PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rayford Petty (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mauricio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Mauricio Rua enters the cage!

Petty
vs
Rua

212 cm
23
194 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

189 cm
24
205 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rayford Petty!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Rua!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Edson Gomes and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rua with a lazy takedown attempt

and Petty counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Rua!
Petty cracks Rua with a big elbow.
Petty will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Petty working the body and head with strikes.

Petty thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Petty stands up and beckons Rua to his feet.
Petty shoots in for a takedown but Rua shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Petty shoots in for a takedown but Rua shows good takedown defense.
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!
Rua looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Petty is fending him off so far but Rua persists. Nope, Petty circles away and we're back to standing.
Rua looks winded!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Petty gets a double leg takedown into Rua's guard.

Petty stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Petty moves in looking to clinch but Rua pushes him off.
Rayford Petty seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Petty forces Rua back against the cage and clinches.
Petty changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Rua fights it off and pushes away nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rayford Petty. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Petty closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Petty is looking for a kimura here.

Petty is working for a submission of some sort.
Petty 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua wants to get back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Petty decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rua gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Petty decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Rua's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petty working some strikes from top position.

Petty stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Petty tries to clinch but Rua is having none of it.

Petty changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Rua looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Petty lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Rua down.
Petty cracks Rua with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Rua is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Petty has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Petty working the body and head with strikes.
Petty scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Rua to see if he's OK.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Petty working the ground and pound from side control.
Petty scoring with punches and elbows.
Petty really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Petty looks up at the clock and then as Rua takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Petty smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Petty scoring with punches from side control.
You can see the frustration on Rua's face as Petty controls the position.
Petty landing strikes.
Petty working the ground and pound from side control.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Petty cracks Rua with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Petty is putting a hurting on Rua here, landing some big shots from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rayford Petty dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Petty shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Petty showed some decent athleticism there.
Petty is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Petty is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Rua has managed to free his arm - good work.
Rua avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Petty.
Rua is breathing heavily.

Petty stands up out of the half guard.
Petty fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petty moves in looking to clinch but Rua pushes him off.

Petty changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Rua looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Rua felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

Petty stands up.
No luck for Petty with that takedown attempt.
Rua misses with a few strikes there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua darts in looking for a takedown but Petty gets double underhooks and turns Rua into the cage.

Petty successfully pulls guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Petty tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Petty manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Rua wants a takedown.

Petty successfully pulls guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Petty wants to stand up but Rua is controlling him.
Petty trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Rua wants to stand but Petty is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petty bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Rua's guard.

Rua looking for a guillotine here but Petty defends easily.

Rua is working an open guard so Petty takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Petty looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rayford Petty. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Petty shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Rua manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Petty postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Petty decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Petty rushes Rua and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rua has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Petty after a bit of a struggle.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Petty jumps into guard, dragging Rua to the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rayford Petty dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Petty dives in for a single leg takedown but Rua sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Rua wants a takedown but no success here.

Petty pulls Rua into guard.
Petty is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Petty is trying to work for a kimura but Rua is defending well.
Petty takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Petty is working for a kimura from half guard. He's really concentrating on the hold and it's allowed Rua to slip a leg under and get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petty is looking to work some ground and pound but Rua has wrist control.
Petty lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Petty working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Petty is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rua can do to turn this around?
Petty prevents Rua from getting back to his feet.
Rua has momentary wrist control but Petty slips an elbow through the middle.
Petty lands a couple of elbows.
Rayford Petty overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Petty gets to his feet. Rua looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Petty scores with a takedown into Rua's guard.
Petty scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Rua wants to get back to his feet but Petty is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Petty decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Petty looks to clinch
and Rua counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Petty darts in and clinches Rua up against the cage.

Petty manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petty has control of Rua's left arm, preventing Rua from doing any damage.
Rua wants to stand but Petty has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Petty looking for a sweep. Not yet Petty, not yet.
Rua must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Rua postures up.
Petty wants to control but Rua passes easily into half guard.
Petty wants to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua prevents Petty from standing back up.
Petty trying to control here.

Rua stands up from half guard.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Petty.
Rua trying to remain calm as Petty controls from the top position.
Mauricio Rua has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rayford Petty is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Petty stands up and we're back to a striking position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rayford Petty showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Petty has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:26
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rayford Petty!
The defeated Mauricio Rua had this to say: 'what can I say ? he kick my ass'.