PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Trevor Morrish (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maurisiu Rua (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.

Morrish
vs
Rua

185 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

177 cm
20
169 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Trevor Morrish!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Maurisiu Rua!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, William Peck and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rua rushes Morrish and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Rua working hard to break the clinch.

Morrish drags the fight down to the ground.
Rua would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Morrish controls Rua momentarily but Rua frees himself.
Rua looking to sit in guard and control but Morrish gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Morrish wants to stand but Rua is controlling his posture from full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rua is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rua has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Morrish can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Rua is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Morrish wants to control from the top but Rua keeps moving.
Rua pulls Morrish in close to prevent any damage.
Rua trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua keeping moving, preventing Morrish from controlling successfully.
Morrish preventing the sweep.
Morrish trying to control but Rua is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Trevor Morrish wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Morrish, as that shot connected.
Rua misses with a head kick.
Rua doesn't manage to clinch there - Morrish circles away.
Rua fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Morrish looks for a takedown but Rua sprawls well.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Rua.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua wants to lay and pray for a moment but Morrish keeps working.
Morrish regains half guard.
Rua seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Morrish is pressing down on Rua's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Rua tries to stand but Morrish is controlling from the bottom.
Morrish is trying to control the position but Rua postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rua drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Morrish manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Rua has Morrish in his guard.
Morrish wants to control from the top but Rua keeps moving.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Rua is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Rua avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Morrish throws a strike but Rua rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Maurisiu Rua will probably get the nod.
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.

Rua changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Morrish looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morrish is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Morrish trying to hold on to Rua's head to control him but Rua postures up.
Morrish moves into full guard.
Rua seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Morrish trying to keep a closed guard but Rua is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrish is looking to stand back up but Rua counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Morrish.
Morrish trying to control from the bottom.
Morrish is looking to improve his position.
Rua moves nicely into side control.
Rua grinds an elbow into Morrish's temple.
Morrish is looking for a sweep.
Rua trying to control the action but Morrish is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua advances to mount.

Rua is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Morrish can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Rua takes Morrish's back, avoiding a couple of desperation strikes from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

Rua has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Morrish has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

Morrish preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Rua.
Rua trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Morrish doesn't escape.
Rua's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rua is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Morrish has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Rua tries to keep control of the position but Morrish is staying busy.

Rua working for a choke but Morrish is defending well.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Rua looking for the choke from the back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maurisiu Rua showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Rua misses with a leg kick
and Morrish makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

Rua gets a takedown into half guard.
Morrish manages to get to full guard.
Rua trying to control the position from guard on top but Morrish is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rua postures up and lands a big shot to Morrish's brow.
Morrish is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rua is controlling him.
Rua would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrish is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Morrish is trying to control the position but Rua postures up.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Morrish is really struggling to control Rua but he's trying to hold on to the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Trevor Morrish just wasn't active enough.
Morrish misses with a takedown attempt - Rua sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Rua throws a nice looking combination but Morrish bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Morrish scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua misses the shot to the body.
Morrish doesn't manage to clinch there - Rua circles away.
Morrish circles away from the clinch attempt.
Morrish shoots for a takedown but Rua saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Rua feints and as Morrish raises his hands in defense, Rua changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Morrish being controlled here, momentarily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rua trying to stand up but can't free himself from Morrish's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Morrish working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rua.
Rua wanted to stand there but Morrish had control of the position.
Maurisiu Rua has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rua advances position into side control!
Morrish tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Rua in side control, just content to control the action for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morrish is trying to work for a sweep but Rua has mounted him!
Morrish keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Morrish taking shots to the head.
Morrish is trying to escape the mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rua is looking to stand but Rua has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Maurisiu Rua comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Rua has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Maurisiu Rua!