

BEMFORT had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Ferguson defends it easily.

BEMFORT has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Ferguson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Ferguson slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ferguson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. BEMFORT swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Ferguson has a momentary lapse of concentration, allowing BEMFORT to throw up a leg and lock on what appears to be a pretty tight triangle! Ferguson is fighting it off but it's all too little too late - BEMFORT pulls down on the head and he's put Ferguson to sleep! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). VITOR BEMFORT!