PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Riccuito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nathan Buckley (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.

Riccuito
vs
Buckley

193 cm
18
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

220 cm
18
300 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mark Riccuito!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Nathan Buckley!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Saam Ante and Nard Betker.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Riccuito throws a sloppy head kick
and Buckley counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Riccuito dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Buckley. That did some damage!
Buckley tries a head kick but it misses.
Buckley takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Riccuito thuds a left hand into Buckley's body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Buckley blocks a head kick by Riccuito.
That kick from Riccuito tenderised Buckley's leg. Buckley is trying to keep his angry face on.
Buckley looks winded!

Riccuito drives through and clinches with Buckley against the cage.
Buckley looking to throw knees to the head but Riccuito is blocking nicely.
Riccuito misses with the head strike.
Buckley using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Riccuito has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Riccuito tries a body shot but Buckley blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Buckley misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Riccuito.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Riccuito.
Riccuito swings wildly with an uppercut but Buckley uses good head movement to avoid it.
Buckley is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Riccuito is keeping busy.
Buckley content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Buckley blocks a body shot from Riccuito.
Riccuito pushes Buckley back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Riccuito tries to land knees in the clinch but Buckley avoids the damage to the body.
Buckley misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Riccuito.

Riccuito breaks from the clinch.
Riccuito feints and then cracks Buckley's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Buckley down.
Buckley tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Riccuito is able to avoid easily.
Riccuito is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Buckley.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Riccuito throws a head kick but Buckley moves out of range.
Riccuito throws the left hand but Buckley avoids the punch easily.
Riccuito looks to land a left hand but Buckley moved out of range nicely.
Riccuito throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Buckley throws a head kick but Riccuito moves out of range.
Mark Riccuito seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Riccuito throws a body punch but Buckley moves out of range.
Riccuito gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Buckley counters with a thumping low kick.
Buckley blocks a head kick by Riccuito.

Riccuito rushes Buckley and presses him up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Riccuito.
Riccuito on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Buckley trying to land knees to the body.

Riccuito pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Riccuito throws a front kick aimed at Buckley's knee but Buckley avoids it well.
Riccuito throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
An inside leg kick lands from Riccuito.
Riccuito connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Riccuito connects with a solid leg kick.
Buckley keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Buckley chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Riccuito can pounce on him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Buckley tries a head kick but it misses.
Buckley throws a head kick that misses.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Riccuito fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Buckley has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Riccuito fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Buckley looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Riccuito with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Riccuito fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Buckley has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Riccuito swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Riccuito misses with a wild body shot.
Buckley's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A chopping leg kick lands by Riccuito.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Riccuito dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Buckley throws a lazy body kick
and Riccuito counters with a slapping leg kick.
Buckley throws a half hearted mid kick.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Riccuito.
Riccuito connects with an inside leg kick.
Riccuito ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Mark Riccuito is winning the standup battle so far.
Riccuito swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Riccuito turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Riccuito.
Buckley is breathing heavily.
Riccuito scoring well with a low kick there.
Riccuito looks to land a body kick but Buckley moved away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Buckley avoids the head kick by Riccuito.
Riccuito is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Buckley can do to turn this around?

Riccuito gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Come on Riccuito - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

Riccuito breaks the clinch.

Riccuito clinches.
Buckley taking a breather.
Riccuito lands a nice shot to the body.
Buckley looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Riccuito lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Buckley trying to control the position but instead, Riccuito has worked for underhooks and has pushed Buckley into the cage.
Riccuito lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riccuito leaning his opponent against the cage.
Buckley blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Buckley stalling in the clinch but Riccuito improves position.
A short right from Riccuito on the inside.
Mark Riccuito has scored more points in the clinch so far.
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!

Riccuito breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Buckley blocks a head kick by Riccuito.
Buckley uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Riccuito.
A chopping leg kick lands by Buckley.

Riccuito gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Riccuito tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Buckley avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Buckley blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Buckley blocks the elbow strike.
Riccuito throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Buckley tries to land knees in the clinch but Riccuito avoids the damage to the body.
Riccuito lands a nice elbow.
A short body shot lands from Riccuito as the two fighters clinch.
Buckley blocks an elbow strike from Riccuito.
Buckley takes an elbow to the forehead.
Riccuito tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Buckley's elbow.
Riccuito tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Buckley avoids it.
Buckley stalling in the clinch.
Riccuito avoiding damage as Buckley throws knees to the body.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Buckley with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Buckley displaying some good clinch control by pressing Riccuito up against the cage.
Buckley taking a breather.
A nice left hand lands by Riccuito.
Buckley holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Riccuito lands an elbow inside that Buckley shrugs off.

It looks like Nathan Buckley has been cut.
Buckley blocks an elbow strike.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Riccuito is trying to stall.
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!
Buckley looking to slow down the pace here.
Riccuito creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Buckley's defenses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Riccuito dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Nathan Buckley'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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Riccuito rushes Buckley and presses him up against the cage.
Buckley managing to block the knees to the body from Riccuito.
Buckley trying to land knees to the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Buckley.
Riccuito lands an elbow that stopped Buckley in his tracks for a moment.
Buckley using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Riccuito has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Riccuito lands a hook to the side of the head.
Riccuito lands an elbow inside that Buckley shrugs off.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Riccuito lands an elbow just above Buckley 's eye.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Buckley avoids the elbow strike from Riccuito, against the cage.
Riccuito lands a hook that snaps the head of Buckley backwards.

Riccuito escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Buckley has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Riccuito.
Buckley takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riccuito scores with a leg kick.
Buckley looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Buckley throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Riccuito counters with a low kick, right behind Buckley 's knee.
That kick from Riccuito tenderised Buckley's leg. Buckley is trying to keep his angry face on.
A nice inside leg kick there by Riccuito. That's going to slow Buckley down.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
That kick from Riccuito tenderised Buckley's leg. Buckley is trying to keep his angry face on.
Riccuito throws a head kick but Buckley moves out of range.
Riccuito cracks the inside of Buckley's front leg.
Riccuito throws a head kick that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riccuito is really turning it up, unleashing another crisp combination which drops Buckley like a ton of bricks! The referee dives in to stop the fight, saving Buckley from another fist facial!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:08 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mark Riccuito!