PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Eugene Albright (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wayne Rooney (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Eugene Albright has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Albright
vs
Rooney

180 cm
28
164 lbs
16 - 9 - 0

190 cm
23
165 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
World class boxer
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 16 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Eugene Albright!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Wayne Rooney!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Edson Gomes and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fighters circling - Rooney throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Albright throws a poor cross that misses
and Rooney counters with a left and a right that stings Albright.
Rooney lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Rooney swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Albright is looking to clinch.
Albright tries to move into range but Rooney moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Albright slips a straight right by Rooney.
Jab, jab by Rooney - just one landing.
Wayne Rooney seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Albright throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Rooney is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Rooney loads up on a big right hand but Albright slips the punch.
Albright changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Rooney tries to avoid it but Albright manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Rooney to the ground. Rooney escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Nice sprawl there from Rooney as Albright shoots in.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rooney throws an off balance right hand
and Albright cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Albright misses with a low kick as Rooney jumps back.
Rooney works over Albright's head and body with a nice combination.
Albright on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Sloppy strikes from Rooney. Those never looked like landing.
A swing and a miss from Rooney.
Albright misses with a straight right.
Rooney's corner calls for a 1-2. Rooney obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Rooney misses with a hook.
Albright slips a jab and a cross from Rooney.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Albright scores a takedown into full mount!
Albright fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Albright unloads with some shots from mount but Rooney bucks and avoids them well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Albright landing strikes from the mount and Rooney is in trouble!
Albright scoring with strikes but Rooney is staying in there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Albright takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Rooney really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Albright. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rooney tries to lock up and control but Albright gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Albright working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Albright working Rooney over with strikes here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rooney is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Albright controlling his opponent.
A nice elbow there by Albright.
Rooney is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Albright is landing with some decent strikes but Rooney is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Albright working the ground and pound effectively.

Rooney is rocked!
Rooney is in all sorts of trouble here.
Rooney is still in real trouble! Can Albright finish him?
Rooney takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Rooney is squirming around, avoiding Albright's attempts to control the action.
Albright content just to control the position here.
Rooney working to try and regain half guard.
Rooney seems to have recovered his senses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albright controlling from the full mount.

Albright jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Rooney is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Rooney and Albright has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Rooney takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rooney wants to control but Albright postures up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Albright misses with the ground and pound.
Rooney takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Rooney controls the position for a moment.
Rooney is looking for a sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eugene Albright dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Albright wants to clinch.
Albright misses with an uppercut.
Albright defending well as Rooney loads up on a big left hand.
Rooney takes a swing at Albright's ribcage but misses.
Rooney with a hook.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rooney checks the leg kick nicely there.
Rooney misses with a series of wild punches.
Albright wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albright cracks a nice hook into Rooney's ribs.
Rooney ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Albright moves away.
Rooney has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Albright finds it's way round the side to connect with Rooney's head.
Albright closes the distance looking to clinch
and Rooney counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Rooney misses with a right hand

and Albright counters with a takedown into side control.
Albright trying to control the position but Rooney is working away.
Check out the look on Albright's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Albright wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Rooney, who protects the arm well.
Albright tries to advance to mount but can't.
Rooney wants to control but Albright postures up.
Rooney gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Albright is landing with some decent strikes but Rooney is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Eugene Albright overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Albright working for a guillotine from mount but Rooney is in no mood to give up.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Albright throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Rooney because Albright loaded up on that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rooney is wriggling around trying to escape.
Rooney is squirming around, avoiding Albright's attempts to control the action.
Albright throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Rooney because Albright loaded up on that one.
Rooney is desperately trying to improve his position but Albright has a good base and remains in mount.
Albright lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Albright controlling his opponent.
Albright 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.
Albright is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Albright landing strikes, looking to finish!
Rooney avoids a series of strikes thrown by Albright.
Albright thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albright trying to control but Rooney is having none of it.
Albright thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Rooney wants to control but Albright is having none of it.
Albright scoring with strikes but Rooney is staying in there.

Albright goes for an armbar but Rooney turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Rooney.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eugene Albright dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Albright feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Rooneys jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Albright throws a half hearted mid kick.
Rooney slips a straight right by Albright.
Rooney stuns Albright with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Rooney misses with an uppercut
and Albright counters with a straight right hand.
Albright throws a big shot that misses.
Rooney throws a series of punches but Albright avoids them all with ease.
Rooney throws a poor cross that misses

and Albright counters with a single leg into guard. Rooney didn't expect that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Albright accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Albright wants to pass the guard but Rooney is keeping the position.
Albright throwing strikes but missing.
Rooney is adopting a defensive guard.
Rooney looking for a sweep. Not yet Rooney, not yet.
Rooney has a closed guard, preventing Albright from standing up.
Albright throwing strikes from guard but Rooney blocks nicely.
Albright pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rooney is keeping the position for now.
Wayne Rooney has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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.
Albright wants to control from the top but Rooney keeps moving.
Albright slips nicely into half guard.
Rooney is not content to let Albright control the position.
Rooney looks like he's trying to stand up.
Albright is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Albright thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Rooney's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rooney tries to get to full guard but Albright has control of the leg.
Albright thows a huge punch but Rooney dodges it nicely.
Albright working over Rooney with some ground and pound. Rooney looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Albright not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Albright sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rooney defending well though.
Rooney avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Albright.
Eugene Albright is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Rooney is trying to get back to full guard.
Albright content to control rather than advance.
Albright's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

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.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Albright is looking to take a break and control but Rooney is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

We're going to have a standup here because Eugene Albright wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Albright lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Albright misses the shot to the body.
Rooney circles away from the clinch attempt.
Albright is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Rooney.
Albright displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Rooney throws out the jab.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eugene Albright showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Albright, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eugene Albright!