PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael Amaral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Henry Ngo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rafael Amaral has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Amaral
vs
Ngo

189 cm
26
194 lbs
13 - 5 - 0

180 cm
31
190 lbs
20 - 17 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Good elbows
Good gas tank

Bloodlust Horde Fightwear
Conviction

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 13 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rafael Amaral!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henry Ngo!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ngo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Amaral is fending him off so far but Ngo persists. Nope, Amaral circles away and we're back to standing.
Ngo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Amaral pinned against the cage. Amaral gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Amaral has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.

Ngo shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Ngo was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
You can see the frustration on Amaral's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Amaral tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Ngo presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Amaral is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Ngo thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Ngo lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Amaral tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Ngo thowing shots but they're missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ngo throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Ngo looking to ground and pound but Amaral is blocking nicely.
Ngo misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Amaral is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Amaral manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Ngo is looking for a kimura but Amaral is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Ngo to get the leverage.
Ngo thows a huge punch but Amaral dodges it nicely.

Ngo is working for a kimura but Amaral is defending it quite comfortably.
Ngo content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Amaral gets back to full guard.
Ngo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ngo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Amaral pulls Ngo in close to his closed guard and prevents Ngo from doing any damage or advancing position.
Amaral working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ngo.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Ngo working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Amaral not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Ngo postures up and lands a big shot to Amaral's brow.
Ngo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Amaral works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Amaral keeping full guard, as Ngo tries to pass.
Ngo passes Amaral's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Ngo wants to get back to his feet.
Ngo not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ngo throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Amaral knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Ngo on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Amaral trying to control but Ngo postures up.
Ngo working Amaral over with strikes.
Ngo content to control rather than advance.
Ngo trying to advance position but Amaral counters by regaining guard.
Ngo chips away with some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ngo wants to pass the guard but Amaral is keeping the position.
Ngo loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Henry Ngo dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Ngo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Amaral is fending him off so far but Ngo persists. Nope, Amaral circles away and we're back to standing.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Ngo.
Ngo avoids the body shot from Amaral.
Amaral throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

It looks like Henry Ngo has been cut.
Ngo defending well as Amaral loads up on a big left hand.
Amaral throws a sloppy head kick and Ngo moves out of range easily.
Amaral throws a wild body kick that Ngo sees coming a mile off.
Amaral wants to clinch up but Ngo keeps it at a distance.
Ngo misses with a head kick.
Ngo keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Amaral.
Amaral swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Amaral throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Ngo's head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Ngo gets the takedown into side control.
Ngo creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Ngo has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Ngo in side control lands a decent elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ngo working the ground and pound from side control.
Amaral managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Ngo.
The strikes coming from Ngo are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Ngo trying to control the action but Amaral is working from the bottom.
Ngo postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Ngo scoring with punches and elbows.
Amaral is not content to let Ngo control the position.
Amaral dodges the ground and pound from Ngo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ngo decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Ngo tries to move into range but Amaral moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Amaral throws an off balance right hand

and Ngo counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Amaral is looking for a sweep. Ngo is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ngo throwing shots but Amaral is blocking nicely.
Ngo tries to pass the half guard into mount. Amaral knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Ngo is working for a kimura but Amaral is defending it quite comfortably.
Ngo throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Amaral to regain full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ngo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ngo trying to control but Amaral is working from the bottom.
Henry Ngo has got the better of the ground game so far.
Amaral wants to stand up but Ngo is controlling him.
Ngo looking to sit in guard and control but Amaral gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Ngo keeping moving, preventing Amaral from controlling successfully.
Amaral has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Ngo is looking for a triangle but Amaral pushes his legs off easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ngo is looking for a triangle but Amaral pushes his legs off easily.
Amaral wants to get up but he can't break Ngo's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Ngo keeping moving, preventing Amaral from controlling successfully.
Ngo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Ngo is actively looking for submissions from his back. He's worked himself a little space on the bottom and seems to be going for a triangle. No, he's switched into an armbar! That was slick! Amaral rolls with it to try and escape but Ngo cranks on the arm and Amaral is forced to tap out! This one is aaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Henry Ngo!
Henry Ngo very nearly forgot to thank MMA ANIMAL amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.