PBP Commentary

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

Saunders
vs
Shinra

223 cm
21
177 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

177 cm
22
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Gene Saunders!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rufus Shinra!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shinra lands with a cross.

Saunders is rocked!

It looks like Gene Saunders has been cut.
Shinra swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Oh Saunders is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Shinra will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Shinra will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Saunders seems to have got his legs back now.

Shinra gets caught napping as Saunders dives in and scores a takedown. Shinra manages to retain guard.
Shinra wants to get back to his feet but Saunders is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Saunders trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Shinra is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Saunders is controlling him.
Saunders preventing the sweep.
Shinra looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Saunders puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Shinra really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Saunders. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saunders lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Saunders prevents Shinra from standing back up.

Saunders is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Shinra is just riding it out for now. Saunders eventually gives up the hold.
Shinra keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Shinra moves into full guard.
Saunders landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saunders stops Shinra from standing up.
Saunders scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Shinra is looking to stand up but Saunders isn't so interested in that idea.
Saunders loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Shinra is pulling down on Saunders's head. It's preventing any offense from Saunders, at least for the moment.
Saunders is in close to Shinra's body, working some short punches and elbows.
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.
Saunders stands up over Shinra, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Saunders decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Shinra, up you get!
Shinra throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
A head kick from Saunders lands but Shinra takes it in his stride.
Rufus Shinra seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shinra will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Shinra looks winded!

Saunders forces Shinra back against the cage and clinches.
Saunders jumps guard but Shinra stands there with Saunders around his waist. Saunders gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Shinra trying to control the position but instead, Saunders has worked for underhooks and has pushed Shinra into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Saunders escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Shinra rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Saunders moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Saunders fails with a takedown attempt.
Saunders shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Shinra counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Saunders!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gene Saunders. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Saunders wants to control but Shinra postures up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shinra prevents Saunders from escaping the position.
Shinra looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Saunders is avoiding damage well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Rufus Shinra will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Gene Saunders's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Saunders moves into the clinch.

Shinra pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Shinra throws a series of punches but Saunders avoids them all with ease.
Saunders really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Saunders throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Saunders misses with a head kick.
Shinra fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Shinra throws a series of punches but Saunders avoids them all with ease.
Shinra throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Shinra throws a combination. Saunders tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Gene Saunders is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Shinra will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Saunders throws a head kick that misses.
Shinra is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinra throws an overhand right that lands on Saunders's shoulder, as Saunders tries to avoid the shot.
Shinra tries to close the distance and clinch up but Saunders swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Shinra slaps away a takedown attempt from Saunders, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Saunders darts in and clinches Shinra up against the cage.
Shinra is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

Saunders manages to break the clinch.
Shinra shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Saunders defends it nicely.
Shinra throws a combination that misses
and Saunders counters with a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Saunders throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Shinra tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Saunders is in Shinra's guard.
Shinra working a defensive guard here.
Saunders lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Shinra wants to sweep here but Saunders controlling him for the moment.
Saunders is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Saunders with a nice head shot there.
Saunders with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Shinra manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.

Saunders pulls guard.
Shinra trying to control but Saunders is working from the bottom.
Shinra won't allow Saunders to get back to his feet.
Saunders controlling Shinra's posture.
Shinra looking to pass the guard.

Saunders is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saunders pulls Shinra in close to prevent any damage.
Saunders wants to stand up but Shinra is controlling him.
Saunders has Shinra pulled in close to control his posture.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Saunders takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shinra throws a lazy right hand but Saunders sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gene Saunders dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Gene Saunders's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Shinra throws a head kick that misses.
Saunders blocks a head kick by Shinra.
Shinra lands with a right hand.
Shinra looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Shinra tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Shinra tries for a takedown but Saunders sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Shinra misses with an uppercut.

Saunders shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Shinra manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Shinra takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Saunders is looking to work some ground and pound but Shinra has wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinra preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Saunders postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Saunders prevents Shinra from getting back to his feet.
Saunders connects with a couple of short punches.
Saunders lands a couple of elbows.
Saunders stands up over Shinra, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Shinra has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Saunders has passed into side control.
Shinra tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee warns Shinra that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Saunders unloading with bombs!
Shinra is looking to improve his position but Saunders isn't that keen on the idea.
Gene Saunders overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Saunders punishing his opponent with strikes.
Saunders will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Saunders dominating with strikes here.
Shinra is in all sorts of trouble here.
Saunders has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Shinra wants to control but Saunders is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saunders landing shots from mount.

Shinra is rocked!
Saunders lands a big elbow - Shinra is in trouble! More strikes from the mount and Shinra is forced to tap out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Gene Saunders!