PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dave Sherk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Fuego (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sherk comes to the ring accompanied by Divinations by Mastodon. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Sherk
vs
Fuego

185 cm
22
186 lbs
7 - 9 - 0

183 cm
26
185 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dave Sherk!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Fuego!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Daniel Cesar and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sherk forces Fuego back against the ropes and clinches.
Fuego tries for a takedown. No joy.
Fuego dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the ropes.

Sherk lands a takedown into guard.
Sherk controls from within his opponent's guard.
Sherk tries to free his leg and advance position but Fuego is retaining full guard.
Sherk throwing strikes but missing.
Fuego is trying to control the position but Sherk postures up.
Sherk stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Fuego swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Fuego wants to stand but Sherk is controlling the position.
Our spies down at at Cozad MMA Rio inform us that Fuego has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Fuego utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sherk stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Fuego swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Fuego keeping moving, preventing Sherk from controlling successfully.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Fuego tries to keep at a distance but Sherk has taken the fight into the clinch.
Sherk works on Fuego's body with a couple of short punches.

Sherk has clasped his hands together around Fuego's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Sherk scoring with punches from side control.
Fuego is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sherk just content to control the position.

Sherk is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Fuego knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Sherk seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Sherk controls the position.
Fuego parries the strikes from Sherk easily there. Sherk is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Fuego to escape.
You can see the frustration on Fuego's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Fuego is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Fuego wants to control but Sherk postures up.
Fuego is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Sherk is staying active.
Fuego regains half guard there - taking advantage of Sherk's attempt to lay and pray for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sherk seems to be looking for submissions.
Sherk is looking to take a break and control but Fuego is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sherk not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sherk is trying to control. Fuego wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Sherk prevents Fuego from improving his position.

Sherk is working for a submission of some sort.
Fuego controlling the position well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fuego is refusing to be controlled, as Sherk sits in half guard.
Sherk throwing shots but Fuego is blocking nicely.
Fuego trying to control here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Sherk lands a nice looking body shot.

Sherk fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Fuego sprawls well initially but Sherk persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Sherk is keen to just control but Fuego is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Sherk dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Sherk scores with a body shot.

Sherk changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Fuego looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Sherk working the ground and pound.

Sherk goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Fuego has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Sherk but great work by Fuego.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Fuego tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Fuego has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Fuego trying to control the action but Sherk is working from the bottom.
Sherk prevents Fuego from improving position.
Sherk is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Fuego's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Sherk wants to control but Fuego is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sherk tries to kick Fuego off but Fuego keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Sherk controlling the position for now.
Fuego takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Sherk trying to control here.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Fuego is working for a submission of some sort.

Fuego looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Fuego is breathing heavily.
Sherk is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Fuego's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Fuego's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.

Sherk is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Fuego is defending well though. Sherk let's go of the attempt for now.
Fuego manages to reverse the position and now he's in Sherk's guard. Nice work there by Fuego.

Sherk has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Fuego can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Sherk wriggles free and stands up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sherk clinches.
Fuego can't get the takedown.
Sherk digs a right hand underneath Fuego's ribcage. Fuego let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Sherk lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Fuego or not.
The referee calls for Sherk to work.
Sherk unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fuego lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Sherk stalling in the clinch.
Sherk is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Fuego can do to turn this around?

Sherk lands a takedown into guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sherk is working Fuego over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sherk landing with the ground and pound.
Sherk working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Fuego's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sherk throws a big elbow that misses.
Sherk sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Fuego's guard.
Sherk seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Sherk is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Fuego is not content to let Sherk control the position.
Fuego blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sherk.
Fuego is staying active underneath Sherk, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Sherk uses his free foot to push down on Fuego's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Fuego.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Sherk with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

Sherk is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Fuego can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Sherk dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sherk.
Sherk lands a decent elbow from side control.
Sherk working the head and body with strikes.

Sherk thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Sherk in side control lands a decent elbow.

Fuego is rocked!
Sherk is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Fuego will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Fuego is still in real trouble! Can Sherk finish him?
Sherk cracks Fuego with a big elbow. Oh, he's hurt! Sherk immediately mounts and start dropping bombs! Fuego is done! The referee jumps in and saves him from any more punishment - a quick and decisive finish by Sherk!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dave Sherk!
Dave Sherk is the new middleweight champion!
Dave Sherk decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.