PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Frank Hardhand (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hugo de Castro (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.

Hardhand
vs
de Castro

183 cm
22
160 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

188 cm
25
160 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Next Level Nutrition--HUGE SALE!!!158q for $25!!

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Frank Hardhand!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hugo de Castro!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Felipe Paraventi and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardhand looks to land a combination. de Castro sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Hardhand stuffs the takedown.
A punch combination from Hardhand misses.
de Castro showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Hardhand.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from de Castro.
Hardhand misses with a low kick.
de Castro shoots in but no luck this time.
Frank Hardhand has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hugo de Castro.
Hardhand lands with a cross.
Hardhand lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hardhand throws a series of punches but de Castro avoids them all with ease.
Hardhand tries to bum rush de Castro with a series of wild strikes but de Castro uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
de Castro dives in and grabs Hardhand's left leg, looking for a takedown. Hardhand pushes down on de Castro's head and hops out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Castro tries to close the distance and clinch but Hardhand swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
de Castro looks for a takedown but Hardhand sprawls well.
Hardhand misses with an uppercut.
Horrible takedown by de Castro or perhaps it was just good defense by Hardhand which made him look bad.

Hardhand drops de Castro with a beautiful combination! de Castro stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Hardhand is looking for the KO!

de Castro is rocked!

It looks like Hugo de Castro has been cut.
Hardhand rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but de Castro moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
de Castro misses with a takedown attempt - Hardhand sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hardhand fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
de Castro is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Hardhand tries to bum rush de Castro with a series of wild strikes but de Castro uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
de Castro closes the distance and clinches up with Hardhand, looking for a takedown. de Castro pushes Hardhand against the cage but Hardhand circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
de Castro shoots in looking for a takedown. Hardhand tries to sprawl out of it but de Castro keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Hardhand manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
de Castro looks gassed!
Hardhand jabs de Castro right on the nose. de Castro blinks but takes it well.
Hardhand throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
de Castro walks into a straight right hand from Hardhand.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hardhand misses with a double jab.
de Castro falls off balance throwing a combination

and Hardhand counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Hardhand wants to control from the top but de Castro keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Castro bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hardhand's guard.
Hardhand working a defensive guard here.
Hardhand wants to get back to his feet but de Castro is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Hardhand controls de Castro momentarily but de Castro frees himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Hardhand wants to stand and escape but de Castro is having none of it.

de Castro drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and de Castro jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
de Castro 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.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
de Castro passes Hardhand's left leg - he's now in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Hardhand dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hugo de Castro's cut.
That's time! Hardhand's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

de Castro tries for a takedown but Hardhand circles away easily
and Hardhand counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
de Castro shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Hardhand counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Hardhand looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Hardhand looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks de Castro with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
de Castro avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Hardhand.
Hardhand lands with a punch from half guard.
Hardhand is keen to just control but de Castro is a slippery customer.
Hardhand throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardhand thows a huge punch but de Castro dodges it nicely.
de Castro wants to improve his position but Hardhand is controlling well.
Hardhand thows a huge punch but de Castro dodges it nicely.
Hardhand with the ground and pound but de Castro uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Hardhand is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Hardhand has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Hardhand pushes down on de Castro's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Hardhand trying to mount his opponent but de Castro 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.
Hardhand is looking to stall here but de Castro recovers full guard.
Hardhand trying to control but de Castro is working from the bottom.
de Castro keeping full guard, as Hardhand tries to pass.
Hardhand trying to control the position from guard on top but de Castro is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hardhand is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because de Castro is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Castro tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Hardhand gets a takedown into half guard.
Hardhand not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hardhand tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Hardhand works his way into side control.
de Castro sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
de Castro is pressing down on Hardhand's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
de Castro looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hardhand trying to control but de Castro is working from the bottom.
de Castro wants to sweep here but Hardhand controlling him for the moment.
de Castro is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Hardhand wants to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Hardhand dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Hugo de Castro's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Hardhand closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Hardhand is looking for a kimura but de Castro is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Hardhand to get the leverage.
de Castro is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Hardhand scores with a couple of nice shots.
de Castro is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hardhand's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hardhand's back!
de Castro lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Hardhand hold on?!
de Castro has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Hardhand's body.
I really don't envy Hardhand right now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Castro not allowing Hardhand to control his hands.
de Castro slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Hardhand rolls, trying to escape but de Castro keeps control of the position.
Hardhand is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by de Castro.

That's two 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.

de Castro has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Hardhand has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!
Even with his hooks in, de Castro manages to miss with strikes from the back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardhand is trying to break free.
Hardhand trying to control the action but de Castro just sinks the hooks in.
de Castro is controlling the position but Hardhand somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.
de Castro is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Hugo de Castro has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
de Castro is trying to control. Hardhand wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
de Castro throws a strike but Hardhand avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Frank Hardhand is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
de Castro thows a big elbow that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Hugo de Castro.
Well Hardhand 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Hardhand!