PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mattias Ia Eklundh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Byron Long (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Byron Long enters the cage!

Ia Eklundh
vs
Long

182 cm
18
180 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

183 cm
20
188 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mattias Ia Eklundh !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Byron Long!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Matheus Silva and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Long fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Eklundh has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Eklundh looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Eklundh gets caught napping as Long dives in and scores a takedown. Eklundh manages to retain guard.
Long controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Long landing with the ground and pound.
Long keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Eklundh 's head.
Long slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Let's hope that Long 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Long's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Byron Long wasn't active enough on the ground.

Long closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Long lands in his opponent's guard.
Eklundh has momentary wrist control but Long slips an elbow through the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Long controlling from the top position.
Long has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Byron Long was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Long misses with a kick to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Long looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Long slips nicely into half guard.
Long lands with a punch from half guard.
Long works his foot free and advances to mount.
Long working Eklundh over with strikes here.
Long landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Long with shots to the head and body - Eklundh looks very uncomfortable down there.
Long lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Long looking to finish Eklundh with some ground and pound. This is bad for Eklundh !
Eklundh takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

Eklundh is rocked!
Long raining down shots from the mount!
Oh Eklundh is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Long lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Long controlling the position easily from mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Long has isolated one of Eklundh 's arms. Eklundh looking to fight him off but Long twists into an armbar. It's tight... Will he tap?? YES, he's tapped! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Byron Long!
After the fight, Byron Long was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.