PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Charlie Daniels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Rodriguez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Daniels
vs
Rodriguez

175 cm
22
180 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

178 cm
26
170 lbs
10 - 5 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Very quick

Good wrestler
Brawler
Knockout power

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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Charlie Daniels!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ricardo Rodriguez!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Anthony Taglia and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Rodriguez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Rodriguez instigates a clinch.

Daniels has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Rodriguez regains guard immediately.

Rodriguez had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Daniels defends it easily.

Rodriguez pushes Daniels off and gets back to his feet.

Rodriguez feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
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!
Rodriguez controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez looking to sit in guard and control but Daniels gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Rodriguez avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Daniels chips away with some ground and pound.
Daniels throws a strike but Rodriguez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Rodriguez stays in close to Daniels's body and controls the position.
Daniels knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rodriguez on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez wants to pass the guard but Daniels is keeping the position.
Daniels 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.
Rodriguez looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Daniels is on top in guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Daniels wants to control from the top but Rodriguez keeps moving.
Rodriguez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Daniels's guard.
Rodriguez preventing the sweep.
Rodriguez is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Rodriguez looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Daniels.
Rodriguez throws a lazy head kick

and Daniels counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Rodriguez 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.
Rodriguez throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Daniels has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
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!
Rodriguez 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.
Daniels missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Daniels looking to sit in guard and control but Rodriguez gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Daniels looking to hit a scissor sweep but Rodriguez is one step ahead there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ricardo Rodriguez will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Rodriguez darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Daniels is looking to improve his position.
Rodriguez throwing shots but Daniels is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez trying to control from half guard but Daniels is working away.
Rodriguez throwing shots but Daniels is blocking nicely.

Rodriguez stands up out of the half guard.

Rodriguez clinches up against the cage.

Rodriguez successfully pulls guard.
Daniels throws a big right hand that misses.
Rodriguez trying to keep a closed guard but Daniels is proving a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Daniels throwing strikes but missing.
Rodriguez throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Daniels keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rodriguez's head.
Rodriguez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Daniels is one step ahead there.
Daniels throws a strike but Rodriguez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Rodriguez trying to control but Daniels is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Daniels keeping full guard, as Rodriguez tries to pass.
Rodriguez preventing the sweep.
Daniels can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Rodriguez controls the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Ricardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez fails with a takedown attempt.
Daniels tries to clinch up but Rodriguez circles away and keeps his distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Daniels shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Rodriguez is trying to defend but Daniels finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Rodriguez manages to get to full guard.
Daniels throws a strike but Rodriguez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Rodriguez is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricardo Rodriguez 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. And we move into the final round!

Daniels shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Rodriguez sprawls well. Rodriguez wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Daniels gets slowly back to his feet.
Rodriguez moves to clinch but Daniels breaks away

so Daniels counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Rodriguez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rodriguez is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Daniels trying to control the position from guard on top but Rodriguez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rodriguez 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.
Rodriguez keeping moving, preventing Daniels from controlling successfully.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Rodriguez is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Ricardo Rodriguez has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Charlie Daniels just wasn't active enough.
Daniels keeps the fight on the outside.
Rodriguez looks for the body kick but Daniels saw that one coming.
Rodriguez throws a right hand that Daniels ducks under and follows up with a left that Daniels also avoids with ease.

Rodriguez shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Rodriguez showed some decent athleticism there.
Rodriguez throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez moves into full mount! Daniels won't be happy about that!
Rodriguez looking to control but Daniels is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Rodriguez controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Daniels is looking to escape.
Daniels doing his best to control the position. Can he escape?
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Daniels is controlling an arm, preventing Rodriguez from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ricardo Rodriguez was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Daniels shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Daniels showed some decent athleticism there.
Rodriguez gets full guard.
Daniels throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Rodriguez avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Rodriguez keeping moving, preventing Daniels from controlling successfully.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Daniels throws a strike but Rodriguez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Charlie Daniels has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ricardo Rodriguez is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Rodriguez showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ricardo Rodriguez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Rodriguez 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 27:30
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ricardo Rodriguez!