PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marcos Duarte (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roman Ghambaryan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ghambaryan has chosen Right Said Fred - I`m Too Sexy as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Duarte
vs
Ghambaryan

181 cm
25
194 lbs
12 - 5 - 0

188 cm
27
199 lbs
15 - 5 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marcos Duarte!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Roman Ghambaryan!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Dean Styles and Eddie Farnsworth.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Duarte lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Duarte has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Ghambaryan.
A big left from Duarte misses.
Duarte throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Duarte throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ghambaryan was covering up waiting for the punch and Duarte finishes the takedown easily into guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Ghambaryan controls Duarte momentarily but Duarte frees himself.
Ghambaryan keeping moving, preventing Duarte from controlling successfully.
Ghambaryan has Duarte pulled in close to control his posture.
Ghambaryan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Duarte. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Duarte scoring with some ground and pound.
Duarte 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duarte is fighting to break Ghambaryan's control of his arms but Ghambaryan is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Roman Ghambaryan hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Ghambaryan gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Duarte ducks under a wild hook from Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan defending well as Duarte loads up on a big left hand.
A swing and a miss from Duarte.
Ghambaryan throws a leg kick that misses.
Ghambaryan throws a solid leg kick but Duarte takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Ghambaryan.
Duarte checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Roman Ghambaryan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Duarte throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Ghambaryan tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Duarte is in Ghambaryan's guard.
Duarte slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Ghambaryan is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghambaryan is trying to control the position but Duarte postures up.

Roman Ghambaryan has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Ghambaryan keeps the fight on the outside.
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!
Duarte fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Duarte waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ghambaryan.
Duarte tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ghambaryan was well out of range. Poor timing from Duarte.

Duarte moves into the clinch successfully.
Duarte doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ghambaryan taking a breather.
Ghambaryan prevents a body shot from Duarte.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duarte misses with some punches.
Ghambaryan looking to throw knees to the head but Duarte is blocking nicely.
Duarte effectively controlling the action here.
Ghambaryan connects with a knee to the head.
Duarte is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Duarte is stalling here.
Duarte looking to stall.
Duarte effectively controlling the action here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Marcos Duarte.

Duarte looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Duarte throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Duarte is trying to control the action in half guard but Ghambaryan is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Ghambaryan trying to hold on to Duarte's head to control him but Duarte postures up.
Duarte missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Duarte throwing shots but Ghambaryan is blocking nicely.
Ghambaryan keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Ghambaryan keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Duarte stops Ghambaryan from getting back to his feet.
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!
Duarte working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Duarte is trying to control. Ghambaryan wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ghambaryan tries to roll over but Duarte keeps him under control.
Duarte not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ghambaryan is in trouble now - Duarte has advanced to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcos Duarte dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Ghambaryan avoids the body shot from Duarte.
Ghambaryan connects with a leg kick. Duarte looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Ghambaryan lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Duarte throws out a loose jab but Ghambaryan uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ghambaryan ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Duarte keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Ghambaryan misses with a low kick.
Marcos Duarte seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Ghambaryan gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Duarte.
Ghambaryan tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Duarte blocks a body shot from Ghambaryan.

Duarte has picked Ghambaryan up - he's going for a ride! Duarte dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ghambaryan tries to get to full guard but Duarte has control of the leg.

Duarte looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Duarte is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Ghambaryan sees it coming and defends easily.
Duarte working Ghambaryan over with strikes.
Duarte is looking to take a break and control but Ghambaryan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Duarte working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Duarte trying to control the action but Ghambaryan is working from the bottom.
Duarte is really struggling to control Ghambaryan but he's trying to hold on to the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Duarte working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Ghambaryan trying to hold on to Duarte's head to control him but Duarte postures up.
Duarte is stalling here. Ghambaryan is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Duarte seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Ghambaryan has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Duarte is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Duarte manages to work his way to half guard, despite Ghambaryan's best efforts.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ghambaryan trying to control from Duarte's half guard. Duarte has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Ghambaryan tries to free his leg and advance position but Duarte is retaining full guard.
Duarte controls Ghambaryan momentarily but Ghambaryan frees himself.

