PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Freddy Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sho Shinjo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alves kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Trik Turner - Friends and Family. Shinjo has chosen Theme of Sho as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Alves
vs
Shinjo

168 cm
24
170 lbs
12 - 11 - 0

176 cm
22
171 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

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 12 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Freddy Alves!
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, Sho Shinjo!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Paulo Santos and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Alves jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Shinjo lands a head kick. Alves smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Shinjo misses with an uppercut. Alves saw that one coming.
Alves throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Shinjo misses with a body shot.
Alves lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Shinjo slips a jab and a cross from Alves.
Alves misses with the combination.
Alves keeps the fight on the outside.
Shinjo tries a head kick but it misses.
Alves scores with the left hand. Shinjo knows he should have avoided that one.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alves misses with a looping right.
No luck for Alves with that takedown attempt.
Shinjo looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alves will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Alves's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Alves duly obliges.
Shinjo jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Alves blocks the body kick.

Shinjo closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Shinjo throws a punch but it's blocked by Alves.
Shinjo lands a nice uppercut.
Shinjo throws a punch but it's blocked by Alves.
Shinjo misses with the head strike.
Alves blocks a body shot from Shinjo.
Alves is trying to drag Shinjo to the mat but Shinjo just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Shinjo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

Shinjo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Alves scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Alves avoids the head kick by Shinjo.
Alves throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Shinjo lands a head kick. Alves smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Shinjo lands a head kick!
Alves just misses with a punch to the body.
Shinjo scores with a crisp jab that stopped Alves in his tracks.
Shinjo tries to land a front kick but Alves steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Shinjo tries to clinch there but Alves circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Shinjo does it's job there.
Shinjo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Alves misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Sho Shinjo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shinjo throws a sloppy head kick and Alves moves out of range easily.
Alves jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Alves throws a right and a left that both miss.
Shinjo tries a head kick but it misses.
Alves throws a sloppy body shot
and Shinjo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Shinjo misses with a head kick.
Alves slips a straight right by Shinjo.
Alves missing with a left hand there. Shinjo was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Shinjo has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Alves will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Alves throws a body punch but Shinjo moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Shinjo.
Alves with a poor takedown
and Shinjo counters with a solid body kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Freddy Alves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shinjo keeps the fight on the outside.
Alves lands a two punch combo.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shinjo stuns Alves with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Shinjo throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Alves sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Shinjo ducks right into an uppercut from Alves.

Alves decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Shinjo trying to hold on to Alves's head to control him but Alves postures up.
Shinjo is trying to get back to full guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Alves thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Shinjo's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Freddy Alves will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Alves throws the left hand but Shinjo avoids the punch easily.
Alves tests Shinjo's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Shinjo's jab looks to have found its range, popping Alves under the eye.
Shinjo slips a straight right by Alves.
Shinjo is looking to land body kicks.
Alves throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Alves misses with a wild body shot.
Shinjo throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Alves shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Shinjo is trying to defend but Alves finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Alves prevents Shinjo from improving his position.
Shinjo is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinjo works his way to full guard. Good work.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Alves content to stall in guard here.
Shinjo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Alves trying to control the position from guard on top but Shinjo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shinjo controls Alves momentarily but Alves frees himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Shinjo looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Alves trying to control the position from guard on top but Shinjo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

We're going to have a standup here because Freddy Alves wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Shinjo throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Shinjo lets loose with a powerful body kick. Alves will feel that in the morning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alves scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Shinjo dodges the punch combination from Alves.
Alves swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Alves misses with a combination
and Shinjo counters with a nice body shot.
Shinjo throws a series of punches but Alves moves out of range.
Alves shoots for a takedown but Shinjo saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Freddy Alves is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Shinjo throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Alves's head.
Alves misses with a wild body shot.
Shinjo tries a head kick but it misses.
Shinjo misses with a wild body shot.
Shinjo throws a right and a left that Alves avoids nicely.
Shinjo looks to throw the jab but Alves is out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves lunges at Shinjo with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Shinjo's hand.
Alves tries to move into range but Shinjo moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alves showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Shinjo.
Alves misses with a few strikes there.
Alves avoids a punch combination nicely.
Shinjo misses with an attempted mid kick.
Alves throws a right and a left that Shinjo avoids nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shinjo on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Alves swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Shinjo counters with a left to the body.
Nice defenses there by Alves.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Freddy Alves will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Shinjo connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Alves's hands.
Alves lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Alves ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Shinjo throws a nice head kick!
Alves moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Alves blocks a head kick by Shinjo.
Alves on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Shinjo scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Alves looks to score with a jab to the body but Shinjo is just out of range.
Alves avoids the head kick by Shinjo.
Shinjo fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Alves checks it well.

Alves gets the takedown into side control.
Shinjo is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinjo can't do much from the bottom here.
Alves lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Shinjo takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Shinjo is trying to control Alves's posture but Alves avoids it.
Alves is putting a hurting on Shinjo here, landing some big shots from side control.
Freddy Alves overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Shinjo is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Alves is controlling him well.
Alves is chipping away with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves cracks Shinjo with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Shinjo wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Alves in side control lands a decent elbow.
Alves scores with punches from side control.
Shinjo is not content to let Alves control the position.
Alves scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Shinjo to see if he's OK.
Shinjo is trying to control Alves's posture but Alves avoids it.
Shinjo regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shinjo is trying to get back to full guard.
Alves not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Shinjo is not content to let Alves control the position.
Shinjo is looking for a sweep. Alves is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Alves working the head and body with strikes.
Alves throwing shots but Shinjo is blocking nicely.
Shinjo is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Alves's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Alves's back!
Alves trying to control but not successfully.

Alves preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Shinjo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves is really stuck here.
Alves tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Alves is wriggling around trying to escape.
Shinjo thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Alves wants to control but Shinjo is having none of it.
Sho Shinjo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Freddy Alves is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Shinjo looking to finish with strikes here!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Poor strikes thrown by Shinjo there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

And that's the end of the fight!
Freddy Alves showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Alves, 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:28
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Freddy Alves!
An out of breath Freddy Alves thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.