PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Aguinaldo Salcido (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johny Taj (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aguinaldo Salcido has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Salcido
vs
Taj

182 cm
18
178 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

181 cm
18
179 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

SAVE A FIGHTER
XTREME PWNAGE: Down Under!

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Aguinaldo Salcido!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Johny Taj!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Emerson Jorge and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Taj scores with a sloppy right hand. Salcido should have avoided that one.
Salcido misses with a low kick.
Salcido fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Taj avoids it really well and circles away.
Salcido looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Salcido circles away from the clinch attempt.
A cross from Taj lands.
Salcido fails with an attempt to clinch.
Salcido misses with a body shot.
Salcido throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Taj counters with a good low kick that Salcido was not able to check.
A solid leg kick lands there for Taj.
Sloppy strikes from Taj. Those never looked like landing.
Taj displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Salcido.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aguinaldo Salcido. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Salcido swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Taj has managed to clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Taj pushes off an throws an elbow but Salcido leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Taj throws an elbow but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salcido takes a knee to the side of the body.
Salcido can't find room to land a body shot as Taj controls the action.
Salcido can't break the clinch.
Taj blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Taj.

Taj escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Salcido on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Taj. Taj obviously looking to wear him down.
Taj scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Salcido looks to land a left hand but Taj moved out of range nicely.
The fight stays on the outside here - Salcido looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Taj ducks under a wild hook from Salcido.
Taj ducks under a wild hook from Salcido.

Taj clinches with his opponent.
A right handed body shot lands from Salcido.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Salcido blocks an elbow strike.
Salcido lands with a right to the head.
Salcido wants to take the fight to the mat but Taj manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taj is pushing Salcido up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Taj gets through Salcido's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

Salcido's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Taj showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Salcido.
Salcido takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Salcido moves out of range of the strikes.
Salcido gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Taj.
Salcido shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Taj sprawls well. Taj wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Salcido gets slowly back to his feet.

Salcido closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Salcido lands in his opponent's guard.

Taj is looking for a triangle but Salcido pushes his legs off easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taj wants to sweep but no luck.
Taj is pulling down on Salcido's head to control his posture.
Let's hope that Taj has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Taj is trying to keep Salcido in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Johny Taj wasn't active enough on the ground.
Taj moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Salcido circles away from the clinch attempt.
Taj closes the distance and clinches up with Salcido, looking for a takedown. Taj pushes Salcido against the cage but Salcido circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Salcido misses with a low kick.
Salcido stuffs the takedown attempt from Taj. Taj gets slowly back to his feet.
Salcido checks the leg kick nicely there.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Salcido shoots in but no luck this time.
Salcido shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Taj wants to slow Salcido down by chopping away at his legs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Taj connects with an inside leg kick.
Taj chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Taj misses with a few strikes there.
Johny Taj seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Taj misses the jab.
Salcido tries to clinch but Taj moves away
and Taj makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Salcido really felt that one!
Salcido misses with a wild combination.
Taj is looking to land body kicks.
Salcido shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Taj closes the distance and clinches.
Taj leaning against his opponent.

Salcido escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Taj has Salcido up against the cage in a clinch.
Taj tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Salcido jumps guard but Taj turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Taj.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taj keeps control of Salcido as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Taj is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Taj lands a knee to the body.
Taj with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Taj lands a nice knee to the body.
Taj putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Salcido in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Taj - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Taj throws a knee to the head but misses.
Taj lands a left hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Taj lands an elbow that stopped Salcido in his tracks for a moment.
Salcido tries to throw a body punch but Taj avoids it by throwing Salcido back against the cage.
Salcido tries to break the clinch but Taj is controlling the position.
Taj tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Taj lands an elbow inside that Salcido shrugs off.
Taj is pushing Salcido up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Salcido's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Salcido takes an elbow to the temple.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Taj avoiding damage.
Salcido is trying to pull guard but Taj has him pressed against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aguinaldo Salcido. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Taj tries a knee to the head but Salcido blocks it.

Salcido decides to pull guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Taj with a flurry of punches that miss.
Salcido pulls Taj in close to prevent any damage.
Salcido is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salcido keeping moving, preventing Taj from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Aguinaldo Salcido wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Taj clinches up with Salcido and pushes him back against the cage.

Salcido breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Salcido punishes Taj's body with a nice straight punch.
Taj scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Salcido steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Taj.
Taj fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Salcido takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Salcido gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Salcido drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Taj is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Salcido off and has taken his back!
Salcido wants to control his opponent's hands but Taj gets his hands free.
Salcido wants to escape the position but for the time being he's just trying to control the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Salcido turns into Taj and is now in his guard.
Salcido throws an elbow that misses. Taj uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Salcido's guard. Nice move by Taj!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Taj looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johny Taj showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. 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.

Taj lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Taj tries to close the distance and clinch up but Salcido swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Salcido tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Salcido lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Still in the clinch, Taj scores with a nice short uppercut.
Taj wants to take the fight to the mat but Salcido manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Taj tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Knees in the clinch landing for Taj.

Taj turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
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!
Taj throws an elbow but Salcido slips to the side and avoids it well.
Salcido manages to work his way to half guard, despite Taj's best efforts.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salcido trying to control here.
Taj is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Salcido trying to control from the bottom.
Taj is trying to control the action in half guard but Salcido is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Taj connects with a nice short shot to Salcido's temple.
Johny Taj has got the better of the ground game so far.
Salcido is not content to let Taj control the position.
Taj throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Salcido wants to get back to full guard but Taj has mounted him!
Taj dominating with strikes here.
Salcido is squirming around, avoiding Taj's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taj throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Salcido wants to control but Taj is having none of it.
Taj unloads with some shots from mount but Salcido bucks and avoids them well.
BOOM! Taj connects with a massive shot to the dome!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Salcido tries to hold on but Taj pushes him away.
Taj throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Taj tries to control but Salcido wriggling away.
Taj with the ground and pound from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salcido wants to hold on but Taj pushes him away.
Taj lands a big elbow.
Salcido tries to lock up and control but Taj gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Salcido gets back to half guard.
Taj wants to control but Salcido is keeping him busy.
Taj thows a huge punch but Salcido dodges it nicely.
Salcido blocking the ground and pound attempt from Taj.
Salcido blocking the ground and pound attempt from Taj.
Salcido trying to control from the bottom.
Taj thows a huge punch but Salcido dodges it nicely.
Salcido is looking to control Taj's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Salcido avoid being mounted?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taj throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Johny Taj is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
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!
Taj prevents Salcido from improving his position.
Aguinaldo Salcido has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Taj tries to pass to full mount but Salcido defends it.
Salcido strikes from the bottom but Taj passes into mount!
Salcido is looking to improve his position but Taj isn't that keen on the idea.
Salcido is working hard here to advance position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Salcido is in a horrible position here. Taj smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Salcido wants to control but Taj is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Johny Taj comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Taj has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 27:30
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Johny Taj!