PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Azumah Nelson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Florencio Bernardo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bernardo has chosen Una Vela as his entrance music. Florencio Bernardo will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Nelson
vs
Bernardo

185 cm
29
171 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

183 cm
26
168 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Azumah Nelson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Florencio Bernardo!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bernardo is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Nelson fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Bernardo misses with a few strikes there.

Nelson manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Bernardo on his heels. He'll look to pass Bernardo's guard now, I'm sure.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Bernardo is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nelson is controlling him.
Nelson is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Bernardo wants to stand and escape but Nelson is having none of it.
Nelson throwing strikes but missing.
Nelson trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Nelson stops Bernardo from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson landing with the ground and pound.
Nelson wants to get up but he can't break Bernardo's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Nelson trying to control but Bernardo is working from the bottom.
Nelson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Nelson content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Nelson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Nelson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Bernardo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Nelson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Nelson working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Bernardo's head.
Nelson landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nelson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nelson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bernardo keeping moving, preventing Nelson from controlling successfully.
Nelson postures up and lands a big shot to Bernardo's brow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nelson cracks Bernardo with a solid left hand.
Nelson sitting in guard here, content to control.
Nelson trying to control but Bernardo is working from the bottom.
Bernardo is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nelson is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nelson throws a big elbow that misses.
Nelson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Nelson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Nelson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Nelson trying to control the position from guard on top but Bernardo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nelson wants to pass the guard but Bernardo is keeping the position.
Bernardo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Bernardo can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Nelson controls the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nelson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Nelson postures up in Bernardo's guard and throws a big left but Bernardo blocks it.
Nelson trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Nelson decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Nelson throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Bernardo's waist but Bernardo gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Nelson off to one side.
Florencio Bernardo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Nelson clinches with his opponent.

Nelson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bernardo moves out of range as Nelson throws a body kick.

Nelson closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Bernardo did well to prevent Nelson getting side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nelson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Azumah Nelson dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Bernardo lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Bernardo lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Bernardo.
Nelson ducks under a wild hook from Bernardo.
Bernardo fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Bernardo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Florencio Bernardo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bernardo lands with an uppercut that bounces Nelson off the cage and back into range.

Nelson decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Azumah Nelson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Nelson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Nelson decides to return to a standing position.
Bernardo fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Nelson on the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bernardo misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nelson shoots for a double leg takedown but Bernardo sprawls well. He's pushed Nelson's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Bernardo looks to throw the jab but Nelson is out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bernardo scores with a jab to the head.
Bernardo tries to bum rush Nelson with a series of wild strikes but Nelson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Nelson drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Bernardo is breathing heavily.
Nelson sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Bernardo is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Bernardo managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Nelson.
Bernardo pushes Nelson away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Nelson gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

Nelson thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bernardo wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nelson throwing strikes but Bernardo manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Nelson is trying to improve his position.
Nelson sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nelson pushes Bernardo off looking to stand but Bernardo dives back in and keeps control.
Bernardo wants to stand up but Nelson has a hold of him and won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nelson tries to roll over but Bernardo keeps him under control.
Nelson misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Nelson trying to hold on to Bernardo's head to control him but Bernardo postures up.
Bernardo wants to stand but Nelson has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Nelson missing with punches from the bottom.
Nelson on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Nelson tries to get out of the position.
Nelson trying to hold on to Bernardo's head to control him but Bernardo postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nelson is trying to get back to full guard.
Nelson slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Nelson is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Nelson 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.
Bernardo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nelson with the ground and pound but Bernardo uses the opportunity to regain guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Azumah Nelson dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Bernardo scores with a jab to the head.
Nelson shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Bernardo pinned against the cage. Bernardo gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
No joy there for Bernardo, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Nelson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Bernardo!
Nelson tries to control but Bernardo wriggling away.
Bernardo is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bernardo avoids a series of strikes thrown by Nelson.
Nelson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Bernardo's face.
Nelson throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Bernardo blocking the ground and pound.
Nelson scoring with strikes but Bernardo is staying in there.
Nelson fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Nelson working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Nelson tries to control but Bernardo wriggling away.
Bernardo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nelson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Bernardo is rocked!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nelson postures up and lands a whopping elbow - oh that's hurt Bernardo bigstyle! Two more strikes land for Nelson and the fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Azumah Nelson!
In his post fight interview, Azumah Nelson started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.