PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Elvin Ruez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Strife (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ruez comes to the cage accompanied by Face Breaker - Poison Pen. Elvin Ruez has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ruez
vs
Strife

178 cm
24
163 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

180 cm
28
165 lbs
15 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Powerful

FNF Energy & Stamina - Sale!
FNF Energy & Stamina - Sale!

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 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Elvin Ruez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, John Strife!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Strife just misses with a punch to the body.
Strife scores with a sloppy right hand. Ruez should have avoided that one.
Ruez is looking to clinch but Strife is avoiding it.
Strife throws a combination that misses

and Ruez moves into the clinch.
Ruez misses with a knee strike.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Strife.
Ruez lands with a right to the head.
Strife throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ruez trying to land knees to the body.
Strife fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ruez works on Strife's body with a couple of short punches.
Ruez looking to stall.
Strife can't find room to land a body shot as Ruez controls the action.
A body shot lands from Ruez.
Ruez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ruez trying to control the position but instead, Strife has worked for underhooks and has pushed Ruez into the cage.

Ruez escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Strife lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Good leg kick by Strife there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Strife connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

Ruez instigates a clinch.
Strife lands a body punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Strife throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Ruez blocks it with crossed arms.

Strife breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Strife displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Ruez.
Strife throws a head kick but Ruez moves out of range.
The fighters circling - Strife throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Strife throws a looping overhand right but Ruez ducks down to avoid it.
A chopping leg kick lands by Strife.
Ruez moves out of range as Strife strikes.
Strife swinging wildly here.
Ruez scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Strife dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Ruez. That did some damage!
Strife throws a hook to the side of Ruez's head but Ruez sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
John Strife is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ruez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Strife paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ruez's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Strife connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Ruez scrambles back to his feet.
Ruez pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
John Strife seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Strife lunges at Ruez with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Ruez's hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strife lands a nice leg kick that just misses Ruez's sensitive parts.
Strife throws a head kick that half lands.
Strife leaves Ruez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Nice jab there from Strife.

Ruez clinches with his opponent.
Strife misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Ruez.
Ruez looks to throw an elbow but misses.
A right handed body shot lands from Ruez.

Strife manages to break the clinch.
Strife dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Strife thows a left - swing and a miss!
Strife listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Strife throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Ruez counters with a one-two to the body.
Strife swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Ruez avoids the head kick by Strife.
Strife misses with an uppercut.
Strife fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strife thows a leg kick but Ruez checks it
and Ruez counters with a lovely shot to the body.
A slapping body kick lands there for Strife.
Ruez tries for a takedown but Strife sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Elvin Ruez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ruez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Strife cracks Ruez with a right hand to the side of the head.

Ruez moves into range and clinches up with Strife.
Ruez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Strife's elbow.
Ruez lands a damaging elbow.
Ruez lands a right hand that snaps the head of Strife backwards.
Strife is looking to control Ruez's arms but Ruez gets an underhook and turns him. Now Strife has his back to the cage.
Ruez misses with some punches.
Strife tries a body shot but Ruez blocks it.
Strife tries to work over Ruez's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Strife's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ruez on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Strife avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Strife bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Ruez throws a nice looking combination but Strife bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ruez chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Strife can pounce on him.
Strife misses with a low kick.
The fighters circling - Ruez throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Ruez takes a kick to the side of the head.
That kick from Strife tenderised Ruez's leg. Ruez is trying to keep his angry face on.
Strife misses with a lunging right hand
and Ruez makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Ruez tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Strife counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Ruez is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Ruez misses with a hook
and Strife counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Strife avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ruez moves out of range of the body kick from Strife.
Strife throws a low kick but it's checked well by Ruez.
Ruez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Strife throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Ruez counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ruez throws a head kick that misses
and Strife counters with a straight right hand.
Ruez clobbers Strife with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Strife does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Strife dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Ruez misses with a series of wild punches.
Strife lands a right hook to the body.
Ruez avoids the head kick by Strife.
Elvin Ruez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Ruez closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Strife tries to break the clinch but Ruez is controlling the position.
Ruez avoiding damage.
Strife blocks the elbow strike.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Strife.

Ruez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Ruez darts in trying to clinch
and Strife counters with a good low kick that Ruez was not able to check.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Strife throws a quick inside leg kick.
Strife misses with a hook. Ruez ducked under it nicely.
A jab lands there for Strife.
An inside leg kick lands from Strife.
Ruez throws a left and a right that both miss
and Strife makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Strife lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Ruez darts in trying to clinch
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Strife lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Strife stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Strife wants it to stay on the feet.
Ruez lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Strife circles away quickly and effectively.
Ruez gets cracked there but stands up to it.

Ruez fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Strife sprawls well initially but Ruez persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Strife is trying to get back to full guard.
Ruez throwing shots but Strife is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strife is trying to control but can't.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Ruez tries to pass the half guard into mount. Strife knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Strife is looking for a sweep. Ruez is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ruez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Strife defending well though.
Strife controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

Ruez is working for a submission of some sort.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruez trying to control from half guard but Strife is working away.
Strife wants to get back to full guard.
Ruez works his way into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Ruez is trying to get an arm triangle but Strife is defending well.

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.
Strife is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Ruez is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Ruez trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Strife tries to reverse the position but Ruez maintains control.
Ruez wants to control the pace but Strife is squirming around nicely.
Ruez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but John Strife will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Strife throws a body punch but Ruez moves out of range.
Ruez throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Strife cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Ruez checks the leg kick nicely there.
Strife lands a jab to the head.
Strife scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Ruez swinging wildly here.
Ruez wants to clinch up but Strife keeps it at a distance.

Ruez closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Strife did well to prevent Ruez getting side control.
Strife is not content to let Ruez control the position.
Strife keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Ruez not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Strife works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ruez is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Strife has his hands on Ruez's head, controlling the position.
Ruez's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Ruez working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Strife's head.
Strife managing to control the position.
Strife is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strife is stalling here. Ruez is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Strife seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Ruez has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

Ruez stands up and beckons Strife to his feet.
Ruez misses with a hook.
Strife keeps the fight on the outside.
John Strife seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Strife misses with a looping left.
A clash of legs there as Ruez blocks the low kick.
Ruez avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Strife misses with a straight right.
Strife finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strife throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ruez defending well as Strife loads up on a big left hand.
Ruez closes the distance but Strife moves to the side
and Strife counters with a low kick, right behind Ruez 's knee.
Strife misses with a hook
and Ruez counters with a three punch combo that has Strife backing up. Strife nods at Ruez to acknowledge the strikes.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ruez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ruez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
John Strife is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ruez shoots in looking for a takedown but Strife manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Ruez's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Ruez closes the distance and clinches.
Ruez wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Ruez goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ruez pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Ruez tries for a takedown. No joy.
Ruez avoiding damage as Strife throws knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Strife stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Strife as Ruez tries to tie him up.
A head punch on the inside from Ruez fails to land.
Strife content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Ruez effectively controlling the action here.
Elvin Ruez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Ruez has hold of one of Strife's legs. Strife is fighting the takedown attempt but Ruez gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Ruez looking to pass the guard.
Strife looking to control.
Strife pulls Ruez in close to prevent any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Elvin Ruez showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Strife has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Suge Night scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Strife!