PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sola Romaneiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jacopo Faithful (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Romaneiro comes to the cage accompanied by Roads - Portishead. Faithful has chosen Be Faithful as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Romaneiro
vs
Faithful

176 cm
20
245 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
20
265 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

Fighters First Nutrition Amsterdam 160

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Sola Romaneiro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jacopo Faithful!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Nard Betker and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Faithful jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.

It looks like Sola Romaneiro has been cut.
Romaneiro keeps the fight on the outside.
Romaneiro connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

It looks like Jacopo Faithful has been cut.
Faithful misses with a jab, cross combination.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Faithful throws a shot to the body.
Romaneiro looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Romaneiro dodges the punch combination from Faithful.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Faithful enables Romaneiro to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Faithful manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Faithful wants to get back to his feet but Romaneiro is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Romaneiro postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Faithful can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Romaneiro controls the pace.
Romaneiro trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romaneiro throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Faithful works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Romaneiro sitting in guard here, content to control.
Romaneiro seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Faithful for as long as he can get away with.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Sola Romaneiro just wasn't active enough.
Faithful chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Romaneiro can pounce on him.
Romaneiro looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Romaneiro throws an overhand right that lands on Faithful's shoulder, as Faithful tries to avoid the shot.
Romaneiro lands a right hook to the body.
Faithful tries to clinch

and Romaneiro counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Romaneiro postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Romaneiro is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Romaneiro in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Romaneiro is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Romaneiro is looking to pass into half guard but Faithful pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Faithful is in guard.
Romaneiro has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Faithful won't allow Romaneiro to sweep him here.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Romaneiro holds on and takes a little breather.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Sola Romaneiro just wasn't active enough.
Romaneiro does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Faithful checks a leg kick.
Faithful checks a low kick from Romaneiro.
Faithful throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Romaneiro slips a jab and a cross from Faithful.
Romaneiro pivots, looking for a leg kick but Faithful is out of range and Romaneiro settles back down.
Faithful tries to clinch up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Faithful misses with a double jab

and Romaneiro counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Romaneiro stalling.
Romaneiro seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Faithful is trying to stand back up but Romaneiro is controlling him
Romaneiro is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Romaneiro lands a nice short elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sola Romaneiro dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Faithful tries to clinch but Romaneiro is having none of it.
Romaneiro throws a hook to the side of Faithful's head but Faithful sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Faithful throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Romaneiro circles away from the clinch attempt.
Romaneiro steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Faithful.
Romaneiro throws a low kick but Faithful avoids it.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Romaneiro.
Romaneiro tried to score with a low kick but Faithful checks it.
A good leg kick by Romaneiro.
Romaneiro misses with a wild body shot.
Nice jab there from Romaneiro.
Romaneiro looks for the body kick but Faithful saw that one coming.
Faithful misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Romaneiro circles away from the clinch attempt.
That kick from Romaneiro tenderised Faithful's leg. Faithful is trying to keep his angry face on.
Faithful slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Faithful takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romaneiro connects with an inside leg kick.
Romaneiro misses with a low kick.
Nice defenses there by Faithful.
Faithful throws a combination that misses

and Romaneiro counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Romaneiro postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Romaneiro is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Romaneiro stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Faithful swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Romaneiro 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romaneiro lands a couple of digs.
Faithful is looking to stand up but Romaneiro isn't so interested in that idea.
Romaneiro has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Romaneiro controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sola Romaneiro has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Romaneiro fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Romaneiro scores with a slapping inside leg kick.

Romaneiro gets the takedown into side control.
Romaneiro working the head and body with strikes.
Romaneiro working the body and head with strikes.
Faithful taking a bit of punishment here - Romaneiro scoring with strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Romaneiro misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Romaneiro controls the position.

Romaneiro tries for a kimura but Faithful is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Romaneiro creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Faithful sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Romaneiro is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Faithful can do to turn this around?
Romaneiro in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Sola Romaneiro overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Romaneiro remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Romaneiro landing a few strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sola Romaneiro dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Faithful checks a leg kick.
Faithful on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

That has opened up Jacopo Faithful's cut even more.
Good leg kick by Romaneiro there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Jacopo Faithful is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Romaneiro scores with a leg kick.
Faithful misses with a two punch combination.
A chopping leg kick lands by Romaneiro.
Sola Romaneiro is winning the standup battle so far.
Romaneiro throws a nice outside leg kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Faithful looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A big left from Romaneiro misses.
Romaneiro throws a leg kick but Faithful moved away.
Romaneiro is looking to slow Faithful down with leg kicks.
Faithful closes the distance but Romaneiro moves to the side

and Romaneiro counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Romaneiro pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Faithful is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romaneiro is looking to work some ground and pound but Faithful has wrist control.
Romaneiro is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Romaneiro prevents Faithful from getting back to his feet.
Romaneiro scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Romaneiro lands a couple of digs.
Romaneiro throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romaneiro passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Romaneiro controlling from side mount.
Jacopo Faithful has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Romaneiro working the head and body with strikes.

The cut above Jacopo Faithful's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Romaneiro misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Faithful avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Romaneiro.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romaneiro lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Faithful down.

Jacopo Faithful's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Jacopo Faithful's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:34 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Sola Romaneiro!
After the big win, Sola Romaneiro made sure to do all the important stuff like thanking his sponsors Fighters First Nutrition Amsterdam 160 and telling the interviewer how much he loves him.