PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eric Praline (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Ou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ou is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Advance On. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Praline
vs
Ou

195 cm
20
289 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

170 cm
22
265 lbs
6 - 4 - 1

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
World class boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Eric Praline!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joe Ou!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Thiago Cunha and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big left from Ou misses.
Ou scores with a hook.
Ou tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Praline counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Ou throws a left and a right that both miss
and Praline counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Praline fails with a takedown attempt.
Praline keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Praline tries to move into range but Ou moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Ou rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Praline moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ou lands a nice shot to the body.
Ou misses with an uppercut. Praline saw that one coming.
Praline keeps the fight on the outside.
Ou throws a jab when Praline was well out of range.
Ou wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ou throws a jab when Praline was well out of range.
Ou is looking to clinch.
Ou tries to clinch there but Praline circles away.
Joe Ou is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ou throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Praline counters with a takedown into side control.

Praline wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Ou, who protects the arm well.
Ou is trying to improve his position.
Praline throws an elbow but Ou slips to the side and avoids it well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ou is trying to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ou taking punishment in the form of punches.
Ou really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Praline. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Praline throwing shots but missing, from side control.

Praline tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Ou is looking for a sweep.
Praline tries to score with some ground and pound. Ou controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Praline tries to advance to mount but Ou instead regains half guard.
Praline thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Ou to regain full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ou managing to control the position.
Ou is trying to control the position but Praline postures up.
Ou wants to get back to his feet but Praline is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Praline wants to pass the guard but Ou is keeping the position.
Ou seems keen to control Praline's posture.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Ou wants to stand and escape but Praline is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Joe Ou has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Ou waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Praline.
Ou fails with an attempt to clinch.
Praline misses with a takedown attempt - Ou sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Ou swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ou misses with a hook. Praline ducked under it nicely.
Good shot there by Ou.
Ou lands a jab to the head.
Ou tries to clinch there but Praline circles away.
Ou throws the left hand but Praline avoids the punch easily.
Praline doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Ou counters with a lovely straight right hand!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Joe Ou will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Praline drops his hands momentarily and Ou takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Some wild striking there from Ou.
Ou tries to clinch up

and Praline counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Praline is trying to work for a kimura but Ou is defending well.
Praline wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ou keeps working.
Ou wants to improve his position but Praline is controlling well.
Ou trying to hold on to Praline's head to control him but Praline postures up.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Ou can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Praline missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Ou wants to improve his position but Praline is controlling well.
Praline sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ou defending well though.
Praline prevents Ou from standing back up.
Praline trying to control the action but Ou is working from the bottom.
Praline lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Praline thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Ou to regain full guard.
Praline won't allow Ou to sweep him here.

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.
Ou is looking to stand up but Praline isn't so interested in that idea.
Ou is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Praline is pushing down on Ou's leg trying to pass to half guard. Ou is fighting to maintain full guard but Praline has managed to sneak the leg through.
Praline tries to pass the half guard into mount. Ou knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Ou has one foot on Praline's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Ou misses with a hook.
Ou throws a jab when Praline was well out of range.
Joe Ou is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Praline fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Ou tries to clinch there but Praline circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Praline takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Praline shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Ou as he jumps to the side.
Praline moves out of range of the strikes.
Praline shoots in looking for a takedown. Ou tries to sprawl out of it but Praline keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Ou manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eric Praline. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ou loads up on a big right hand but Praline slips the punch.
Ou tries to clinch up but Praline circles away and keeps his distance.
Ou misses with an uppercut

and Praline counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Praline 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.
Praline wants to take a breather but Ou is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ou trying to control from the bottom.
Ou is looking to escape.
Praline thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Ou's head.
Ou is refusing to be controlled, as Praline sits in half guard.
Praline not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Praline is trying to control the action in half guard but Ou is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Eric Praline wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Ou throws out a loose jab but Praline uses good head movement to avoid it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Praline dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Ou tries to clinch but Praline moves out of range.
Ou thuds his right hand into Praline's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Ou throws a lazy right hand but Praline sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Praline slips under a jab.
Ou throws a lazy uppercut

and Praline counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Praline trying to control but Ou is working from the bottom.
Praline working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Praline stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ou swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Eric Praline overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Praline looking to sit in guard and control but Ou gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Ou tries to stand but Praline is controlling from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ou looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Ou trying to control but Praline is working from the bottom.

Ou gets to his feet. Praline looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Praline keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A punch combination from Ou misses.
Ou closes the distance but Praline moves to the side

and Praline counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Praline trying to mount his opponent but Ou defends it.
Praline prevents Ou from improving his position.
Praline trying to control the action but Ou is working from the bottom.
Praline tries to pass the half guard into mount. Ou knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Ou is trying to maintain the position but Praline is very close to passing his half guard.
Ou is not content to let Praline control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Praline seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

We're going to have a standup here because Eric Praline wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Ou cracks Praline with a right hand to the side of the head.
Praline walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Ou misses with a right hand

and Praline counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Ou tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ou has Praline pulled in close to control his posture.
Ou is trying to keep Praline in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Joe Ou has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Ou tries to clinch up but Praline circles away and keeps his distance.
Praline uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Ou.
Praline moves out of range as Ou strikes.
Ou is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ou misses with a hook. Praline ducked under it nicely.
Ou swinging wildly here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eric Praline showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Praline 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 29:28
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:28
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eric Praline!