PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Tito Valasquez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sando Han (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Valasquez
vs
Han

174 cm
22
178 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

181 cm
18
174 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Tito Valasquez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Sando Han!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Eliza Hachem and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Valasquez fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Han misses with a hook.
Han just misses with a punch to the body.
A nice combination there by Han.

It looks like Tito Valasquez has been cut.
Valasquez shoots in and drives through. Han sprawls well.
The fight stays on the outside here - Valasquez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Valasquez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Han is looking to stand up but Valasquez isn't so interested in that idea.
Han really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Valasquez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Valasquez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Han is keeping the position for now.
Han wants to stand and escape but Valasquez is having none of it.
Valasquez trying to control but Han is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Han has momentary wrist control but Valasquez slips an elbow through the middle.
Han is looking to stand up but Valasquez isn't so interested in that idea.
Han looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Valasquez looks for a takedown but Han sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tito Valasquez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Han closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Valasquez shoots in and bounces Han off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Han can do anything to dispel that myth.
Valasquez trying to control but Han is working from the bottom.
Valasquez won't allow Han to get back to his feet.
Valasquez postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Valasquez scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Valasquez trying to control the position from guard on top but Han is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Valasquez is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Han is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Valasquez looking to pass the guard.
Valasquez 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.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Valasquez slips a jab and a cross from Han.
Valasquez has a takedown stuffed.

Han feints and as Valasquez raises his hands in defense, Han changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Valasquez wants to sweep here but Han controlling him for the moment.
Valasquez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Han's guard.
Han is looking to stand up but Valasquez isn't so interested in that idea.
Valasquez controlling from the top position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Valasquez landing some decent shots from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valasquez wants to pass the guard but Han is keeping the position.
Valasquez won't allow Han to get back to his feet.
Valasquez lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Han avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Han wants to stand and escape but Valasquez is having none of it.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Han scores with a body shot.
A jab from Han finds it's way through Valasquez's defenses.
Valasquez fails with the takedown
and Han counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Han throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Valasquez.
Valasquez tries for a takedown but Han circles away easily
and Han counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Tito Valasquez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Han throws a combination. Valasquez tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Valasquez doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Han makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Valasquez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Valasquez closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Valasquez lands in his opponent's guard.
Han keeping moving, preventing Valasquez from controlling successfully.
Han wants to stand but Valasquez is controlling the position.
Valasquez is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Valasquez prevents Han from getting back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Han is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Valasquez passes into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Tito Valasquez will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Tito Valasquez's cut.
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.

Valasquez feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Valasquez prevents Han from getting back to his feet.
Valasquez slips nicely into half guard.
Han looks like he's trying to stand up.
Valasquez is nestled in close to Han, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Han kicks Valasquez off and gets back to his feet.
Valasquez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Han counters with a left and a right that stings Valasquez.
Han fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Valasquez closes this distance looking for a takedown but Han circles away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A lazy left from Han finds it's target.
Valasquez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Han paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Han slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

Han gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valasquez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Han swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Valasquez drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Han manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Valasquez has Han in his guard.
Han won't allow Valasquez to sweep him here.
Valasquez will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Han tries to stand but Valasquez is controlling from the bottom.
Valasquez is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Valasquez scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Tito Valasquez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Han wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Valasquez works his way into side control.
Valasquez lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Han pushes Valasquez away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Valasquez gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Valasquez working the head and body with strikes.
Han is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Valasquez asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Han gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!

Han defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Valasquez.
Han wants to try and get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valasquez in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Valasquez lands a heavy elbow.
Valasquez controlling the pace for now.
Valasquez working the ground and pound effectively.
You get the feeling that Han really doesn't like being in this position too much.
A nice elbow there by Valasquez.
Valasquez wants to control the pace but Han is squirming around nicely.
Valasquez lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Han hang on?
Valasquez landing punches.
Han avoids a series of strikes thrown by Valasquez.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
The referee warns Han that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Valasquez scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Han?
Han is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Valasquez putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Han's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Valasquez breaks from Han's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Han takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Valasquez cracks Han with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Han wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Valasquez connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
BOOM! Valasquez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Han really wants to buck Valasquez off and get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tito Valasquez dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Tito Valasquez's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Han stuffs the takedown attempt from Valasquez. Valasquez gets slowly back to his feet.
Han lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Valasquez doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Han counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Valasquez avoids a punch combination nicely.

Han looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Valasquez!
Valasquez slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Han wants to stand up but Valasquez is controlling the position.
Valasquez is looking for a sweep. Han is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Han wants to get back to his feet.
Valasquez manages to get to full guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Valasquez is looking for a triangle but Han pushes his legs off easily.
Han tries to stand but Valasquez is controlling from the bottom.
Han won't allow Valasquez to sweep him here.
Han has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Valasquez is proving hard to escape from.
Han stopping the sweep attempt from Valasquez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Valasquez striking off his back but it's not causing Han any problems.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Han fails to land with a series of punches.
Han jabs Valasquez right on the nose. Valasquez blinks but takes it well.
Valasquez doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Han counters with a two punch combo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tito Valasquez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Valasquez misses with a takedown
and Han counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Valasquez shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Valasquez was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Valasquez lands a big elbow.
Valasquez landing shots from mount.
Valasquez working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Han is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valasquez lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Han taking shots to the head.
Valasquez raining down shots from the mount!

Han defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Valasquez.
Valasquez tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Valasquez won't let Han get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Valasquez lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Valasquez cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Valasquez jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Han is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Han and Valasquez has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Valasquez is looking to take a break and control but Han is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Han tries to escape but Valasquez is in control.
Valasquez working the body and head with strikes.
Valasquez throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Valasquez trying to control the action but Han is working from the bottom.
Valasquez lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tito Valasquez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Valasquez, 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:27
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tito Valasquez!