PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dominick Rivaldi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Malham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rivaldi comes into the arena with Joker's Wild blaring out of the sound system. Malham has chosen John's Walkout as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Rivaldi
vs
Malham

180 cm
36
191 lbs
25 - 11 - 3

195 cm
33
183 lbs
24 - 17 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Steel Penn's All 160

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 25 - 11 - 3, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dominick Rivaldi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Malham!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yuuki Gou and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Malham misses with a few strikes there.
Rivaldi throws a wild body kick that Malham sees coming a mile off.
Rivaldi missing with a left hand there. Malham was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Rivaldi chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Malham blocks a low kick nicely.

Rivaldi clinches with his opponent.
Malham lands a nice uppercut.
Malham blocks an uppercut.
Rivaldi lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Malham lands a hook to the side of the head.
Rivaldi misses with a punch to the body.
Malham presses Rivaldi against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Rivaldi struggles to land a body shot inside as Malham controls his hands.
Malham working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Rivaldi.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivaldi tries to work over Malham's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rivaldi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Malham tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Rivaldi's elbow.
Rivaldi lands with a right to the head.
Malham is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Rivaldi misses with a short punch on the inside.
Rivaldi lands on the inside with an uppercut.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Rivaldi.
Rivaldi misses with a punch on the inside.
Rivaldi lands a left hand that snaps the head of Malham backwards.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Malham as Rivaldi tries to tie him up.
Rivaldi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Malham blocks a body shot from Rivaldi.
Rivaldi has a couple of punches blocked by Malham.
Malham misses with some punches.
Malham misses with a punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rivaldi tries a body shot but Malham blocks it.
Nice body punch from Rivaldi - that landed with a thud.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Rivaldi breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Malham slips under a jab from Rivaldi.
Malham throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Malham moves out of range as Rivaldi throws a body kick.
Malham lands with a cross.
Rivaldi connects with an inside leg kick.
A leg kick checked by Malham.

Malham closes the distance and clinches.
A head punch on the inside from Malham fails to land.
A short uppercut from Rivaldi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivaldi goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Rivaldi tries to throw a body punch but Malham avoids it by throwing Rivaldi back against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Malham lands a shoulder strike.
Malham is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Malham gets through Rivaldi's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Rivaldi holding his opponent close, against the cage.
The crowd are getting pretty annoyed with Rivaldi for his constant stalling in the clinch and are voicing their displeasure.
Malham has a couple of punches blocked by Rivaldi.
Malham misses with the head strike.
Malham prevents a body shot from Rivaldi.
Malham doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivaldi has Malham pushed against the cage.
Malham lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Rivaldi tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Malham's elbow.
Malham controlling the action here for a moment.
Rivaldi misses with a body punch.
Malham misses with some punches.
Malham doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Malham.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rivaldi can't break the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Malham works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Rivaldi tries to throw a body punch but Malham avoids it by throwing Rivaldi back against the cage.
Malham taking a breather.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dominick Rivaldi dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Rivaldi misses with the body kick
and Malham counters with a leg kick.
Rivaldi tries to close the distance and clinch up but Malham swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Malham tries to land a front kick but Rivaldi steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Malham lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Malham slips under a jab from Rivaldi.
Malham throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Malham connects with an inside leg kick.
Rivaldi throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Rivaldi walks into a jab.
Rivaldi tries to clinch
and Malham counters with a stiff right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Malham scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Malham throws a combination that misses
and Rivaldi counters with a lovely straight right hand!
John Malham seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Malham blocks a leg kick.
Rivaldi tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Malham lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Good leg kick by Rivaldi there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

Malham clinches up against the cage.
Rivaldi blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Malham works on Rivaldi's body with a couple of short punches.
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!
Rivaldi scores with a shot to the side of Malham's head.
Malham lands a left hand.
Rivaldi wants to break free but Malham has control.
Malham prevents a body shot from Rivaldi.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Malham lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Rivaldi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A nice leg kick lands there from Rivaldi.

