PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mauricio Rodrigues (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gemini No Saga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Saga has chosen Pegasus fantasy as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Rodrigues
vs
No Saga

185 cm
21
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
26
220 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Mauricio Rodrigues!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Gemini No Saga!
The judges for this bout are Jeff Smith, Ryoma Takatsuka and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Saga shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Rodrigues's guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Saga looking to pass the guard.
Saga trying to control the position from guard on top but Rodrigues is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rodrigues is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Saga stopping the sweep attempt from Rodrigues.
Rodrigues working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Saga.
Saga wants to stand but Rodrigues is controlling his posture from full guard.
Rodrigues can't keep his opponent in guard - Saga advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodrigues is trying to stand up here but Saga is controlling him well.
Saga wants to control but Rodrigues is keeping him busy.
Saga seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Rodrigues slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Rodrigues throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Saga tries to free his leg and advance position but Rodrigues is retaining full guard.

Saga stands up from Rodrigues's guard - Saga perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues fails with an attempt to clinch.
Rodrigues takes a swing at Saga's ribcage but misses.
Saga fails with a takedown attempt.
Saga fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Rodrigues does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Saga fails with a takedown attempt.
Mauricio Rodrigues has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gemini No Saga.
Saga misses with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues closes this distance looking for a takedown but Saga circles away.
Saga shoots in but no luck this time.
Saga throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Rodrigues looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Saga is fending him off so far but Rodrigues persists. Nope, Saga circles away and we're back to standing.
Rodrigues fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Rodrigues keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Rodrigues circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rodrigues swats away the attempt to clinch by Saga.
Saga throws a sloppy head kick and Rodrigues moves out of range easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saga will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Saga throws a half hearted mid kick.
Rodrigues shoots in but Saga avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Saga shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Rodrigues defends it nicely.

Rodrigues moves into the clinch successfully.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Saga drops down looking for an ankle pick but Rodrigues pulls his leg out and moves away.
Saga looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gemini No Saga dominated that 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.

Saga shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Rodrigues defends it nicely.
Saga slaps away a takedown attempt from Rodrigues, before circling back to the center of the mat.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rodrigues closes the distance and clinches up with Saga, looking for a takedown. Rodrigues pushes Saga against the cage but Saga circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Rodrigues shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Saga sprawls well. Saga wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Rodrigues gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mauricio Rodrigues. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Saga.
Saga wants to slow Rodrigues down by chopping away at his legs.

Rodrigues gets caught napping as Saga dives in and scores a takedown. Rodrigues manages to retain guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saga passes into half guard.
Saga sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rodrigues defending well though.

Rodrigues kicks off Saga and gets to his feet.

Saga scores a takedown into full mount!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Rodrigues is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Rodrigues knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Saga on the ground.
Rodrigues is squirming around, avoiding Saga's attempts to control the action.
Saga is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Saga is working for a guillotine from mount but Rodrigues frees his head quite easily.

Saga gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nice takedown defense from Saga. No joy for Rodrigues on that attempt.
Rodrigues jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Saga is defended easily by Rodrigues.
Rodrigues keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Rodrigues tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Saga was well out of range. Poor timing from Rodrigues.

Saga closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Rodrigues did well to prevent Saga getting side control.
Saga is looking to take a break and control but Rodrigues is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rodrigues is trying to stand back up but Saga is controlling him
Saga is nestled in close to Rodrigues, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saga is keen to just control but Rodrigues is a slippery customer.

Saga is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Rodrigues defends it well.
Saga trying to control from half guard but Rodrigues is working away.
Saga passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Rodrigues!
Rodrigues really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gemini No Saga showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Rodrigues breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Saga fails with an attempt to clinch.
Mauricio Rodrigues is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Saga.

Saga stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Saga shoots in for a takedown but Rodrigues shows good takedown defense.
Saga shoots in for a double leg but Rodrigues sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Saga tries for a takedown but Rodrigues sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Mauricio Rodrigues has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gemini No Saga.
Saga takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodrigues goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Saga tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Rodrigues manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
No luck for Rodrigues with that takedown attempt.
Rodrigues shoots in but no luck this time.
Rodrigues is trying hard to land a takedown here. Saga sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Saga shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Saga showed some decent athleticism there.
Rodrigues tries to roll over but Saga keeps him under control.
Rodrigues has hold of Saga's hands but Saga slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saga looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Saga is keen to just control but Rodrigues is a slippery customer.

Saga decides to stand up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Saga lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Rodrigues has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Rodrigues and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Sloppy strikes from Rodrigues. Those never looked like landing.
Saga throws a head kick but Rodrigues moves out of range.
Saga is looking to clinch but Rodrigues is avoiding it.
Saga shoots in for a double leg but Rodrigues sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Saga fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Saga gets the takedown into side control.

Saga decides to stand back up.

Saga darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Saga seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Rodrigues does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Saga lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Saga uses his free foot to push down on Rodrigues's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Rodrigues.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Saga looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Saga in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Rodrigues is trying to escape the mount.
A nice elbow there by Saga.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Saga scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Rodrigues?
Mauricio Rodrigues has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gemini No Saga is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The referee warns Rodrigues that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gemini No Saga comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Saga winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Jeff Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 27:30
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gemini No Saga!
Gemini No Saga took some time post fight to say the following; 'Galaxian Explosion!!'.