PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Juan Roman Riquelme (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Deron Bryant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Roman Riquelme
vs
Bryant

193 cm
21
218 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

198 cm
24
208 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Juan Roman Riquelme!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Deron Bryant!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Lou da Vinci and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Riquelme takes one to the chin there.

Riquelme darts in and clinches Bryant up against the cage.
Bryant lands a nice shot to the body.
Riquelme changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Bryant fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Bryant tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Riquelme counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bryant keeping moving, preventing Riquelme from controlling successfully.
Riquelme slips nicely into half guard.
Bryant tries to kick Riquelme off but Riquelme keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Riquelme trying to pass the guard but Bryant defending well.
Bryant is looking for a sweep. Riquelme is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Bryant slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bryant throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

Riquelme thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Riquelme looking to pass the guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Riquelme takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Bryant throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Bryant stuffs the takedown.
Bryant throws a sloppy head kick and Riquelme moves out of range easily.
Riquelme defending well as Bryant loads up on a big left hand.

Riquelme closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Riquelme lands in his opponent's guard.
Riquelme stands and throws Bryant's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riquelme wants to control but Bryant is keeping him busy.
Bryant wants to control but Riquelme postures up.
Riquelme passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Bryant!
Bryant tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Riquelme thowing shots but they're missing.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Riquelme lands a nice shot to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bryant is working to get back to half guard.
Bryant has given up his back. Will we see Riquelme going for some submissions?
Bryant covering up well under a series of strikes from Riquelme.
Bryant tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Riquelme wants to take Bryant's back but he can't do it this time.
Riquelme prevents Bryant from getting the reversal.
Riquelme trying to control but Bryant is having none of it.
Riquelme fails to advance to Bryant's back.

That's four 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.

Riquelme is working for a guillotine from mount but Bryant frees his head quite easily.
Bryant is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Riquelme landing strikes from the mount and Bryant is in trouble!
A nice elbow there by Riquelme.
Riquelme is stalling here but it's allowed Bryant to get half guard.
Bryant is trying to stand.
Riquelme trying to advance position but Bryant counters by regaining guard.
Riquelme stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Bryant swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juan Roman Riquelme dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

A punch combination from Bryant misses.
Bryant is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
A jab lands there for Bryant.
Bryant fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Deron Bryant seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Riquelme clinches up with Bryant and pushes him back against the cage.
Bryant throws a knee to the head but misses.
Riquelme can't get the takedown.
Bryant scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Bryant misses with a punch to the body.
Bryant misses with a punch to the body.
Riquelme drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Riquelme blocks a body shot from Bryant.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bryant tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Bryant.
Bryant gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Riquelme.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Juan Roman Riquelme. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Riquelme gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Riquelme is pressing down on Bryant's thigh, looking to free his foot. Bryant is holding on for now.
Riquelme works his way into full mount!
Riquelme scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Bryant?

Riquelme jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Bryant manages to avoid the submission attempt.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Riquelme is trying to get an arm triangle but Bryant is defending well.
Bryant wants to get back to his feet.
Bryant stops Riquelme from passing to mount.
Riquelme tries to advance position but instead Bryant slips a leg back in to half guard.
Bryant slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bryant is trying to control the position but Riquelme postures up.
Bryant wants to stand and escape but Riquelme is having none of it.
Riquelme is looking to work some ground and pound but Bryant has wrist control.
Riquelme throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Riquelme trying to control but Bryant is working from the bottom.
Riquelme slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Bryant tries to bench press Riquelme off him but Riquelme keeps the position.

Riquelme thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bryant is trying to get back to his feet.

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.
Bryant wants to control but Riquelme postures up.
Riquelme advances to mount.
Bryant is in all sorts of trouble here.
Bryant is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Riquelme moves to back control.
Bryant wants to get back to his feet.
Bryant is breathing heavily.
Riquelme throwing strikes and Bryant squirms under the pressure, ending up mounted.

Riquelme with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Riquelme fails to advance to Bryant's back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juan Roman Riquelme dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Bryant throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

and Riquelme counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Riquelme.

Riquelme drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Bryant dives on top into guard.
Riquelme manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Juan Roman Riquelme overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Riquelme seems to be looking to move to his opponent's back but Bryant is holding on tight.
Riquelme trying to control but Bryant is having none of it.
Bryant regains half guard.
Riquelme missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bryant tries to roll over but Riquelme keeps him under control.

Riquelme is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Bryant is just riding it out for now. Riquelme eventually gives up the hold.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Bryant is trying to stand.
Riquelme content to control rather than advance.
Riquelme trying to mount his opponent but Bryant defends it.

That's two 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.
Riquelme is working hard here to advance position.
Bryant is refusing to be controlled, as Riquelme sits in half guard.

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

Bryant moves into the clinch.
Bryant looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Bryant misses with a body punch.
Riquelme is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Bryant gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Bryant displaying some good clinch control by pressing Riquelme up against the cage.
Bryant stops a takedown attempt from Riquelme.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Riquelme tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Juan Roman Riquelme. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Bryant breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Bryant throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Riquelme has a takedown stuffed.
Bryant throws a nice outside leg kick.
Riquelme ducks under a wild hook from Bryant.
Bryant throws a series of punches but Riquelme moves out of range.
Bryant pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Bryant throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Bryant throws a sloppy head kick and Riquelme moves out of range easily.
Riquelme changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Bryant tries to avoid it but Riquelme manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Bryant to the ground. Bryant escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Deron Bryant has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Riquelme tries to score a power double leg takedown but Bryant sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Riquelme somewhat.
Bryant throws a hook but Riquelme blocks it.
Bryant is trying hard to land a takedown here. Riquelme sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Bryant misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
The fight stays on the outside here - Riquelme looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Riquelme takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Riquelme staying out of range there.
Riquelme avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Deron Bryant.
I think Riquelme has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Juan Roman Riquelme!