PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Charlie Abate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Junior Marijuano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Abate
vs
Marijuano

166 cm
18
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
21
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Good in bed

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Charlie Abate!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Junior Marijuano!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Hugh Johnson and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A clash of legs there as Abate blocks the low kick.
Abate misses the jab.
Marijuano blocks a low kick nicely.

Abate bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Abate stands up and beckons Marijuano to his feet.
Marijuano tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Marijuano throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Abate was covering up waiting for the punch and Marijuano finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Marijuano trying to control but Abate is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Abate throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Marijuano trying to control but Abate is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Marijuano drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Abate dives on top into guard.
Marijuano lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Abate!
Abate is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Marijuano jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Abate manages to avoid the submission attempt.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abate wants to control but Marijuano postures up.
Marijuano wants to lay and pray for a moment but Abate keeps working.
Abate tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Marijuano wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Abate is working hard here to advance position.

Marijuano is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Abate is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Abate manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Marijuano is not content to let Abate control the position.
Marijuano wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marijuano is positioning himself well to prevent Abate advancing to mount.
Marijuano is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Abate is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Marijuano!
Abate looking to control and managing it successfully.
Abate avoids the attempt from Marijuano to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abate looking to control and managing it successfully.
Marijuano is looking to get to half guard.
Abate looking to control but Marijuano is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Abate scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Marijuano?
Marijuano wants to hold on but Abate pushes him away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Abate trying to control but Marijuano is having none of it.
Abate raining down shots from the mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charlie Abate dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Marijuano wants to clinch up but Abate keeps it at a distance.

Abate looking to score a takedown here. Marijuano is defending well but Abate drives through and ends up in Marijuano's guard.
Abate postures up and lands a big shot to Marijuano's brow.
Marijuano trying to control the position.
Abate trying to control but Marijuano is working from the bottom.
Marijuano looking to control.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Marijuano looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

Junior Marijuano has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Marijuano wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marijuano doesn't manage to clinch there - Abate circles away.
Abate fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Marijuano will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Charlie Abate seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Abate gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Abate is stalling here.

Abate breaks from the clinch.
Marijuano fails with a takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marijuano changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Abate tries to avoid it but Marijuano manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Abate to the ground. Abate escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Charlie Abate has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Junior Marijuano.
Abate throws a lazy head kick

and Marijuano counters with a single leg into guard. Abate didn't expect that.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Marijuano is breathing heavily.
Marijuano looking to sit in guard and control but Abate gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Abate decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Abate keeps the fight on the outside.
Charlie Abate is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Marijuano changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Abate tries to avoid it but Marijuano manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Abate to the ground. Abate escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Abate shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Abate trying to control the position from guard on top but Marijuano is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Marijuano not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Marijuano keeping full guard, as Abate tries to pass.
Marijuano is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Junior Marijuano hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Abate is looking to land body kicks.

Abate shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Abate is thwarting Marijuano's attempts to control the position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Abate looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Abate working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Marijuano holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charlie Abate dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Marijuano gets caught flat footed, as Abate shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Marijuano is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Abate defends well.

Marijuano has his foot on Abate's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Abate works his way back into a safe position though.
Marijuano keeping moving, preventing Abate from controlling successfully.

Marijuano has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Abate can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Abate wants to pass the guard but Marijuano is keeping the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Abate accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Marijuano holds on and takes a little breather.
Abate wants to stand but Marijuano is controlling his posture from full guard.
Marijuano is trying to keep Abate in close.
Abate throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Charlie Abate overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Abate advances to half guard.
Marijuano preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

Marijuano looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Marijuano takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abate seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Marijuano does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Abate seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Marijuano is staying active underneath Abate, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Charlie Abate.
Abate throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Abate has Marijuano up against the cage in a clinch.
Abate swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marijuano looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Marijuano has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Abate after a bit of a struggle.

Abate wants the takedown. Marijuano is fighting it off but Abate persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Marijuano's guard against the cage.
Abate tries to free his leg and advance position but Marijuano is retaining full guard.
Marijuano tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Abate lands a couple of digs.
Marijuano looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Marijuano is trying to keep Abate in close.
Marijuano is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Junior Marijuano hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Abate shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Abate was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Abate has control of Marijuano's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Marijuano regains control of the situation pretty easily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Marijuano tries to hold on but Abate postures up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Abate is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Marijuano is surviving well by controlling Abate's body position as best he can.

Abate moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Marijuano has worked his arm free - good work by Marijuano!

And that's the end of the fight!
Charlie Abate showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Abate has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Winston Howard scores the fight for Charlie Abate!
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight for Charlie Abate!
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight for Charlie Abate!

Charlie Abate wins by unanimous decision!
Charlie Abate decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.