PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Xiquinho Salazar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Connor Rice (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Salazar's entrance music is Mirasquad. A fine choice. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Salazar
vs
Rice

170 cm
25
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
22
145 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Xiquinho Salazar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Connor Rice!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Phil Schofield and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rice blocks a head kick by Salazar.
Rice wants to clinch up but Salazar keeps it at a distance.
Rice tries to close the distance and clinch up but Salazar swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Rice shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Salazar but Salazar pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Salazar rushes Rice and presses him up against the cage.
Rice blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Salazar is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rice tries to score a body lock takedown but Salazar shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Salazar tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Rice avoids it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rice pulls Salazar into guard.
Rice keeping moving, preventing Salazar from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Salazar wants to stand and escape but instead Rice has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Rice passes Salazar's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rice seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Rice tries to pass to full mount but Salazar defends it.
Rice prevents Salazar from standing back up.
Rice wants to take a breather but Salazar is having none of it.
Salazar wants to get back to his feet.
Rice is taking a breather. Salazar says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Salazar is trying to stand back up but Rice is controlling him
Rice wants to pass the guard but Salazar is defending well.
Rice trying to control the action but Salazar is working from the bottom.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Rice lands a nice short elbow.
Salazar on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Salazar tries to get out of the position.
Rice works his way into full mount!
Rice lands with some strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salazar is in a horrible position here. Rice smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Rice lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Rice has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Rice controlling the position easily from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rice won't let Salazar get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Rice has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Salazar's face.
Salazar is squirming around, avoiding Rice's attempts to control the action.
Rice controlling from mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rice working away from the top, dropping strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Connor Rice dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Rice misses with a double jab
and Salazar counters with an inside leg kick.
Connor Rice seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rice shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Salazar but Salazar pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Salazar displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Rice.
Salazar swats away the attempt to clinch by Rice.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rice tries to close the distance and clinch but Salazar swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Salazar gets caught napping as Rice dives in and scores a takedown. Salazar manages to retain guard.
Rice has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rice landing some decent shots from guard.
Rice slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Salazar is looking to stand up but Rice isn't so interested in that idea.
Rice pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Salazar is keeping the position for now.
Rice controls from within his opponent's guard.
Salazar is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rice is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Rice is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Rice looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Xiquinho Salazar has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Connor Rice.
Rice shoots for a double leg takedown but Salazar sprawls well. He's pushed Rice's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salazar stuffs the takedown.
Salazar tries a head kick but it misses.

Salazar clinches with his opponent.
Rice on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Salazar misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rice.
Salazar lands a good knee to the midsection. Rice won't want to take too many of those.
Rice wants a takedown.
Salazar with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Salazar misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rice.
Salazar is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Salazar blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Salazar misses with a short punch on the inside.
Rice takes a knee to the side of the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rice is fighting off a takedown attempt but Salazar is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Rice to the mat. Rice regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rice controls Salazar momentarily but Salazar frees himself.
Rice controlling the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rice trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Rice tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Rice is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Salazar is controlling him.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Salazar wants to control from the top but Rice keeps moving.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xiquinho Salazar dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Rice takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Salazar digs a good hook to Rice's body.
Rice has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Salazar.
Salazar lands a right hook to the body.
Rice tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rice shoots in looking for a takedown but Salazar manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Rice's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rice throws a head kick that misses.
Salazar tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Rice tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salazar misses with a wild body shot.

Rice throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Salazar tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Rice is in Salazar's guard.
Salazar is looking to stand up but Rice isn't so interested in that idea.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rice advances to half guard.
Rice missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Rice tries to stand but can't do so whilst Salazar controls his leg.
Rice wants to take a breather but Salazar is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rice looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Rice swings away with a leg kick that misses.
A head kick misses from Rice.
Salazar lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Rice changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Salazar tries to avoid it but Rice manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Salazar to the ground. Salazar escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Rice fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Salazar avoids it really well and circles away.
Xiquinho Salazar has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Connor Rice.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salazar gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Salazar has Rice pressed against the cage, preventing Rice from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Rice wants to stall.
Rice blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rice on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Salazar landing knees to the body.
Rice can't find room to land a body shot as Salazar controls the action.
Rice is trying to drag Salazar to the mat but Salazar just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rice jumps guard but Salazar stands there with Rice around his waist. Rice gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Salazar is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Salazar lands with a light punch inside.
Xiquinho Salazar has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Salazar stalling against the cage.
Rice taking a breather.
Salazar landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Salazar looking to throw knees to the head but Rice is blocking nicely.
Rice tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Salazar tries to land knees in the clinch but Rice avoids the damage to the body.
A bit of stalling here from Salazar.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xiquinho Salazar showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Salazar 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 29:28
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 29:28
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xiquinho Salazar!
An out of breath Xiquinho Salazar thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.