PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ghoul Ghotha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Timothy Bourque (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Timothy Bourque will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Ghotha
vs
Bourque

207 cm
42
272 lbs
39 - 38 - 1

225 cm
43
270 lbs
47 - 21 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 39 - 38 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ghoul Ghotha!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 47 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Timothy Bourque!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Matheus Silva and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bourque stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Bourque wants it to stay on the feet.
Ghotha scores with a nice head shot.
Ghotha has been working on his boxing with his coaches at The Warehouse in the buildup to the fight.
Bourque lands with a good body shot.
Ghotha misses with a hook.
Nice cross by Ghotha.
Bourque throws a shot from downtown. Ghotha moves away and avoids it.
Ghotha feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Bourques jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!

Ghotha shoots in and bounces Bourque off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Ghotha is looking to work some ground and pound but Bourque has wrist control.
Ghotha throwing strikes from guard but Bourque blocks nicely.
Bourque preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bourque keeping moving, preventing Ghotha from controlling successfully.
Ghotha throwing strikes from guard but Bourque blocks nicely.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ghotha accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Ghotha throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ghotha controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Bourque pulls Ghotha in close to his closed guard and prevents Ghotha from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghotha missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Ghotha postures up in Bourque's guard and throws a big left but Bourque blocks it.
Bourque avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Ghotha might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Ghotha trying to control the position from guard on top but Bourque is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ghotha seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Ghotha postures up and lands a big shot to Bourque's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bourque working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ghotha.
Ghotha trying to control the position from guard on top but Bourque is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ghotha preventing the sweep.
Ghotha trying to control but Bourque is working from the bottom.
Bourque looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ghotha is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bourque utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ghotha trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ghotha trying to control the position from guard on top but Bourque is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ghotha working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Ghotha throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Bourque works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ghotha stands and throws Bourque's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Ghotha working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ghoul Ghotha dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ghotha drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ghotha scoring with some ground and pound.
Ghotha wants to control from the top but Bourque keeps moving.
Ghotha looking to sit in guard and control but Bourque gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Bourque wants to get up but he can't break Ghotha's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Bourque is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Ghotha bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Bourque's guard.
Ghotha throws a big elbow that misses.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ghotha pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Bourque is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ghotha postures up.
Ghotha looking to sit in guard and control but Bourque gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Bourque looking to pass the guard.

Bourque decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Ghotha, up you get!
Bourque slips under a jab.

Ghotha shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Bourque manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Ghotha trying to control but Bourque is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghotha controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Bourque seems keen to control Ghotha's posture.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ghoul Ghotha wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Ghotha shoots in looking for a takedown. Bourque tries to sprawl out of it but Ghotha keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Bourque manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Nice sprawl there from Bourque as Ghotha shoots in.
Nice takedown defense from Bourque. No joy for Ghotha on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ghoul Ghotha. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ghotha shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Bourque sprawls well. Bourque wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ghotha gets slowly back to his feet.
Ghotha shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Bourque as he avoids it easily.
Timothy Bourque is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A jab from Ghotha misses.
No joy there for Bourque, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Bourque throws the left hand but Ghotha avoids the punch easily.
Ghotha tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Bourque defends well and Ghotha ends up having to push Bourque into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Bourque manages to break the clinch.
Bourque has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Bourque scores with a head kick. Ghotha tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.

It looks like Ghoul Ghotha has been cut.
Ghotha with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Bourque to score with a decent uppercut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ghotha closes this distance looking for a takedown but Bourque circles away.
Bourque moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bourque thows a left - swing and a miss!
Ghotha throws out a loose jab but Bourque uses good head movement to avoid it.
A swing and a miss from Ghotha.
Ghotha is trying hard to land a takedown here. Bourque sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Bourque misses with the combination.
Ghotha takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Ghotha fails with a takedown attempt.
Ghotha closes the distance and clinches up with Bourque, looking for a takedown. Ghotha pushes Bourque against the cage but Bourque circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A swing and a miss from Bourque.
Ghotha loads up on a big right hand but Bourque slips the punch.
Ghotha shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Bourque but Bourque pushes him off and we're back to square one.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Timothy Bourque will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Ghoul Ghotha's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Ghotha misses with a hook. Bourque ducked under it nicely.
A left lands for Ghotha.
Ghotha has his takedown stuffed
letting Bourque counter with a right hand.
Ghotha shoots in looking for a takedown. Bourque tries to sprawl out of it but Ghotha keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Bourque manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Bourque leaves Ghotha with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ghoul Ghotha. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A big right from Ghotha misses.
Ghoul Ghotha seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ghotha getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

Bourque gets caught napping as Ghotha dives in and scores a takedown. Bourque manages to retain guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ghotha being controlled here momentarily.
Ghotha wants to control from the top but Bourque keeps moving.
Ghotha looking to pass the guard.
Ghotha wants to control from the top but Bourque keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ghoul Ghotha wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Ghotha shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Bourque's guard.
Bourque controlling the position.
Bourque is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Bourque sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ghotha defending well though.
Bourque prevents Ghotha from improving his position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bourque wants to control but Ghotha is keeping him busy.
It looks like Bourque is going to stand back up.
Ghotha wants to improve his position but Bourque is controlling well.
Bourque missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bourque thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Ghotha's head.
Bourque tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Ghotha.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Ghotha is looking for a sweep. Bourque is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Bourque postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Ghotha to stand up.
A jab from Ghotha misses.

Ghotha drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ghotha postures up and lands a big shot to Bourque's brow.
Ghotha trying to control but Bourque is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ghotha working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Bourque wants to sweep but no luck.
Ghotha trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ghotha stays in close to Bourque's body and controls the position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Ghoul Ghotha has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Ghotha darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bourque is looking for a sweep. Ghotha is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ghoul Ghotha showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Ghotha has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Daniel Cesar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 29:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ghoul Ghotha!
A very excited looking Ghoul Ghotha made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.