PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Hidalgo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Braga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Hidalgo might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Terror - Spit My Rage. Braga has chosen Wonderwall, Oasis as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The key to victory for John Hidalgo has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Hidalgo
vs
Braga

190 cm
22
200 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

197 cm
24
215 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Good gas tank

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Hidalgo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, James Braga!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Paul Aken and Nard Betker.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Braga moves out of range of the body kick from Hidalgo.

Braga shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Hidalgo manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Braga preventing the sweep.
Braga sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Braga trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Braga scoring with punches to the head and body.
Braga wants to pass the guard but Hidalgo is keeping the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Braga seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hidalgo looking to control.
Braga is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Hidalgo wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Braga is now in half guard.
Hidalgo tries to get to full guard but Braga has control of the leg.

Braga decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Braga shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Braga was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Braga lands with some strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braga with the ground and pound from mount.
Braga landing strikes from the mount and Hidalgo is in trouble!
Hidalgo regains half guard.
Braga scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Braga is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Braga lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Hidalgo has hold of Braga's hands but Braga slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Braga missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Braga is looking to advance position but Hidalgo won't allow it.
Braga with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Hidalgo is looking for a sweep. Braga is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Braga controlling the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Braga.

Hidalgo gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Braga to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Braga not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Hidalgo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Braga dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Hidalgo connects with a high kick.
Hidalgo throws a head kick that half lands.
Hidalgo tries for a takedown but Braga circles away easily

and Braga counters with a takedown into side control.
Braga working the ground and pound from side control.
Hidalgo is trying to escape the position but Braga is controlling the position.
James Braga has got the better of the ground game so far.
Braga in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Braga grinds an elbow into Hidalgo's temple.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Braga takes a little break here. Hidalgo wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Braga has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hidalgo is trying to get back to half guard.
Braga lands some shots froms side control.
Hidalgo is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Braga taking a breather here.
Braga cracks Hidalgo with a big right hand but Hidalgo just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
The referee asks Braga politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Braga prefers to stall for the moment though.

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.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Braga.
Hidalgo tries for a takedown but Braga circles away easily

and Braga counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Braga landing with the ground and pound.
Braga showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Let's hope that Braga has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga is in close to Hidalgo's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Braga content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Braga is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Braga.

Braga shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Hidalgo's guard.
Braga sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Braga pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hidalgo is keeping the position for now.
Braga not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Hidalgo keeping full guard, as Braga tries to pass.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Braga lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Braga not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Braga showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Braga shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Braga is taking a breather. Hidalgo says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Hidalgo has hold of Braga's hands but Braga slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Braga trying to control the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Braga.
Hidalgo tries for a takedown but Braga circles away easily

and Braga counters with a shoot takedown. Hidalgo fights it but they end up in guard.
Braga sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Braga passes into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braga uses his free foot to push down on Hidalgo's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Hidalgo.
Braga takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Braga lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Braga landing strikes, looking to finish!
Braga controlling from the full mount.
A nice elbow there by Braga.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braga is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Hidalgo can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
A nice elbow there by Braga.

Hidalgo defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Braga.
Braga controlling the pace for now.
Braga lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Braga content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Hidalgo is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Braga raining down shots from the mount!
Braga controlling his opponent.
Braga postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Hidalgo looks a forlorn figure.
Braga takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Braga cracks Hidalgo with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Braga landing punches.
Braga scores with a couple of good head shots there.
John Hidalgo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
James Braga is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Braga tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Braga comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Braga 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 26:30
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 26:30
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Braga!