PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matija Balentic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kenwood Prospero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Balentic
vs
Prospero

200 cm
22
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
264 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Matija Balentic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Kenwood Prospero!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Daniel Blasius and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Prospero lands with a thumping leg kick.
Prospero should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Prospero takes one to the chin there.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Prospero has eaten all the pies!
Balentic shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Balentic clinches.
Prospero wants to get back to striking at distance but Balentic won't allow it.
Prospero just leaning against Balentic, taking a breather.
Balentic tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Prospero just stands there and leans against the cage.

Prospero jumps guard.

Balentic gets to his feet. Prospero looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Prospero closes the distance and clinches up with Balentic, looking for a takedown. Prospero pushes Balentic against the cage but Balentic circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Balentic scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Balentic wants to control but Prospero is keeping him busy.
Prospero trying to control here.
Balentic will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Balentic decides to return to a standing position.
Balentic throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Prospero looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Prospero throws a left and a right that both miss
and Balentic makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Balentic throws a right and a left that both miss.

Balentic clinches with his opponent.
Balentic digs a right hand into Prospero's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Prospero's gas tank.

Balentic decides to pull guard.
Balentic throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Balentic is controlling Prospero's posture.
Balentic throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Balentic seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Balentic has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Prospero off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Balentic shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Balentic showed some decent athleticism there.
Prospero blocking the ground and pound attempt from Balentic.

Prospero looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Prospero trying to control from the bottom.
Prospero is not content to let Balentic control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Balentic stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Balentic scores with a jab to the body.
Balentic shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Prospero as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matija Balentic. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Good work by Balentic as he checks the leg kick.
Prospero misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Prospero chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Balentic can pounce on him.
An inside leg kick lands from Balentic.
Balentic stuns Prospero with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Balentic changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Prospero looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Prospero looking for a sweep but Balentic has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Prospero is looking to get to half guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Prospero is squirming around, avoiding Balentic's attempts to control the action.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Balentic avoids the attempt from Prospero to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matija Balentic 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.

Balentic bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Prospero pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Balentic misses with a head kick.
Prospero moves in looking to clinch but Balentic pushes him off.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Balentic is defended easily by Prospero.
Kenwood Prospero seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balentic with a nice cross.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Prospero closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Balentic did well to prevent Prospero getting side control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Balentic tries to get to full guard but Prospero has control of the leg.
Balentic wants to control but Prospero is keeping busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Prospero seems to be working for a kimura but Balentic defends the submission attempt.

Prospero decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Balentic keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Prospero gets tackled into the cage by Balentic. Balentic maintains the clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Balentic.
Prospero tries for a takedown but Balentic manages to get underhooks.
Prospero working hard to break the clinch.
Balentic slowing the pace effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Prospero breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Matija Balentic is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Balentic lands a head kick!
Prospero closes the distance and clinches up with Balentic, looking for a takedown. Prospero pushes Balentic against the cage but Balentic circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Matija Balentic has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kenwood Prospero.
Balentic fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Prospero swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Balentic counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Balentic.
Balentic trying to control but Prospero is working from the bottom.
Balentic wants to get up but he can't break Prospero's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Prospero tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Prospero can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Balentic controls the pace.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Balentic looking to pass the guard.
Balentic passes Prospero's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Prospero is looking to escape.
Balentic seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Prospero does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Balentic is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Prospero is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Prospero tries to stand but can't do so whilst Balentic controls his leg.
Prospero throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Prospero prevents Balentic from improving his position.
Prospero seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Balentic does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matija Balentic dominated that second round.
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!

Prospero throws a push kick but Balentic slaps the foot to one side.

Prospero gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Balentic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Balentic lands an elbow inside that Prospero shrugs off.
Balentic avoiding damage as Prospero throws knees to the body.

Balentic gets control of Prospero's arms and successfully pulls guard. Balentic will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Balentic is controlling Prospero's posture.
Balentic throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Prospero throwing strikes from guard but Balentic blocks nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Prospero pushes down on Balentic's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Balentic is looking for a sweep. Prospero is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Balentic looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Prospero wants to work for an arm triangle but Balentic is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Prospero trying to control the pace.
Prospero wants to control but Balentic is keeping him busy.
Prospero throwing shots but Balentic is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Balentic is trying to get back to full guard.
Balentic is staying active underneath Prospero, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Balentic trying to control but Prospero postures up.
Prospero wants to take a breather but Balentic is having none of it.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Kenwood Prospero.
Prospero tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Prospero misses with a wild combination.
Prospero takes a shot to the body in his stride.

Prospero gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balentic lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Prospero.
Prospero is pressed up against the cage. Balentic has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Prospero down to the mat. Prospero avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Balentic misses with a head kick.

Prospero closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Prospero lands in his opponent's guard.
Prospero stopping the sweep attempt from Balentic.
Prospero stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Balentic swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Balentic is trying to keep Prospero in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Prospero gets to his feet - Balentic follows without any prompting.
Prospero throws a head kick but Balentic moves out of range.

Balentic has taken the fight to the clinch.
Prospero has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Balentic landing knees to the body.
Prospero content to slow the pace in the clinch.

Balentic has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Prospero uses from the top position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Prospero preventing the sweep.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kenwood Prospero has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Matija Balentic is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kenwood Prospero comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Balentic 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matija Balentic!