PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Filippo Di Vaio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Geese Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Di Vaio
vs
Howard

176 cm
21
171 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

183 cm
21
181 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Great low kicks
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

[WOT] GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !
[WOT] GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Filippo Di Vaio!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Geese Howard!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, John Mangel and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice combination there by Di Vaio.
Di Vaio cracks the inside of Howard's front leg.
Filippo Di Vaio seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A looping hook to the body misses from Howard. Di Vaio does a little dance to reset his feet.
Howard on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Howard throws out a leg kick but Di Vaio moves out of range and Howard only half commits.
Di Vaio cracks the inside of Howard's front leg.
A low kick from Howard is predictable there
and Di Vaio counters with a low kick, right behind Howard 's knee.
Nice body kick from Di Vaio.
Di Vaio throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Howard.
Howard tries to clinch
and Di Vaio counters with a low kick, right behind Howard 's knee.
Howard throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Howard tries to clinch but Di Vaio moves out of range.
Di Vaio moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Di Vaio wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
A slapping leg kick lands for Di Vaio.
Di Vaio fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Howard looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Di Vaio forces Howard back against the cage and clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Di Vaio misses with a body punch.
Di Vaio lands an uppercut.
Di Vaio blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Howard tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Di Vaio avoids it.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Di Vaio lands a body shot.
Howard tries a knee to the head but Di Vaio blocks it.
Howard is trying to pull guard but Di Vaio has him pressed against the cage.
Howard looks gassed!
Howard taking a breather.
Di Vaio lands with a light punch inside.
Howard looking to throw knees to the head but Di Vaio is blocking nicely.
Still in the clinch, Di Vaio scores with a nice short uppercut.
Di Vaio goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Nice body punch from Di Vaio - that landed with a thud.

Di Vaio breaks from the clinch.
Di Vaio throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Howard takes a kick to the side of the head.

Di Vaio pushes Howard up against the cage in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howard using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Di Vaio has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Di Vaio utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

Di Vaio's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Di Vaio connects with a solid leg kick.
Howard is looking to clinch but Di Vaio is avoiding it.
Howard tries to clinch but Di Vaio moves out of range.
Di Vaio lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Di Vaio connects with a solid leg kick.

Di Vaio moves into the clinch successfully.
Di Vaio works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

Di Vaio has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Howard regains guard immediately.
Di Vaio trying to control the position from guard on top but Howard is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Di Vaio lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Howard 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.
Di Vaio 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.
Di Vaio lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Di Vaio distracts Howard with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Di Vaio is pushing down on Howard's leg trying to pass to half guard. Howard is fighting to maintain full guard but Di Vaio has managed to sneak the leg through.
Howard has hold of Di Vaio's hands but Di Vaio slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Di Vaio decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Di Vaio feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Howard's calf.
Good leg kick by Di Vaio there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Howard throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Di Vaio throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Howard.
Di Vaio scores with a kick to the midsection.
Howard throws a leg kick
and Di Vaio counters with a head kick. That will keep Howard thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Howard gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Howard's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A head kick by Howard misses
and Di Vaio counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Howard takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Di Vaio throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Howard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Di Vaio lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Di Vaio is looking to slow Howard down with leg kicks.
Di Vaio lands with a kick to the ribs.
Howard has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Di Vaio.
Howard tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Howard takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Howard on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Di Vaio feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Howard's calf.
Howard takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Di Vaio pushes Howard away with a front kick.
Howard on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Di Vaio. Di Vaio obviously looking to wear him down.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Di Vaio slips a straight right by Howard.
Di Vaio lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Howard has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Di Vaio.
Di Vaio throws a quick inside leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Filippo Di Vaio dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Di Vaio clinches up with Howard and pushes him back against the cage.
Di Vaio crunches a lovely knee into Howard's ribcage.
Di Vaio misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Howard stalling in the clinch but Di Vaio improves position.
Di Vaio lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Di Vaio works on Howard's body with a couple of short punches.
Di Vaio is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Howard can do to turn this around?

Di Vaio breaks the clinch.
Howard has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Di Vaio.
Howard tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Di Vaio counters with a leg kick.
Howard throws a looping overhand right but Di Vaio ducks down to avoid it.
Howard is looking to clinch.
A head kick from Di Vaio lands but Howard takes it in his stride.

Di Vaio fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Howard to the ground. Di Vaio is now in Howard's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Howard controls Di Vaio momentarily but Di Vaio frees himself.
Di Vaiois looking to pass into half guard but Howard pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Howard is in guard.
Howard stopping the sweep attempt from Di Vaio.
Howard is breathing heavily.
Howard must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Di Vaio is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Howard is looking for a sweep. Di Vaio is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Howard makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Howard.
Howard is trying to control the position but Di Vaio postures up.
Howard has momentary wrist control but Di Vaio slips an elbow through the middle.

