PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Long (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Vatali (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Long
vs
Vatali

190 cm
28
220 lbs
16 - 12 - 0

188 cm
27
210 lbs
20 - 7 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

[B2F] Born 2 Fight

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Alex Long!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joe Vatali!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A shot to the liver by Long. Beautiful body shot.
Vatali shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Long defends it nicely.
Vatali fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Long manages to avoid it.
Long looks to land a combination but Vatali avoids it well.
Vatali tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Long manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Long lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

It looks like Joe Vatali has been cut.
Vatali throws a lazy uppercut
and Long counters with a left and a right that stings Vatali.

Vatali 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.
Vatali throwing strikes but missing.
Vatali trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Long manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Long looking to pass the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Long looking to sit in guard and control but Vatali gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Vatali thows a big elbow that misses.
Long is trying to keep Vatali in close.
Long keeping moving, preventing Vatali from controlling successfully.
Vatali stopping the sweep attempt from Long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Vatali throwing strikes but missing.
Vatali won't allow Long to sweep him here.
Long is trying to keep Vatali in close.
Vatali slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Vatali lands an elbow.
Long struggling a bit here.
Long taking a bit of punishment here - Vatali scoring with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatali throws an elbow but Long slips to the side and avoids it well.
Vatali landing strikes.
Vatali tries to score with some ground and pound. Long controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Vatali working the strikes but Long uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Vatali in particular looking to stall.
Long is trying to maintain the position but Vatali is very close to passing his half guard.
Long slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Long keeping moving, preventing Vatali from controlling successfully.
Long is trying to keep Vatali in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vatali postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Vatali with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Long looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Vatali is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Vatali working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Long not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Vatali scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Vatali stopping the sweep attempt from Long.
Vatali loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Joe Vatali will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Joe Vatali's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Sloppy strikes from Vatali. Those never looked like landing.
A combination from Long does no damage.
Vatali misses with an uppercut.
Joe Vatali seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Vatali is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Vatali tries to clinch up.
Long stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Vatali.
Vatali misses with a jab to the body
and Long counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Long throws a right hand that Vatali ducks under and follows up with a left that Vatali also avoids with ease.
Vatali shoots for a takedown but Long saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Vatali throws a hook to the side of Long's head but Long sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Some wild striking there from Long.
Vatali misses with a lunging right hand
and Long counters with a three punch combo that has Vatali backing up. Vatali nods at Long to acknowledge the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vatali misses with a hook
and Vatali takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Vatali is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Long.
Vatali shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
A left lands for Vatali.
Vatali jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Vatali dips to his left and cracks Long with an uppercut!
Long swings for the body but Vatali moves out of range.
Vatali avoids a punch combination nicely.
Long misses with a combination

and Vatali counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Vatali.
Vatali just leaning against Long, taking a breather.
Long dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Vatali lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Long avoiding damage as Vatali throws knees to the body.
Vatali is trying to stall.
Vatali blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Long lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Vatali misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Long.
Vatali slows down the pace here.
Vatali blocking some punches.

Vatali gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Long regains guard.
Vatali looking to pass the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Long utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Vatali won't allow Long to sweep him here.
Long is looking to stand up but Vatali isn't so interested in that idea.
Vatali not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatali connects with a couple of short punches.

Vatali drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Vatali jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Vatali working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Long is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Vatali lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Long looking for a sweep. Not yet Long, not yet.
Long is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Vatali scoring with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Vatali trying to control but Long is working from the bottom.
Long is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Long looking to hit a scissor sweep but Vatali is one step ahead there.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Vatali accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Vatali wants to control from the top but Long keeps moving.
Vatali engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Joe Vatali will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Joe Vatali's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Vatali shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Long as he jumps to the side.
Nice straight punches there by Vatali. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Vatali.
Long avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Vatali misses with an uppercut
and Long counters with a two punch combo.
Long misses with a wild body shot.
Vatali tries to clinch up but Long circles away and keeps his distance.
Long throws a combination that misses
and Long takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Vatali throws a combination that misses
and Long counters with a stiff right hand.
Vatali connects with a crisp jab.
Vatali uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Vatali shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Long manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Vatali working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Long controls Vatali momentarily but Vatali frees himself.
Long wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Long not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Vatali landing with the ground and pound.
Vatali throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vatali throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Vatali throws a big right hand that misses.
Vatali working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Vatali tries to free his leg and advance position but Long is retaining full guard.
Long wants to sweep here but Vatali controlling him for the moment.
Long pulls Vatali in close to prevent any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Vatali is looking to work some ground and pound but Long has wrist control.
Vatali stands and throws Long's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatali wants to lay and pray for a moment but Long keeps working.
Vatali remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

Vatali tries for a kimura but Long is defending well.
Vatali landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
An elbow from Vatali crashes against the mat.
Long is looking to regain half guard here but Vatali keeps moving and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vatali throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Vatali happy to just control the position for now.
Long can't do much from the bottom here.
Alex Long has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vatali has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Joe Vatali has got the better of the ground game so far.
Vatali taking a break here but Long is having none of it and regains half guard.
Vatali trying to control from half guard but Long is working away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Vatali comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Vatali winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Vatali!