PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Oliveira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Albert Ward (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago Oliveira has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Oliveira
vs
Ward

170 cm
19
150 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

190 cm
20
165 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Thiago Oliveira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Albert Ward!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Wesley Smith and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Oliveira swats away the attempt to clinch by Ward.
Oliveira fails with an attempt to clinch.

Ward has taken the fight to the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Oliveira goes for a takedown in the clinch but Ward prevents it.
Oliveira has had enough of the clinch but Ward keeps him there for the moment.
Oliveira is looking for a takedown.
Ward lands a nice shot to the body.
Oliveira is breathing heavily.
Oliveira takes an elbow to the temple.
Ward lands an elbow inside.
Ward working Oliveira over with knees to the body.
A short right from Ward.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward taking a breather.
Ward lands an elbow just above Oliveira 's eye.
Ward stalling the fight.
Knees to the body from Ward.
A shot in the inside from Ward.
Ward lands a nice knee to the body.
Ward has Oliveira pushed against the cage.
Ward lands an elbow just above Oliveira 's eye.
Ward is pushing Oliveira up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ward connects with a nasty looking knee right to Oliveira's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward working Oliveira over with knees to the body.
Come on Ward - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Ward lands a body shot in the clinch.
Ward slowing the pace effectively.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.

Ward gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Ward controlling the action here for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward lands a right hand that snaps the head of Oliveira backwards.
Ward manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Oliveira jumps guard but Ward stands there with Oliveira around his waist. Oliveira gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thiago Oliveira. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ward comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Oliveira fails to pull guard.
Ward stalls.
Ward putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Oliveira in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ward controlling the action here for a moment.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.
Ward tries to close the distance and clinch but Oliveira swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Oliveira swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Albert Ward seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Ward clinches up against the cage.
Ward effectively controlling the action here.
Ward is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ward lands a left hand that snaps the head of Oliveira backwards.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Albert Ward dominated that round.
That's time! Oliveira's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Ward rushes Oliveira and presses him up against the cage.
Oliveira wants to stall.
Ward lands an elbow just above Oliveira 's eye.
Ward working Oliveira over with knees to the body.
Ward scores with a hook to the body.
Ward lands a shot to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Ward takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Ward lands a damaging elbow.
Ward lands a damaging elbow.
Ward landing knees to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ward will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Oliveira up against the cage.
Ward crunches a lovely knee into Oliveira's ribcage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oliveira takes an elbow to the temple.
Ward stalling in the clinch.
Ward lands a damaging elbow.
Knees in the clinch landing for Ward.
Ward stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Knees in the clinch landing for Ward.
Ward just leaning against Oliveira, taking a breather.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Ward.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward landing knees to the head.
Ward gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Ward has Oliveira pushed against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.
Ward is looking to clinch but Oliveira is avoiding it.
Ward wants to clinch.
Thiago Oliveira is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ward tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Oliveira paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Ward has Oliveira up against the cage in a clinch.
Ward lands a nice elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward lands an elbow inside that Oliveira shrugs off.
Ward lands an elbow inside.
Ward stalls.
Ward lands with a light punch inside.
Ward lands a knee to the head.
Ward stalling in the clinch.
Ward lands a right hand that snaps the head of Oliveira backwards.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ward lands an elbow that stopped Oliveira in his tracks for a moment.
Ward effectively controlling the action here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.
Ward tries to clinch there but Oliveira circles away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ward is looking to clinch.
Albert Ward is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Ward moves into the clinch.
Oliveira is looking for a takedown.
Ward gets through Oliveira's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Albert Ward showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Ward wants to clinch.
Ward tries to clinch but Oliveira is having none of it.
Ward tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Ward takes the fight into the clinch.
Albert Ward seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Ward lands a nice shot to the body.
Ward makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Ward connects with a knee to the head.
A hook to the body from Ward.
Ward is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Good body shot from Ward.
Ward unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ward creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Oliveira's defenses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward stalling against the cage.
Oliveira takes a shot to the head.
Ward lands a nice knee to the body.
Ward leaning his opponent against the cage.
Ward continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.
Ward tries to clinch up but Oliveira circles away and keeps his distance.
Ward fails with an attempt to clinch.
Ward wants to clinch up but Oliveira keeps it at a distance.
Ward tries to close the distance and clinch up but Oliveira swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ward wants to clinch but Oliveira slips to the side
and Oliveira finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.

Ward moves into range and clinches up with Oliveira.
Ward cracks Oliveira with a nice body shot.
Ward landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Ward obliges.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Ward throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ward lands a shot to the body.
Ward is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Ward cracks Oliveira with a nice body shot.
A bit of stalling here from Ward.
Ward lands an elbow inside.
Ward connects with a knee to the head.
Ward lands a left hand that snaps the head of Oliveira backwards.
Oliveira takes an elbow to the forehead.
Ward lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee is keeping an eye on Ward - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Ward lands an elbow inside.
Ward works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Nice body punch from Ward.
Ward stalling in the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The crowd are getting on Ward's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Albert Ward.
Ward is looking to clinch but Oliveira is avoiding it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Albert Ward comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Ward 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 24:30
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 25:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Albert Ward!
Albert Ward spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.