PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rio Ruthless (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom White (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Ruthless
vs
White

188 cm
21
200 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

178 cm
22
195 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Rio Ruthless!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of London, Tom White!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Paul Tew and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ruthless looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Ruthless drives through and clinches with White against the cage.
Ruthless stalling in the clinch but White improves position.
White avoids a wild elbow strike from Ruthless.
White is looking to take this one to the mat.
Ruthless is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. White is defending well for now.

White breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Ruthless throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

White fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Ruthless to the ground. White is now in Ruthless's guard.
White throwing strikes from guard but Ruthless blocks nicely.
Ruthless keeping full guard, as White tries to pass.
White won't allow Ruthless to get back to his feet.

White stands and steps away. Ruthless gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White is trying hard to land a takedown here. Ruthless sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Ruthless throws a hook to the side of White's head but White sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Ruthless moves into the clinch.
White is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Ruthless gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Rio Ruthless has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom White.
White prevents a body shot from Ruthless.
Ruthless misses with a punch to the body.
Ruthless wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Ruthless wants to stall.

Ruthless pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ruthless throws a series of punches but White moves out of range.
Ruthless wants to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big left from Ruthless misses.
Ruthless throws a hook but White avoids it easily.
Ruthless rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but White moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ruthless throws a right hand that White ducks under and follows up with a left that White also avoids with ease.
Ruthless misses with the combination.
Ruthless throws a sloppy head kick

and White counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
White stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ruthless swivels though and keeps the full guard.
White wants to stand and escape but instead Ruthless has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Ruthless is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
White manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Ruthless manages to get himself to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

White drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and White jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Ruthless keeping full guard, as White tries to pass.
White scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Ruthless bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in White's guard.
Ruthless is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

Ruthless got a little sloppy there for a moment and White has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Ruthless has managed to get both his arms back between White's legs - danger averted.
Ruthless throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as White works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
White trying to control the position.
Ruthless wants to pass the guard but White is keeping the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ruthless is one step ahead there.

White is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

White looking for a guillotine here but Ruthless defends easily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

White has an active guard here but Ruthless has managed to pass into half guard.
Ruthless is thwarting White's attempts to control the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ruthless trying to mount his opponent but White defends it.
Ruthless is trying to control the action in half guard but White is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

White looking for submissions off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Tom White will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nice straight punches there by Ruthless. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Ruthless.

It looks like Tom White has been cut.
Ruthless lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but White circles away quickly and effectively.
Ruthless doesn't manage to clinch there - White circles away.
White ducks under a wild hook from Ruthless.
White shoots in for a takedown but Ruthless shows good takedown defense.
Ruthless throws an uppercut from half a mile away. White sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A jab from Ruthless misses.
Ruthless throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
White avoids the head kick by Ruthless.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Ruthless throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Whites head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruthless tries to land knees in the clinch but White avoids the damage to the body.
Ruthless content to slow the pace in the clinch.
The crowd are getting pretty annoyed with Ruthless for his constant stalling in the clinch and are voicing their displeasure.
Ruthless can't find room to land a body shot as White controls the action.
White drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Ruthless gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Ruthless pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
White wants a takedown but no success here.
Rio Ruthless has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom White.
Ruthless lands a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ruthless throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but White blocks it with crossed arms.
A right hook to the body lands for Ruthless.

White turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and White manages to end up in side control.

White is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Ruthless knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

White tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no White has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Ruthless regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruthless gets full guard.
Ruthless looking for a sweep. Not yet Ruthless, not yet.

White postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Ruthless is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of White, into his guard.
Ruthless wanted to stand there but White had control of the position.
Ruthless wants to control from the top but White keeps moving.
Ruthless trying to stand up but can't free himself from White's guard.

White working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Ruthless doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Ruthless manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Ruthless has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Ruthless wants to stand but White is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ruthless trying to control the position from guard on top but White is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Ruthless has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of White is proving hard to escape from.
White wants to sweep but no luck.

Rio Ruthless has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
White ducks under a wild hook from Ruthless.

Ruthless has taken the fight to the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
White has Ruthless pressed against the cage, preventing Ruthless from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Ruthless taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
White wants to take the fight to the mat but Ruthless manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rio Ruthless dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Tom White's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Ruthless tries to clinch but White moves away

so White counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
White wants to pass the guard but Ruthless is keeping the position.
Ruthless seems keen to control White's posture.
White stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ruthless swivels though and keeps the full guard.
White postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
White trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
White is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

White drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Ruthless dives on top into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruthless tries to free his leg and advance position but White is retaining full guard.
Ruthless is in close to White's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Ruthless pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. White is keeping the position for now.
Ruthless controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

White looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Ruthless wants to get up but he can't break White's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

White looking for a guillotine here but Ruthless defends easily.

White escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Ruthless gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ruthless advances to half guard.
Tom White has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ruthless scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
White is not content to let Ruthless control the position.
Ruthless wants to stand up but White is controlling the position.

Ruthless decides to stand up.
Ruthless tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

White throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ruthless was covering up waiting for the punch and White finishes the takedown easily into guard.
White stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ruthless swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

White drops back looking for a leg! Ruthless is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Ruthless manages to kick White off! White jumps back into Ruthless's guard.
White throwing strikes from guard but Ruthless blocks nicely.
Ruthless is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst White is controlling him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White slips nicely into half guard.
Ruthless pushes White off looking to stand but White dives back in and keeps control.

White 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.

White is working for a kimura but Ruthless is defending it quite comfortably.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tom White comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think White has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 William Gold scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tom White!
A determined Tom White didn't want to dwell on this fight in his post fight interview. Instead he was more keen to state he wants a title shot. Let's see if he gets it!