PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Dick Shaver (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xion De La Rocha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). De La Rocha has chosen 2nd Sucks as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Shaver
vs
De La Rocha

172 cm
23
186 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

186 cm
18
170 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Good in bed

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Brute
FinnSubs

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 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Dick Shaver!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Xion De La Rocha!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Sam Margolis and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De La Rocha jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Shaver feints and then cracks De La Rocha's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow De La Rocha down.
De La Rocha swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Shaver on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
De La Rocha misses with a body shot.
De La Rocha throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
De La Rocha misses with a wild body shot.
De La Rocha ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Shaver moves away.

Shaver closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. De La Rocha quickly recovers to half guard.
Well, if Shaver is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Shaver throwing shots but De La Rocha is blocking nicely.
Shaver wants to free his trapped foot but De La Rocha is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaver stalling.
Shaver missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
De La Rocha is looking for a sweep. Shaver is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
De La Rocha really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Shaver. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Shaver with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Shaver passes to full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaver tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Shaver with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Shaver controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaver seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down De La Rocha for as long as he can get away with.
De La Rocha tries to control Shaver's body but Shaver pushes him off. De La Rocha squirms to his side and now Shaver has his back!
Shaver is riding his opponent, not letting De La Rocha buck him off.

De La Rocha defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaver has good solid back control here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
De La Rocha just trying to survive but Shaver is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dick Shaver 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.

De La Rocha throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
De La Rocha scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Shaver takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Shaver takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
De La Rocha lands with a right hand.
De La Rocha thows a body shot but no joy.

Shaver closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Shaver is pressing down on De La Rocha's thigh, looking to free his foot. De La Rocha is holding on for now.
Shaver throws a strike but De La Rocha avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Shaver slips nicely into half guard.
Shaver tries to pass to full mount but De La Rocha defends it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaver works his foot free and advances to mount.
Shaver takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Shaver moves to the back position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

De La Rocha defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

Shaver is looking for a rear naked choke here but De La Rocha reverses the position brilliantly into Shaver's guard!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Shaver had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. De La Rocha defends it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaver wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Shaver manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
De La Rocha is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaver controlling from mount.
Shaver scoring with strikes but De La Rocha is staying in there.
Shaver sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dick Shaver dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

De La Rocha will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
De La Rocha connects with a body shot.
Shaver tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A shot to the body from De La Rocha misses

and Shaver counters with a combination of strikes to the head and body that crumple De La Rocha!

De La Rocha is rocked!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shaver uses his free foot to push down on De La Rocha's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for De La Rocha.
De La Rocha takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
De La Rocha is still in real trouble! Can Shaver finish him?
Shaver controlling from the full mount.
De La Rocha seems to have recovered his senses.
Shaver postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. De La Rocha looks a forlorn figure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaver controlling from the full mount.
Dick Shaver is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaver moves to the back position.
Shaver controlling the position well here. De La Rocha rolled but Shaver kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Dick Shaver overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaver's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

Shaver has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, De La Rocha has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

Shaver is working for the choke. He's slipped one arm under the chin. De La Rocha has to defend the other arm for all he's worth... but Shaver has managed to get that arm free too and he's tightening the choke! De La Rocha taps out and looks absolutely disgusted with himself. Shaver doesn't care though - he's delighted!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Dick Shaver!
Dick Shaver opened up his post fight interview with a scream to camera that he wants a title shot! Whether he deserves the shot will be up to the management of the organization, so I guess he'll have to wait and see.