PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ariobaldo Tavarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sunnah Hadith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hadith has chosen Been Away Too Long- Soundgarden as his entrance music. Sunnah Hadith told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Tavarez
vs
Hadith

181 cm
27
200 lbs
18 - 9 - 0

183 cm
26
203 lbs
16 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

KAISER

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 18 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ariobaldo Tavarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sunnah Hadith!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Luis Engracia and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tavarez avoids the body shot from Hadith.
Tavarez tries to close the distance and clinch but Hadith swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sunnah Hadith seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hadith fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Tavarez looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Hadith has a takedown stuffed.
Tavarez keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tavarez bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hadith throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Tavarez is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Tavarez wants to clinch.
Hadith throws a shot from downtown. Tavarez moves away and avoids it.
Hadith misses with a takedown

and Tavarez counters by moving into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavarez misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hadith.
Tavarez tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hadith has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Hadith is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Tavarez pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Ariobaldo Tavarez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sunnah Hadith.
Hadith wants to take the fight to the mat but Tavarez manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Tavarez connects with a nasty looking knee right to Hadith's face.

It looks like Sunnah Hadith has been cut.
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hadith blocks it with crossed arms.
Tavarez tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hadith is working for takedown but Tavarez is calmly controlling the position for now.
Tavarez softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Tavarez misses with a knee strike.
Hadith wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hadith blocks it with crossed arms.
Hadith is looking to take this one to the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez missing with knees to the body.
Tavarez with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Hadith manages to break the clinch.
Ariobaldo Tavarez is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Tavarez takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Hadith shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Tavarez but Tavarez pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Hadith fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Tavarez displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Hadith throws out the jab.

Tavarez gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Tavarez is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Hadith has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Tavarez avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Hadith drops down looking for an ankle pick but Tavarez pulls his leg out and moves away.
Hadith throws a nice looking combination but Tavarez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez takes a swing at Hadith's ribcage but misses.
Tavarez misses with a body shot.
Tavarez connects with a jab.
Hadith looks to score with a jab to the body but Tavarez is just out of range.
A jab from Hadith finds it's way through Tavarez's defenses.
Hadith has his takedown stuffed
and Tavarez cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Tavarez darts in and clinches Hadith up against the cage.
Tavarez using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hadith has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Hadith looking for a takedown.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tavarez with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Tavarez misses with a punch to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hadith is looking to take this one to the mat.
A knee to the head by Tavarez.
Hadith looks winded!
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hadith blocks it with crossed arms.
Hadith has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Tavarez avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Tavarez tries to land a knee to the head but Hadith blocks with his arms.
Tavarez gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Hadith.
Tavarez lands a nice knee to the body.
Tavarez lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Tavarez misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hadith.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tavarez lands a shot to the body.
Tavarez lands with a left to the head.
Tavarez scores a nice knee to the body.
A knee to the head by Tavarez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ariobaldo Tavarez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Sunnah Hadith's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Hadith tries to keep at a distance but Tavarez has taken the fight into the clinch.
Tavarez misses with a knee to the head.
A bit of stalling here from Tavarez.

Hadith gets control of Tavarez's arms and successfully pulls guard. Hadith will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Tavarez working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Hadith is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Tavarez defends well.
Tavarez knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Hadith on the ground.

Hadith looking for a guillotine here but Tavarez defends easily.

Hadith is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Hadith keeping moving, preventing Tavarez from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavarez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hadith swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tavarez has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Hadith working for a triangle but Tavarez defends it easily.
Tavarez controlling from the top position.
Tavarez trying to control but Hadith is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ariobaldo Tavarez wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Hadith misses with a straight right.
Tavarez ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hadith throws a hook but Tavarez blocks it.
Tavarez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Hadith throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Tavarez sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A shot to the liver by Tavarez. Beautiful body shot.
Hadith swats away the attempt to clinch by Tavarez.
Tavarez tries to grapple but his opponent circles

so Hadith counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hadith drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Tavarez manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Hadith has Tavarez in his guard.

Tavarez got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hadith has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Tavarez has managed to get both his arms back between Hadith's legs - danger averted.

Hadith throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Tavarez escapes and throws Hadith's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Hadith manages to work his way to half guard, despite Tavarez's best efforts.
Tavarez looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Tavarez not doing much here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Hadith manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Hadith is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Tavarez defends well.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Tavarez avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Tavarez is pushing down on Hadith's leg trying to pass to half guard. Hadith is fighting to maintain full guard but Tavarez has managed to sneak the leg through.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hadith keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sunnah Hadith showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Sunnah Hadith's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

A punch lands to the side of Hadith 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Hadith misses with an uppercut
letting Tavarez counter with a right hand.
Hadith has his takedown stuffed

and Tavarez holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Ariobaldo Tavarez has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Hadith takes a knee to the side of the body.
Tavarez lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That has opened up Sunnah Hadith's cut even more.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tavarez leaning against his opponent.
Tavarez prevents the takedown attempt.
Tavarez scores with a knee to the head.
Tavarez lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hadith backwards.
Tavarez with a knee to the head.
Tavarez with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Tavarez tries to land a knee to the head but Hadith blocks with his arms.
Hadith letting Tavarez take a breather here.
Hadith takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavarez working Hadith over with knees to the body.
Tavarez lands a nice knee to the body.
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hadith blocks it with crossed arms.
Tavarez throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tavarez tries to land a knee to the head but Hadith blocks with his arms.
Tavarez is trying to maintain a safe position but Hadith gets an underhook and turns Tavarez into the cage.
Hadith is trying to drag Tavarez to the mat but Tavarez just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Ariobaldo Tavarez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sunnah Hadith.
Tavarez looking to throw knees to the head but Hadith is blocking nicely.
Tavarez using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hadith has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Hadith is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Tavarez is defending well.
A short right from Tavarez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez trying to land knees to the body.
A right hand to the body from Tavarez.
Tavarez effectively controlling the action here.
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hadith blocks it with crossed arms.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tavarez is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Hadith tries to pull guard but Tavarez forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Hadith jumps guard and drags Tavarez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Tavarez engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Hadith working for a triangle but Tavarez defends it easily.
Hadith preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hadith working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Tavarez has passed into half guard!

Hadith looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Tavarez is looking to take a break and control but Hadith is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tavarez trying to pass the guard but Hadith defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sunnah Hadith has got the better of the ground game so far.
Tavarez wants to free his trapped foot but Hadith is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Tavarez working over Hadith with some ground and pound. Hadith looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Hadith moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Hadith utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Hadith has an active guard here but Tavarez has managed to pass into half guard.
Hadith is looking for a sweep. Tavarez is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Hadith looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Tavarez pushes past his half guard into mount!

And that's the end of the fight!
Ariobaldo Tavarez showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Tavarez has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 29:28
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ariobaldo Tavarez!
An out of breath Ariobaldo Tavarez thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.