Howard is working an open guard so Di Vaio takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Di Vaio chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Howard takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Howard throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Di Vaio lands a high kick!
Howard walks forward, straight into a front kick from Di Vaio.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Di Vaio scores with a push kick.
Di Vaio turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Di Vaio throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Howard slips a jab and a cross from Di Vaio.
Howard doesn't manage to clinch there - Di Vaio circles away.

Di Vaio closes the distance and clinches.
Di Vaio lands a body punch.
Di Vaio lands a body shot in the clinch.
Di Vaio struggles to land a body shot inside as Howard controls his hands.
Di Vaio throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Di Vaio's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Di Vaio moves into range and connects with a jab.
Di Vaio connects with a looping right hand.
Di Vaio keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Howard takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Di Vaio lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Howard fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard throws a leg kick that misses.
Di Vaio scores with a leg kick.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Di Vaio, right into the meat.
Filippo Di Vaio is winning the standup battle so far.
Di Vaio throws a nice inside leg kick.
Di Vaio scores with a decent looking hook.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Di Vaio working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Di Vaio as Howard tries to tie him up.
Filippo Di Vaio has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Howard is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Di Vaio to keep the fight standing.
Howard taking a breather.
Howard creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Di Vaio breaks from the clinch.
No luck for Howard with that takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Di Vaio connects with an inside leg kick.
Howard sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Di Vaio darts in and clinches Howard up against the cage.
Howard tries to land knees in the clinch but Di Vaio avoids the damage to the body.

Di Vaio manages to break the clinch.
Howard chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Di Vaio can pounce on him.
Geese Howard is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Di Vaio works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Di Vaio works the jab nicely.
Di Vaio misses with a head kick.
Di Vaio turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Di Vaio - that will leave a mark!
Howard slips a jab and a cross from Di Vaio.
Di Vaio lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Howard at a distance.
Di Vaio checks a low kick from Howard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Filippo Di Vaio dominated that second 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Di Vaio lands a front kick.
Good shot there by Di Vaio.
Howard wants to clinch but Di Vaio slips to the side
and Di Vaio makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Di Vaio is looking to slow Howard down with leg kicks.
Di Vaio connects with a leg kick. Howard looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Di Vaio lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Nice body kick there by Di Vaio.
Howard takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Di Vaio fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Howard.
Howard has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Di Vaio.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Howard takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Howard shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Di Vaio moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Howard takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Di Vaio gets the takedown into side control.
Di Vaio working the ground and pound from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Di Vaio scoring with punches from side control.

Di Vaio is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Howard knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Di Vaio working the head with strikes.
Howard tries to improve position but can't.
Di Vaio tries to advance to mount but Howard denies him.
Howard tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Di Vaio wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Di Vaio moves into full mount!
Howard wants to control but Di Vaio is having none of it.
Di Vaio connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Howard sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Howard taking some punishment here, with Di Vaio in his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Di Vaio wants to stand up but Howard has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Howard is looking to control Di Vaio's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Howard avoid being mounted?
Di Vaio takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Di Vaio passes the guard and advances to mount!
Howard regains half guard.
Howard won't allow Di Vaio to pass to mount.
Filippo Di Vaio overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Di Vaio scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Di Vaio seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Howard on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Di Vaio thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Howard's head.
Howard is looking for a sweep. Di Vaio is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Howard is trying to control but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Di Vaio is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Howard doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Di Vaio.
Di Vaio is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Howard wants to improve his position but Di Vaio is controlling well.
Geese Howard has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Howard is looking to control Di Vaio's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Howard avoid being mounted?
Di Vaio content to control rather than advance.

Di Vaio is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Di Vaio drops an elbow to the side of Howard's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Howard actively working from the bottom here.
Di Vaio slips a nice elbow through Howard's hands, connecting with Howard's forehead.
Howard on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Di Vaio is pressing down on Howard's thigh, looking to free his foot. Howard is holding on for now.
Di Vaio drops an elbow to the side of Howard's head.
Filippo Di Vaio is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Howard looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Di Vaio with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Howard actively working from the bottom here.
Di Vaio with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Filippo Di Vaio showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Di Vaio 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 Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Filippo Di Vaio!
Filippo Di Vaio retains his welterweight title!
Filippo Di Vaio very nearly forgot to thank [WOT] GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 ! amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.