PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Marcelo Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and BJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). BJ Penn will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Garcia
vs
Penn

173 cm
25
160 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
25
165 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Garcia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, BJ Penn!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Felipe Paraventi and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Penn lands a jab to Garcia's midsection.
Penn lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Penn scores with a nice strike.
Penn punishes Garcia's body with a nice straight punch.
Penn throws a right and a left that both miss.

Garcia feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Garcia trying to control the position from guard on top but Penn is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Penn looking to control.

Penn has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Garcia is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Penn.
Penn is looking for a sweep.
Garcia in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Garcia tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Garcia tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Garcia has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Penn struggling a bit here.
Garcia has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Penn is looking to regain half guard here but Garcia keeps moving and retains side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Garcia sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Penn is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Penn can't do much from the bottom here.
Penn is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Garcia off and has taken his back!

Garcia is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Garcia turns into Penn and is now in his guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Penn trying to keep a closed guard but Garcia is proving a slippery customer.

Penn looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Garcia passes into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Penn tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Garcia wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

Garcia is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Penn has escaped the position, nice work there.
Penn is looking to regain half guard here but Garcia keeps moving and retains side control.
An elbow from Garcia crashes against the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Penn is looking to reverse the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Penn is trying to control Garcia's posture but Garcia avoids it.
Garcia tries to advance to mount but can't.
Penn is trying to work for a sweep but Garcia has mounted him!
Penn is working to get back to half guard.
Poor strikes thrown by Garcia there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Penn is trying desperately to improve position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Marcelo Garcia will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Garcia closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Garcia advances nicely into full mount.
Garcia throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Penn because Garcia loaded up on that one.
Garcia thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Penn really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Penn wants to hold on but Garcia pushes him away.

Garcia has hold of Penn's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Penn manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Penn gets back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Garcia wants to work for an arm triangle but Penn is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Penn trying to control from the bottom.
Garcia prevents Penn from improving his position.
Garcia looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Penn wants to get back to full guard.
Penn trying to control but Garcia postures up.
Garcia stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Garcia is trying to work for a kimura but Penn is defending well.
Penn keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Penn is looking to escape.
Penn tries to get to full guard but Garcia has control of the leg.
Penn has a hand on Garcia's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Garcia takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Penn manages to regain half guard. Good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Penn looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Garcia pushes past his half guard into mount!
Penn is breathing heavily.
Garcia controlling the position easily from mount.

Garcia is giving the impression that he's looking to ground and pound but he switches suddenly into a beautiful far side armbar! Penn is forced to tap! Great finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:43 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Marcelo Garcia!