PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Igor Barbosa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ronaldo Nazario (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barbosa comes to the cage accompanied by Eye of the tiger. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Barbosa
vs
Nazario

193 cm
29
201 lbs
9 - 5 - 1

175 cm
28
192 lbs
9 - 17 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Igor Barbosa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 17 - 0, fighting out of London, Ronaldo Nazario!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Matheus Silva and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nazario tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Barbosa counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Barbosa.

Barbosa gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Barbosa is taking a breather. Nazario says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Barbosa'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.
Nazario makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Nazario.
Barbosa controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Barbosa passes Nazario's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Nazario wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barbosa sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Nazario defending well though.
Nazario has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Nazario wants to improve his position but Barbosa is controlling well.
Barbosa frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barbosa controlling from the full mount.
Nazario bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Barbosa is adopting a defensive guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Igor Barbosa has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Nazario shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Barbosa but Barbosa pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Nazario leaves Barbosa with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Nazario gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Barbosa will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barbosa is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Barbosa preventing the sweep.
Barbosa controlling from the top position.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Nazario 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.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Igor Barbosa just wasn't active enough.
Barbosa shoots in for a double leg but Nazario sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Nazario gets caught napping as Barbosa dives in and scores a takedown. Nazario manages to retain guard.
Barbosa slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Barbosa pushes down on Nazario's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Barbosa controlling the action here.
Barbosa prevents Nazario from improving his position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Barbosa perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Barbosa uses his free foot to push down on Nazario's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Nazario.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Igor Barbosa dominated that round.
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.

Barbosa circles away from the clinch attempt

and Barbosa counters with a nice double leg into side control. Nazario won't be happy with that.
Barbosa controls the position.
Barbosa fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Nazario is looking to reverse the position.
Barbosa slows the pace down.
Nazario is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Barbosa off and has taken his back!

Nazario patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Barbosa tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Nazario is breathing heavily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nazario avoids the attempt from Barbosa to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barbosa regains half guard.
Barbosa is concentrating on defense, preventing Nazario from advancing position.
Nazario wants to stand up but Barbosa is controlling the position.
Barbosa regains full guard. Nicely done.
Barbosa has control of Nazario's left arm, preventing Nazario from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barbosa has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Igor Barbosa has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Nazario tries for a takedown but Barbosa circles away easily

and Barbosa counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Nazario!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barbosa happy to just control the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nazario is trying to improve his position.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Nazario is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Barbosa 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 Nazario's shoulder. That is not cool.

We're going to have a standup here because Igor Barbosa wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Nazario shoots for a double leg takedown but Barbosa sprawls well. He's pushed Nazario's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nazario has his takedown stuffed

and Barbosa holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Igor Barbosa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ronaldo Nazario.
Nazario is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Barbosa pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Barbosa lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Barbosa content to control rather than advance.

Barbosa is trying to work for a kimura but Nazario is defending well.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Barbosa slows the pace down in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Igor Barbosa dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Barbosa shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Nazario manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Barbosa passes Nazario's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Barbosa in particular looking to stall.
Nazario tries to kick Barbosa off in order to stand up. Barbosa Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Barbosa controls the position.
Nazario takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nazario tries to escape but Barbosa is in control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Barbosa seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Nazario for as long as he can get away with.

We're going to have a standup here because Igor Barbosa wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Nazario will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nazario closes the distance but Barbosa moves to the side

and Barbosa counters by clinching up.

Barbosa has picked Nazario up - he's going for a ride! Barbosa dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Barbosa takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nazario is looking to improve his position.
Barbosa content to control rather than advance.
Barbosa uses his free foot to push down on Nazario's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Nazario.
Barbosa takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nazario manages to regain half guard. Good work.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Barbosa is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Barbosa in particular looking to stall.
Barbosa works his way into side control.
Barbosa controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barbosa working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

Barbosa wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Nazario, who protects the arm well.
Nazario tries to improve position but can't.
Igor Barbosa is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nazario is still trying to improve position.
Barbosa controlling from side mount.
Barbosa is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nazario can do to turn this around?
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Igor Barbosa showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Barbosa, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Igor Barbosa!
Our winner, Igor Barbosa, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.