PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Urijah Fabricio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hoopz Barkley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Fabricio
vs
Barkley

174 cm
18
142 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

225 cm
22
130 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Inexperienced

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Granite chin

ZSTAR

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Urijah Fabricio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Hoopz Barkley!
The judges for this bout are Summer Carpenter, John Mangel and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Fabricio shoots in and bounces Barkley off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Fabricio is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Barkley working a defensive guard but Fabricio passes into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fabricio tries to pass to full mount but Barkley defends it.
Fabricio thows a huge punch but Barkley dodges it nicely.
Barkley is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Fabricio is nestled in close to Barkley, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Fabricio is controlling the pace.
Barkley wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fabricio slows the pace down in half guard.
Fabricio scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Fabricio working the head and body with strikes.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Fabricio 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.
Barkley wants to improve his position but Fabricio is controlling well.
Barkley looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barkley is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Fabricio scores with a couple of nice shots.
Fabricio is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Fabricio wants to pass the guard but Barkley is defending well.
Fabricio is taking a breather. Barkley says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Fabricio decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barkley doesn't manage to clinch there - Fabricio circles away.

Fabricio shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Fabricio was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Barkley is in a horrible position here. Fabricio smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Barkley tries to hold on but Fabricio postures up.
Barkley is bucking up trying to escape but Fabricio cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Fabricio takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Barkley looks gassed!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fabricio in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Fabricio takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Fabricio seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Barkley for as long as he can get away with.
Barkley is trying desperately to improve position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Urijah Fabricio dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Barkley is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Fabricio avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Fabricio shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Fabricio showed some decent athleticism there.
Fabricio sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Urijah Fabricio just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Barkley tries to clinch up.

Fabricio scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Barkley is breathing heavily.
You can see the frustration on Barkley's face as Fabricio controls the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Fabricio has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

Fabricio scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fabricio controls the position.
Barkley tries to bench press Fabricio off him but Fabricio keeps the position.
Barkley is being controlled here.

Fabricio decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Fabricio drives through with a takedown into guard.
Barkley controls Fabricio momentarily but Fabricio frees himself.
Barkley might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Fabricio kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Fabricio trying to control the position from guard on top but Barkley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barkley looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Fabricio throwing strikes from guard but Barkley blocks nicely.
Barkley wants to sweep here but Fabricio controlling him for the moment.
Barkley controls Fabricio momentarily but Fabricio frees himself.
Barkley wants to stand and escape but Fabricio is having none of it.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Barkley tries to close the distance and clinch but Fabricio swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Fabricio swats away the attempt to clinch by Barkley.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Fabricio feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Fabricio controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Barkley wants to sweep but no luck.
Barkley avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Fabricio sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Barkley is trying to keep Fabricio in close.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Urijah Fabricio dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Fabricio closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Fabricio controlling from side mount.
Fabricio scoring with punches from side control.
Barkley tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Barkley trying his best to control but Fabricio has mounted him.
Fabricio sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Urijah Fabricio overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fabricio looking to finish Barkley with some ground and pound. This is bad for Barkley!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barkley is looking to get to half guard.
Fabricio controlling from the full mount.
Fabricio's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Barkley is trying to escape the mount.
Fabricio punishing his opponent with strikes.
Fabricio tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fabricio is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Barkley can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Fabricio with a couple of short strikes.
Fabricio content just to control the position here.
Barkley tries to lock up and control but Fabricio gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Fabricio tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Urijah Fabricio just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Fabricio wants to clinch but Barkley slips to the side

and Barkley holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Fabricio avoids the elbow strike from Barkley, against the cage.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Barkley.

Fabricio jumps guard and drags Barkley to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Barkley wants to control from the top but Fabricio keeps moving.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Fabricio has control of Barkley's left arm, preventing Barkley from doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Urijah Fabricio showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Fabricio, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 30:26
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Urijah Fabricio!