PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mark Mason (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Vargas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Mason might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Slayer-Dead Skin Mask. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Mason
vs
Vargas

186 cm
25
265 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

200 cm
19
270 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mark Mason!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, James Vargas!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Leandro Rodrigues and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mason walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Mason bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Vargas misses with a double jab.
Mason tries to clinch but Vargas is having none of it.
Mason scores with the left hand. Vargas knows he should have avoided that one.
Vargas misses with an uppercut.
Vargas throws a shot from downtown. Mason moves away and avoids it.
Mason thuds a left hand into Vargas's body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mason lands a right hook to the body.
Vargas walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

It looks like James Vargas has been cut.

Mason fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Vargas sprawls well initially but Mason persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Mason stops Vargas from getting back to his feet.
Vargas is staying active underneath Mason, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Mason lands a nice short elbow.
Mason slows the pace down in half guard.

We're going to have a standup here because Mark Mason wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Vargas throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vargas throws a body punch but Mason moves out of range.
Mason attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Vargas throws out a powerful jab.
Mason smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
James Vargas is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
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!
Vargas takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Vargas swats away the attempt to clinch by Mason.
Vargas throws a leg kick that misses.
Mason throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Mason bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mason throws out a powerful jab.
The fighters circling - Mason throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Vargas walks into a jab.
Vargas throws a leg kick
and Mason counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
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!
Mason wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Vargas with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Mason to score with a decent uppercut.
Danga de danga de dang - Mason scores with a four punch combination!
Mason connects with a right hand. Vargas shakes it off.
Mason scores with a hook to the body. Vargas takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Vargas looks winded!

Mason lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Vargas sprawling to the canvas. Mason follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Vargas hang on?
Mason is stalling here. Vargas is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Mason seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Vargas has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
What's Mason going to do here then? He's in a bit of a pickle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mason is looking for a sweep.
Mason struggling a bit here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Mason is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Mason dominated that round.
The cut man is working on James Vargas's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Vargas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Mason counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Vargas on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Mason dives in and grabs Vargas's left leg, looking for a takedown. Vargas pushes down on Mason's head and hops out.
Mason throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mason swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Vargas closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
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!
Vargas misses with a right hand
and Mason counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Mason tries to bum rush Vargas with a series of wild strikes but Vargas uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Vargas misses with a hook. Mason ducked under it nicely.
Vargas misses with a hook. Mason ducked under it nicely.
Mason misses with an uppercut
and Vargas counters with a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mason ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Mason avoids the head kick by Vargas.
Mason thuds a left hand into Vargas's body.
Vargas's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Mason connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Vargas scrambles back to his feet.
Vargas walks into a left hand.
Vargas drops his hands momentarily and Mason takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Vargas circles away from the clinch attempt.
Mason tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Vargas connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Mason lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mason moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Mason rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Vargas moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Mason throws an overhand right that lands on Vargas's shoulder, as Vargas tries to avoid the shot.
Vargas throws a lazy uppercut
and Mason counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Mason moves in looking to clinch but Vargas pushes him off.
Mason throws a head kick that misses.
Mason scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Vargas takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Mason lands with a good body shot.
Mason throws a right hand that Vargas ducks under and follows up with a left that Vargas also avoids with ease.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vargas tries a low kick but Mason avoids it.
Good leg kick by Mason there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Mason scores with a three punch combo!
Mason thuds a left hand into Vargas's body.
Vargas on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

Mason drops Vargas with a nice combination! Mason dives into Vargas's guard, looking to finish!

Vargas is rocked!
Vargas is breathing heavily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Vargas utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Mason is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vargas can do to turn this around?
Vargas can't keep his opponent in guard - Mason advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Mason is trying to control. Vargas wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mason with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Mason'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.
Mason thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Mason uses his free foot to push down on Vargas's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Vargas.
Mason landing strikes from the mount and Vargas is in trouble!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
The referee warns Vargas that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Mason looking to control but Vargas is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Mason dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on James Vargas's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Mason lands a glancing blow to the side of Vargas's head.
Mason bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Vargas's head backwards.
Mason throws a lazy uppercut
and Vargas counters with a leg kick.
Vargas thows a body shot but no joy.
A head kick misses from Vargas.
Mason lands with a hook. Vargas tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

Mason instigates a clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Mason creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Vargas has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Vargas doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Mason creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Vargas keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Mason's efforts to push away.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Mason takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Mason lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Vargas just leaning against Mason, taking a breather.
Mason working hard to break the clinch.

Mason escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Vargas chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Mason can pounce on him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vargas cracks the inside of Mason's front leg.
Mason misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Vargas misses with a right hand
enabling Mason to counter with a crisp jab.
Mason throws a right hand that Vargas ducks under and follows up with a left that Vargas also avoids with ease.
Mason fails in his attempt to clinch.
Vargas takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vargas throws a solid leg kick but Mason takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Vargas.
Vargas walks into a straight right hand from Mason.
Vargas throws a hook to the side of Mason's head but Mason sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Vargas is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Mason.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Mason.
Mason swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Mason lands a jab.
James Vargas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vargas slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Vargas wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Mason breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Vargas buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vargas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Mason counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Vargas throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mason cracks a nice hook into Vargas's ribs.
Vargas takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Mason looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Vargas is fending him off so far but Mason persists. Nope, Vargas circles away and we're back to standing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Vargas gets tackled into the cage by Mason. Mason maintains the clinch.

Mason escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mason misses with a low kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mason lands with a straight right. Vargas didn't see that one coming.
Mark Mason is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Mason thuds a left hand into Vargas's body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Mason showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Mason 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 Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Mason!
Post fight, Mark Mason stared into the camera and said 'I just want to say thanks to my team back in Cali, Full Affliction, and RFC for letting me fight here!'.