PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Marcos Villa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francesco Cugnasco (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.

Villa
vs
Cugnasco

185 cm
18
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Marcos Villa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Francesco Cugnasco!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, John Mangel and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cugnasco pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Villa blocks a jab.
Villa moves out of range as Cugnasco strikes.
Villa takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Villa slips under a jab.
Cugnasco misses with an uppercut
and Villa counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Cugnasco thows a body shot but no joy.
Cugnasco swings widly with a right hand
and Villa counters with a nice uppercut.
Villa lands a lovely overhand right.

It looks like Francesco Cugnasco has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Villa misses with an uppercut. Cugnasco saw that one coming.
Cugnasco swings widly with a right hand
and Villa counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
A slow jab from Villa misses its intended target.
Villa throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cugnasco counters with a stiff right hand.
Villa doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Villa with a nice cross.
Cugnasco is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Villa.
Villa lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Cugnasco at a distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Villa bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Cugnasco takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Cugnasco thuds a left hand into Villa's body.
Villa misses with a left hand
and Villa takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Villa throws a poor cross that misses
and Cugnasco counters with a nice uppercut.
Villa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cugnasco.
Cugnasco throws a right hand that misses
letting Villa counter with a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Villa uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Cugnasco.
Cugnasco missing with a left hand there. Villa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cugnasco might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Villa walks into a left hand.
Villa misses with a lunging right hand
and Cugnasco counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
A slow jab from Villa misses its intended target.
Cugnasco throws a right hand that misses
and Villa counters with a series of strikes. Cugnasco will be more careful next time no doubt.
Nice straight punches there by Villa. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Villa.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cugnasco takes a jab right on the kisser.
Cugnasco uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Villa.
Villa throws a lazy right hand but Cugnasco sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Cugnasco takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Cugnasco throws a lazy uppercut
and Villa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Cugnasco looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cugnasco misses with a looping left.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcos Villa dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Francesco Cugnasco's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Cugnasco rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Villa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Cugnasco missing with a left hand there. Villa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cugnasco throws an off balance right hand
and Villa counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Cugnasco misses with an uppercut. Villa saw that one coming.
Cugnasco misses with a lunging right hand
and Villa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Villa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Cugnasco.
Cugnasco throws a good cross that connects.
Villa loads up on a big right hand but Cugnasco slips the punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Villa lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Marcos Villa is winning the standup battle so far.
Villa throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Villa rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Cugnasco moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Cugnasco misses with a lunging right hand
and Villa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Villa takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
A looping hook to the body misses from Villa. Cugnasco does a little dance to reset his feet.
Villa ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Villa, as that shot connected.
Villa displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cugnasco throws out the jab.
Villa takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Cugnasco bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Villa misses with a hook
and Cugnasco counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Nice uppercut there from Villa.
Cugnasco looks to throw the jab but Villa is out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Cugnasco misses.
Villa throws a lazy uppercut
and Cugnasco makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Cugnasco misses with a hook. Villa ducked under it nicely.
Villa throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Cugnasco sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Villa misses the shot to the body.
Cugnasco misses with a right hand
letting Villa counter with a right hand.
Cugnasco misses with a lunging right hand
enabling Villa to counter with a crisp jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Villa fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Cugnasco looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Villa misses with a body shot.
Villa throws an overhand right that lands on Cugnasco's shoulder, as Cugnasco tries to avoid the shot.
Cugnasco takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Villa moves out of range as Cugnasco strikes.
Villa misses with an uppercut
enabling Cugnasco to counter with a crisp jab.
Cugnasco swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcos Villa dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Francesco Cugnasco's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

A big left from Villa misses.
Cugnasco jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Villa misses with a shot to the body
and Cugnasco connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Villa misses with a lunging right hand
and Cugnasco counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Villa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cugnasco.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cugnasco swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A big left from Villa misses.
Cugnasco has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Cugnasco on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cugnasco tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Villa was well out of range. Poor timing from Cugnasco.
Cugnasco rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Villa counters with a nice uppercut.
Villa keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A swing and a miss from Villa.
Cugnasco connects with a single shot there.
No joy there for Villa, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Cugnasco moves away from the strike by Villa.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Cugnasco with a nice cross.
Cugnasco takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Villa throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cugnasco counters with a two punch combo.
Cugnasco misses with an uppercut.
Villa misses with a body punch
and Villa takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Cugnasco takes a jab right on the kisser.
Cugnasco throws an overhand right that lands on Villa's shoulder, as Villa tries to avoid the shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big left from Cugnasco misses.
Villa is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Cugnasco.
Cugnasco displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Villa throws out the jab.
Villa throws a right hand that misses
and Cugnasco counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Villa moves away from the strike by Cugnasco.
Villa ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cugnasco moves away.
Cugnasco loads up on a big right hand but Villa slips the punch.

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.
Cugnasco scores with a jab. Villa acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Francesco Cugnasco has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cugnasco throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Villa.
Villa displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cugnasco throws out the jab.
Cugnasco uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Villa.
Marcos Villa is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
A punch lands to the side of Cugnasco 's head but he takes it in his stride.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cugnasco misses the shot to the body.
Cugnasco swings widly with a right hand
and Villa counters with a left to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Francesco Cugnasco.
Well Villa 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcos Villa!