Rivaldi lands a big head kick that sends Malham tumbling to the mat! Rivaldi takes a step backwards and waves Malham back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Malham is rocked!

It looks like John Malham has been cut.
Malham throws a push kick but Rivaldi slaps the foot to one side.
Rivaldi pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Rivaldi tries a head kick but it misses.
Rivaldi misses with an uppercut.
Malham looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Rivaldi scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
John Malham is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
A head kick misses from Rivaldi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rivaldi takes the fight into the clinch.
Malham keeps control of Rivaldi as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Rivaldi lands an uppercut.
Malham swings wildly with an uppercut but Rivaldi uses good head movement to avoid it.
Rivaldi is leaning against Malham and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Rivaldi tries to work over Malham's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Malham lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Rivaldi lands a body punch.
Rivaldi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Rivaldi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Malham misses with some punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Malham blocks a body shot from Rivaldi.
Malham tries to throw a body punch but Rivaldi avoids it by throwing Malham back against the cage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Malham as Rivaldi tries to tie him up.
Malham working aggressively here.
Malham tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rivaldi throws a punch but it's blocked by Malham.
Nice body punch from Rivaldi - that landed with a thud.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Malham.
Rivaldi can't find room to land a body shot as Malham controls the action.
Rivaldi struggles to land a body shot inside as Malham controls his hands.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A quick uppercut on the inside from Rivaldi.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Rivaldi tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Rivaldi struggles to land a body shot inside as Malham controls his hands.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dominick Rivaldi dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on John Malham's cut.
That's time! Rivaldi's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Rivaldi is looking to slow Malham down with leg kicks.
Rivaldi throws a lazy right hand but Malham sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Rivaldi connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Rivaldi moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
A nice leg kick lands there from Rivaldi.
Rivaldi throws a body kick that misses.
Sloppy strikes from Malham. Those never looked like landing.
Rivaldi is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.
Rivaldi throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

Malham closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Rivaldi quickly recovers to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rivaldi is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.

Rivaldi pushes Malham off and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivaldi throws a nice inside leg kick.
Rivaldi is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Malham's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Rivaldi bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Malham takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rivaldi throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Rivaldi pulls out of a head kick attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Rivaldi looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rivaldi is looking to slow Malham down with leg kicks.
Rivaldi tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Malham manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Rivaldi throws a head kick but Malham moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rivaldi throws a low kick but Malham avoids it.
Rivaldi tried to score with a low kick but Malham checks it.

Malham clinches.
Rivaldi goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Malham tries a body shot but Rivaldi blocks it.
Malham misses with a punch to the body.
Rivaldi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Rivaldi lands a left hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Malham pushes Rivaldi back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
John Malham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Malham taking a breather.
Rivaldi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Malham.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Malham blocks an uppercut.
Malham's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Malham wants to stall.
Malham misses with the head strike.
Malham lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Rivaldi lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Rivaldi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Rivaldi blocking some punches.
Rivaldi misses with a hook to the ribs.
Malham prevents a body shot from Rivaldi.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Rivaldi lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Rivaldi can't find room to land a body shot as Malham controls the action.
Rivaldi tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Malham's elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivaldi is trying to break the clinch but Malham has him pressed against the cage.
Rivaldi lands a body punch in the clinch.
Rivaldi takes a shot to the head.
Rivaldi working aggressively here.
Rivaldi can't find room to land a body shot as Malham controls the action.

Rivaldi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Malham scores with a crisp jab that stopped Rivaldi in his tracks.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Malham takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
An inside leg kick from Rivaldi misses.
Malham has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Rivaldi finds it's way round the side to connect with Malham's head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rivaldi tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rivaldi takes a swing at Malham's ribcage but misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dominick Rivaldi showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rivaldi, 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dominick Rivaldi!
Dominick Rivaldi decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.