Duarte looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ghambaryan wants to control from the top but Duarte keeps moving.
Ghambaryan pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Duarte is keeping the position for now.
Ghambaryan wants to control from the top but Duarte keeps moving.

Duarte had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Ghambaryan defends it easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Ghambaryan stands up and waves to Duarte to follow him.
Duarte cracks Ghambaryan with an open hand slap.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Duarte looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Duarte misses with a hook. Ghambaryan ducked under it nicely.
Ghambaryan throws a low kick but Duarte avoids it.
Ghambaryan lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Duarte looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Ghambaryan checks a leg kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Duarte is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ghambaryan.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Duarte checks a leg kick.
Ghambaryan connects with a solid leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcos Duarte dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Duarte lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Ghambaryan displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Duarte.

Ghambaryan moves into the clinch.
Ghambaryan tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Duarte stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Ghambaryan tries to break the clinch but Duarte is controlling the position.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Ghambaryan with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Ghambaryan misses with a hook to the ribs.
Duarte goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Duarte is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Ghambaryan pushes Duarte back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Duarte trying to control the position but instead, Ghambaryan has worked for underhooks and has pushed Duarte into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duarte tries to throw a body punch but Ghambaryan avoids it by throwing Duarte back against the cage.
Duarte tries to work over Ghambaryan's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Duarte lands a body punch in the clinch.
Ghambaryan using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Duarte has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Ghambaryan prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcos Duarte. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ghambaryan wants to stall.
Ghambaryan landing knees to the head.
Duarte lands a left hand that snaps the head of Ghambaryan backwards.
Ghambaryan looking to throw knees to the head but Duarte is blocking nicely.
Duarte leaning against his opponent.
Ghambaryan is trying to maintain a safe position but Duarte gets an underhook and turns Ghambaryan into the cage.
Ghambaryan using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Duarte has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Duarte has Ghambaryan pushed against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A shot in the inside from Duarte.
Ghambaryan with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Marcos Duarte has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Duarte has Ghambaryan pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Ghambaryan manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Ghambaryan prevents a takedown attempt there.
Ghambaryan taking a breather.
Duarte working aggressively here.
Duarte taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Duarte misses with the head strike.
A short right from Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ghambaryan is trying to maintain a safe position but Duarte gets an underhook and turns Ghambaryan into the cage.
Ghambaryan misses with a punch to the body.
Duarte looking to slow down the pace here.
Ghambaryan taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ghambaryan misses with a punch on the inside.
Ghambaryan looking to stall.
Ghambaryan using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Duarte has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Ghambaryan is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Ghambaryan using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Duarte has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Ghambaryan tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ghambaryan prevents the takedown attempt.
Duarte avoiding damage as Ghambaryan throws knees to the body.
Duarte is looking to take this one to the mat.
Ghambaryan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Duarte blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Duarte leaning against his opponent.
Duarte on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Duarte.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ghambaryan lands a knee to the body.
Ghambaryan manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ghambaryan misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Duarte.
Duarte misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Come on Duarte - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Duarte looking to stall.
Duarte is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Ghambaryan is defending well.
A short right from Ghambaryan.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Duarte tries for a takedown but Ghambaryan manages to get underhooks.
Duarte avoiding damage as Ghambaryan throws knees to the body.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Duarte slows down the pace here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Ghambaryan really dominated that round.
That's time! Duarte's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Ghambaryan displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Duarte throws out the jab.
Duarte throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Ghambaryan's waist but Ghambaryan gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Duarte off to one side.
Duarte blocks a low kick nicely.
Duarte is looking to clinch but Ghambaryan is avoiding it.
Ghambaryan looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Duarte fails to land the takedown.
Duarte throws an overhand right that lands on Ghambaryan's shoulder, as Ghambaryan tries to avoid the shot.
Ghambaryan throws a sloppy head kick and Duarte moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duarte pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Duarte circles away from the clinch attempt.
Ghambaryan lands a leg kick that knocks Duarte off balance momentarily.
Duarte throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Ghambaryan blocks a jab.
Duarte waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Duarte scores with a jab.
Duarte looks for a takedown but Ghambaryan sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcos Duarte. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Duarte shoots in for a double leg but Ghambaryan sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Duarte takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Duarte tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Duarte misses the shot to the body.
Duarte lands with an overhand left.
Ghambaryan lands with a thumping leg kick.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.
Ghambaryan tries a head kick but it misses.
Duarte throws a lazy head kick
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ghambaryan throws a combination. Duarte tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
A slapping leg kick lands for Ghambaryan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duarte blocks a low kick nicely.
A head kick misses from Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Duarte. That did some damage!
Duarte misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ghambaryan cracks the inside of Duarte's front leg.
Ghambaryan with a hook.
Duarte throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Ghambaryan's waist but Ghambaryan gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Duarte off to one side.
Ghambaryan connects with a solid leg kick.
Duarte fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Duarte is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan misses with a hook
and Duarte counters with a right hand to the body.
Nice body kick from Ghambaryan.
Duarte avoids the body shot from Ghambaryan.
A nice leg kick lands there from Ghambaryan.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ghambaryan throws a leg kick

