PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kevin Gaarlandt (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rafael Fernandez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kevin Gaarlandt has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Gaarlandt
vs
Fernandez

201 cm
23
270 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

198 cm
19
270 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Sport Support

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Kevin Gaarlandt!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Rafael Fernandez!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Wagner Zegers and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fernandez has a takedown stuffed.
Fernandez steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Gaarlandt. That one must have hurt.

Gaarlandt lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Fernandez sprawling to the canvas. Gaarlandt follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Fernandez hang on?

It looks like Rafael Fernandez has been cut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gaarlandt is looking to pass Fernandez's guard but actually Fernandez recovers to full guard.
Gaarlandt is fighting to break Fernandez's control of his arms but Fernandez is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Gaarlandt wants to stand and escape but instead Fernandez has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Fernandez is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Gaarlandt is looking to stand back up but Fernandez counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Gaarlandt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fernandez works his way into side control.
Fernandez is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Gaarlandt's shoulder. That is not cool.
Gaarlandt managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Fernandez.
Gaarlandt is pushing Fernandez's head away, looking to escape. Fernandez manages to hold on to the position though.
Fernandez controls the position.
Fernandez throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

Fernandez is trying to get an arm triangle but Gaarlandt is defending well.
Gaarlandt is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez slows the pace down.
Fernandez has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Gaarlandt!

Fernandez is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Gaarlandt has managed to escape the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fernandez controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez working Gaarlandt over with strikes here.

Fernandez is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Gaarlandt can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Fernandez controlling from mount.
Fernandez punching from mount but Gaarlandt doing a good job of avoiding damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Fernandez pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Fernandez raining down hammerfists from mount.
Fernandez with shots to the head and body - Gaarlandt looks very uncomfortable down there.
Fernandez tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Fernandez sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Gaarlandt is breathing heavily.

Fernandez working for a guillotine from mount but Gaarlandt is in no mood to give up.
Fernandez sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Fernandez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rafael Fernandez'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.

Gaarlandt is looking to clinch but Fernandez is avoiding it.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Fernandez.
Fernandez changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Gaarlandt tries to avoid it but Fernandez manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Gaarlandt to the ground. Gaarlandt escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Fernandez will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A left and a right from Fernandez both land. Nice combination.
Fernandez slaps away a takedown attempt from Gaarlandt, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Gaarlandt connects with a vicious head kick that knocks Fernandez to the floor! Gaarlandt dives in looking for the finish!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Fernandez moves into full guard.
Gaarlandt being controlled here momentarily.
Fernandez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gaarlandt's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fernandez passes Gaarlandt's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Gaarlandt knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Fernandez on the ground.
Fernandez has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Fernandez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Fernandez's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Fernandez won't let Gaarlandt get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fernandez controlling from mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fernandez throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Fernandez looking to finish with strikes here!
Fernandez has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Fernandez content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gaarlandt on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Gaarlandt tries to get out of the position.
Fernandez lands a couple of good shots and Gaarlandt has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Fernandez punches Gaarlandt on the ear.
Fernandez slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Fernandez lands with a nice looking elbow that stuns Gaarlandt.
Fernandez slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Fernandez has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Gaarlandt! Can he survive? No! He's out! Fernandez gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Rafael Fernandez!