PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Waylon Barrera (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joel Saarinen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Barrera
vs
Saarinen

179 cm
21
278 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

189 cm
25
235 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Intelligent

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 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Waylon Barrera!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Joel Saarinen!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Reed Andrews and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saarinen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Barrera swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Barrera looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Saarinen is fending him off so far but Barrera persists. Nope, Saarinen circles away and we're back to standing.

Barrera closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Barrera is stalling here. Saarinen is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Barrera seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Saarinen has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
You can see the frustration on Barrera's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Barrera is trying to get back to half guard.
Barrera is not content to let Saarinen control the position.
Barrera knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Saarinen on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barrera looking for a sweep but Saarinen has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Barrera could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Saarinen wants to control the pace but Barrera is squirming around nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barrera can't escape the position.

Saarinen is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Barrera can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Barrera manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Barrera is defending against the submission attempts here by Saarinen.

Saarinen is working for a submission of some sort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Saarinen is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Saarinen is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Saarinen is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Barrera has managed to free his arm - good work.
Barrera tries to roll over but Saarinen keeps him under control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barrera slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barrera looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Barrera avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Saarinen drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Saarinen jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Saarinen is standing up over Barrera. Barrera looks to escape but Saarinen dives into side control.
Barrera is not content to let Saarinen control the position.
Saarinen prevents Barrera from escaping the position.

Saarinen is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Barrera has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Saarinen is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Barrera has escaped the position, nice work there.
Saarinen looks winded!
Barrera is trying to control Saarinen's posture but Saarinen avoids it.
Saarinen postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Barrera tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Saarinen wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joel Saarinen 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.

Saarinen closes this distance looking for a takedown but Barrera circles away.
Saarinen tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Barrera swivels and escapes.
Waylon Barrera is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Barrera misses with a takedown attempt - Saarinen sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Barrera will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barrera keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Waylon Barrera has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joel Saarinen.

Barrera scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Joel Saarinen has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saarinen is not content to let Barrera control the position.
Saarinen is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Barrera's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Saarinen wants to improve his position but Barrera is controlling well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Barrera is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Saarinen looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Barrera pushes past his half guard into mount!
Saarinen really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Saarinen is breathing heavily.
Barrera avoids the attempt from Saarinen to control.
Saarinen is in all sorts of trouble here.
Barrera controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saarinen can't escape the position.
Saarinen tries to hold on but Barrera pushes him away.
Barrera with good strikes from the mount here!
Barrera controlling the position easily from mount.
Barrera wants to control the pace but Saarinen is squirming around nicely.
Saarinen wants to control but Barrera is having none of it.
Barrera scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Saarinen?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saarinen working to try and regain half guard.

Barrera working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Saarinen is desperately trying to improve his position but Barrera has a good base and remains in mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Barrera is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Saarinen to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Saarinen shrugs it off.
Barrera avoids the attempt from Saarinen to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Waylon Barrera dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Barrera has managed to clinch.
Saarinen has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Barrera avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Saarinen tries to work over Barrera's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Saarinen wants to take the fight to the mat but Barrera manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

Saarinen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Barrera misses with a takedown
and Saarinen counters with a series of strikes. Barrera will be more careful next time no doubt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Saarinen shoots in and gets a takedown into Barrera's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saarinen missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Saarinen looking to pass the guard.
Saarinen takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Barrera looking to hit a scissor sweep but Saarinen is one step ahead there.

Barrera has his foot on Saarinen's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Saarinen works his way back into a safe position though.
Barrera trying to keep a closed guard but Saarinen is proving a slippery customer.
Saarinen trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Saarinen trying to control the position from guard on top but Barrera is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Saarinen is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Barrera closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Saarinen quickly recovers to half guard.

Saarinen looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Barrera wants to work for an arm triangle but Saarinen is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Barrera prevents Saarinen from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Barrera is looking to stall here but Saarinen recovers full guard.

Saarinen isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Barrera stacks Saarinen on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Barrera!
Saarinen struggling a bit here.
Saarinen tries to buck Barrera off but Barrera is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Saarinen throwing some weak shots from the bottom that do no damage.
Saarinen looks to move to half guard but instead Barrera has passed into mount! Damn!
Saarinen is trying to escape the mount.
Saarinen throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Saarinen is trying to reverse the position but instead Barrera has taken his back - oops!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
A bit of a pause in the action here. Barrera controlling the positon.

Barrera working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Waylon Barrera.
I think Barrera 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 29:28
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 29:28
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Waylon Barrera!