PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rousimar Palhares (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brock Wrestler (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brock Wrestler will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Palhares
vs
Wrestler

170 cm
28
185 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

190 cm
21
200 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Solid chin

ANABOLIC **160** and LAUNDRY 95%

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rousimar Palhares !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brock Wrestler!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Leandro Rodrigues and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Palhares fails in his attempt to clinch.
Palhares throws a head kick that misses.
Palhares fails in his attempt to clinch.
Palhares shoots in for a takedown but Wrestler shows good takedown defense.
Palhares wants to clinch.
Wrestler avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Palhares shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Wrestler counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Wrestler.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Wrestler wants to pass the guard but Palhares is keeping the position.
Palhares might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Palhares doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Palhares throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Wrestler controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palhares looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Palhares is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Wrestler stopping the sweep attempt from Palhares .
Wrestler is looking to stand up but Palhares won't let him.
Palhares 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.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Palhares with a poor takedown

and Wrestler counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rousimar Palhares . That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palhares looking to hit a scissor sweep but Wrestler is one step ahead there.
Palhares being controlled here, momentarily.
Palhares not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Wrestler throws a strike but Palhares rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Palhares drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Palhares jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Palhares accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Palhares is looking to work some ground and pound but Wrestler has wrist control.
Palhares stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Wrestler swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Wrestler looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Palhares advances to half guard.
Palhares is looking to pass Wrestler's guard but actually Wrestler recovers to full guard.
Wrestler really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Palhares . If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Wrestler seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Palhares missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Palhares drops back looking for a leg! Wrestler is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Wrestler manages to kick Palhares off! Palhares jumps back into Wrestler's guard.
Palhares won't allow Wrestler to sweep him here.
Palhares pushing down on Wrestler's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Palhares wants to stand up but Wrestler has a hold of him and won't allow it.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Wrestler can do anything to dispel that myth.
Wrestler tries to get to full guard but Palhares has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Brock Wrestler 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.

Wrestler wants to clinch up but Palhares keeps it at a distance.

Palhares gets caught flat footed, as Wrestler shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Wrestler slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Wrestler avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Palhares looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Wrestler engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Wrestler pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Palhares is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wrestler is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Brock Wrestler hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Wrestler moves out of range of the body kick from Palhares .

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Palhares gets caught napping as Wrestler dives in and scores a takedown. Palhares manages to retain guard.

Palhares has his foot on Wrestler's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Wrestler works his way back into a safe position though.
Wrestler showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Let's hope that Wrestler 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.

Palhares has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Wrestler can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Palhares controls Wrestler momentarily but Wrestler frees himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wrestler not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Wrestler must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Brock Wrestler.
Wrestler moves in looking to clinch but Palhares pushes him off.
Wrestler tries to clinch but Palhares moves out of range.
Palhares shoots and misses

and Wrestler counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Palhares 's guard now.
Wrestler pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Palhares is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Palhares controls Wrestler momentarily but Wrestler frees himself.
Palhares keeping full guard, as Wrestler tries to pass.
Palhares trying to keep a closed guard but Wrestler is proving a slippery customer.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Rousimar Palhares just wasn't active enough.
Palhares tries to clinch but Wrestler is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brock Wrestler 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. And we move into the final round!

Palhares fails with the takedown

and Wrestler counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Palhares is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Palhares uses his free foot to push down on Wrestler's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Wrestler.
Poor strikes thrown by Palhares there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Wrestler wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Palhares .
Palhares tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.
Wrestler is working to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wrestler is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Palhares looking to ground and pound but Wrestler is blocking nicely.
Palhares could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Palhares punching from mount but Wrestler doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Wrestler holds of for dear life.

Palhares has hold of Wrestler's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Wrestler manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Palhares landing strikes from the mount.
Brock Wrestler is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palhares throwing strikes here but Wrestler is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

Palhares swings around for an armbar and he's got it! Wow, that came out of nowhere! What a finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:25 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Rousimar Palhares !
After winning the bout, Rousimar Palhares thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.