PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ross Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Moa Soto (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.

Hardy
vs
Soto

172 cm
18
156 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ross Hardy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Moa Soto!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Colin Fotheringham and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good work by Hardy as he checks the leg kick.
Soto ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Soto pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Hardy shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Soto is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Hardy wants to pass to mount but Soto is defending the position.
Hardy prevents Soto from standing back up.
Soto is staying active underneath Hardy, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Soto pushes Hardy off looking to stand but Hardy dives back in and keeps control.
Hardy thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Soto tries to kick Hardy off but Hardy keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Hardy tries to pass the half guard into mount. Soto knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Hardy trying to control the action but Soto is working from the bottom.
Soto is looking to escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soto is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hardy's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hardy's back!
Soto struggling to keep hold of the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Soto keeps control of the position as Hardy tries to break free.
Hardy trying to control but not successfully.
Hardy looking very determined here, making life difficult for Soto.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Hardy rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Hardy is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Moa Soto has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Hardy misses with a wild body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soto wants to clinch.
Soto fails with an attempt to clinch.
Soto cracks Hardy with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Hardy uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Soto.
Soto connects with a leg kick. Hardy looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Soto throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Soto tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Soto looks winded!
Some bone on bone action there as Hardy checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Hardy throws a shot from downtown. Soto moves away and avoids it.

Hardy shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Soto's guard.
Hardy looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Hardy throws a big right hand that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy wants to pass the guard but Soto is keeping the position.
Hardy landing with the ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hardy sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Hardy content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hardy with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hardy throwing strikes but missing.
Soto trying to keep a closed guard but Hardy is proving a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Ross Hardy will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Soto throws a head kick that misses.
Hardy throws a hook to the side of Soto's head but Soto sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Hardy scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Hardy lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Soto is trying to stand up here but Hardy is controlling him well.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hardy connects with a nice short shot to Soto's temple.
Hardy lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Soto trying to control here.
Hardy is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hardy wants to lay and pray for a moment but Soto keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy wants to pass to mount but Soto is defending the position.
Hardy prevents Soto from standing back up.
Soto is breathing heavily.
Hardy working Soto over with strikes.
Soto wants to control the action here but instead Hardy manages to pass to full mount!
Hardy landing shots from mount.
Hardy looking to finish Soto with some ground and pound. This is bad for Soto!
Ross Hardy overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
BOOM! Hardy connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Hardy fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Soto is rocked!

It looks like Moa Soto has been cut.
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!
Hardy pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Soto is still in real trouble! Can Hardy finish him?
Soto is working to get back to half guard.
Hardy with shots to the head and body - Soto looks very uncomfortable down there.
Hardy sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Hardy punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy postures up and throws a massive shot that knocks Soto out cold! Two more strikes to his unconscious opponent for good luck and this one is all over! Hardy goes absolutely crazy with his corner! Wow, you can see how much that win means to him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:21 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Ross Hardy!