PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shane Flair (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and thyago fitch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). fitch comes into a darkened arena with his song building. tema dos guerreiro kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Flair
vs
fitch

150 cm
23
180 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

173 cm
18
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Good kicks
Very strong

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Deadly Clothing

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 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Shane Flair!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, thyago fitch!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Eddie Farnsworth and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Flair closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
You can see the frustration on fitch's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Flair is trying to get an arm triangle but fitch is defending well.

Flair is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, fitch has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
fitch is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Flair asserts his dominance and retains side control.
fitch tries to improve position but can't.
fitch is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Flair thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Flair looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Flair seems to be working for a kimura but fitch defends the submission attempt.
Flair is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
fitch trying to control from the bottom.

fitch actively working from the bottom here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
fitch missing with punches from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
fitch makes his way to full guard. A much better position for fitch.
fitch trying to control the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

fitch looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Flair dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

fitch tries for a takedown but Flair circles away easily

and Flair counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
fitch trying to control but Flair postures up.
fitch is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
fitch is trying to control but can't.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fitch tries to get to full guard but Flair has control of the leg.
fitch trying to control here.

That's two 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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
fitch with a poor takedown

and Flair decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in fitch's guard.

fitch has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Flair can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
fitch trying to keep a closed guard but Flair is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now fitch is on top in guard.
fitch trying to control the position from guard on top but Flair is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
fitch is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
fitch in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
fitch is pushing down on Flair's leg trying to pass to half guard. Flair is fighting to maintain full guard but fitch has managed to sneak the leg through.
fitch looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Flair with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
fitch is trying to control. Flair wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
fitch seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shane Flair dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

fitch looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Shane Flair overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
fitch throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
fitch thows a big elbow that misses.
fitch trying to control but Flair is working from the bottom.
Flair knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for fitch on the ground.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, thyago fitch just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
fitch doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Flair counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

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

fitch looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
fitch trying to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
fitch looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
fitch trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
fitch controls Flair momentarily but Flair frees himself.

Flair has gone for a leg lock! fitch slips out almost immediately though and dives into Flair's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
fitch working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Flair is working an open guard so fitch takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
fitch gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Flair counters with a nice double leg into side control. fitch won't be happy with that.

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 Shane Flair.
Well Flair has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:27
Judge Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shane Flair!