and Duarte counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Ghambaryan working a defensive guard here.
Ghambaryan has momentary wrist control but Duarte slips an elbow through the middle.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ghambaryan has Duarte pulled in close to control his posture.
Ghambaryan looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Ghambaryan dominated that fourth round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Ghambaryan misses with a low kick.
Ghambaryan uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Duarte.
Duarte is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
A decent looking cross lands there for Duarte.
Good work by Duarte as he checks the leg kick.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Ghambaryan. Duarte shrugs it off though.
Ghambaryan tries to work over Duarte's front leg with a kick but Duarte checks it.
Ghambaryan throws the kick towards the body but Duarte avoids it.
Duarte takes a swing at Ghambaryan's ribcage but misses.
Ghambaryan throws a leg kick but Duarte sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Duarte throws a lazy uppercut
and Ghambaryan counters with a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duarte 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.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Ghambaryan.
Duarte dips to his left and cracks Ghambaryan with an uppercut!
Duarte wants to clinch up but Ghambaryan keeps it at a distance.
A punch lands to the side of Ghambaryan 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Duarte is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ghambaryan.
Duarte will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ghambaryan looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Duarte is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Ghambaryan turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

Duarte clinches with his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghambaryan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Ghambaryan fails to land.
Duarte misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Duarte managing to block the knees to the body from Ghambaryan.
Ghambaryan taking a break, stalling in the clinch.

Duarte turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Duarte manages to end up in side control.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ghambaryan tries to improve position but can't.
Ghambaryan is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Duarte trying to control the position but Ghambaryan is working away.
Ghambaryan is trying to control Duarte's posture but Duarte avoids it.
Ghambaryan on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Duarte scores with punches from side control.
Ghambaryan is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Duarte.
Duarte creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Ghambaryan is looking to reverse the position.
Duarte sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Ghambaryan is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Duarte creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Ghambaryan sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Ghambaryan stuck in half guard on the bottom here.
Ghambaryan stops Duarte from passing to mount.
Ghambaryan is trying to control Duarte's posture but Duarte avoids it.
Ghambaryan is trying to get back to half guard.
Ghambaryan takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Duarte is putting a hurting on Ghambaryan here, landing some big shots from side control.
Ghambaryan gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Duarte thows a huge punch but Ghambaryan dodges it nicely.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Duarte is thwarting Ghambaryan's attempts to control the position.
Duarte is pressing down on Ghambaryan's thigh, looking to free his foot. Ghambaryan is holding on for now.
Ghambaryan trying to control from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Duarte thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Ghambaryan's head.
Ghambaryan is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Marcos Duarte overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Duarte stalling away here and it's allowed Ghambaryan to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcos Duarte showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Duarte has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 48:47
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 48:47
Judge Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 48:47

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcos Duarte!
Marcos Duarte is the new middleweight champion!
An out of breath Marcos Duarte thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.