PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Bradley Cardenas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paulo Queiroz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Cardenas
vs
Queiroz

191 cm
24
193 lbs
1 - 6 - 0

183 cm
22
185 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Bradley Cardenas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Paulo Queiroz!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Emerson Jorge and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Queiroz dives in and scores a takedown into Cardenas's guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Cardenas holds on and takes a little breather.
Queiroz sitting in guard here, content to control.

Cardenas had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Queiroz defends it easily.
Queiroz postures up.
Cardenas keeping moving, preventing Queiroz from controlling successfully.
Queiroz throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Queiroz controls from within his opponent's guard.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Queiroz has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Cardenas is proving hard to escape from.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cardenas is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Cardenas tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Queiroz paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Queiroz shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Queiroz was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Queiroz wants to control but Cardenas is keeping him busy.
Cardenas can't do much from the bottom here.
Queiroz throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Cardenas wants to control but Queiroz postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Queiroz fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Cardenas is looking for a sweep.
Cardenas wants to control but Queiroz postures up.
Queiroz has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Queiroz is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Cardenas is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Queiroz advances to full mount.
Cardenas regains half guard.
Queiroz tries to pass the half guard into mount. Cardenas knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Queiroz is keen to just control but Cardenas is a slippery customer.
It looks like Queiroz is going to stand back up.
Queiroz wants to free his trapped foot but Cardenas is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Cardenas gets back to full guard.
Queiroz in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Queiroz trying to control the position from guard on top but Cardenas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Queiroz closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cardenas did well to prevent Queiroz getting side control.
Cardenas has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Queiroz is working away from the top position though.
Queiroz is keen to just control but Cardenas is a slippery customer.
Cardenas is looking to control Queiroz's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Cardenas avoid being mounted?

Queiroz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cardenas sees it coming and defends easily.
Cardenas keeping hold of Queiroz's head, controlling as best he can.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cardenas has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Queiroz is working away from the top position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Queiroz moves into the clinch.

Queiroz pulls guard effortlessly.
Queiroz doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Queiroz is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Cardenas works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Cardenas content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Queiroz gets full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Queiroz keeping moving, preventing Cardenas from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cardenas being controlled here momentarily.
Cardenas content to stall in guard here.
Cardenas wants to control from the top but Queiroz keeps moving.
Cardenas sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Paulo Queiroz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Cardenas closes the distance and pushes Queiroz back into the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Cardenas effectively controlling the action here.
Cardenas trying to stall but Queiroz improves his position.

Queiroz breaks from the clinch.
Queiroz throws a left and a right that both miss

and Cardenas counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Cardenas content to slow the pace in the clinch.

Queiroz lands a takedown into guard.
Queiroz would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Cardenas not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Cardenas throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Cardenas controls Queiroz momentarily but Queiroz frees himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cardenas looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cardenas has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Queiroz postures up in Cardenas's guard and throws a big left but Cardenas blocks it.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Queiroz wants to stand but Cardenas is controlling his posture from full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Queiroz throws a leg kick
and Cardenas counters with a nice body kick.
Queiroz throws a sloppy head kick and Cardenas moves out of range easily.
Queiroz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Cardenas fails in his attempt to clinch.
Queiroz punishes Cardenas's body with a nice straight punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Queiroz throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Bradley Cardenas is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Cardenas closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Queiroz quickly recovers to half guard.
Queiroz is trying to stand up here but Cardenas is controlling him well.
Queiroz is breathing heavily.
Cardenas winds up and cracks Queiroz with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Cardenas seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Queiroz does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Cardenas seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

Cardenas stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Queiroz to get to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Queiroz dodges the punch combination from Cardenas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Bradley Cardenas will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Cardenas is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Cardenas tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Queiroz manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Queiroz connects with an inside leg kick.
Cardenas ducks right into an uppercut from Queiroz.

Cardenas tries to sprawl but Queiroz drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Cardenas keeping hold of Queiroz's head, controlling as best he can.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Queiroz wants to take a breather but Cardenas is having none of it.
Cardenas is trying to maintain the position but Queiroz is very close to passing his half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cardenas actively working from the bottom here.
Cardenas wants to control but Queiroz is keeping busy.
Cardenas tries to get to full guard but Queiroz has control of the leg.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Queiroz passes to full mount!
Cardenas tries to hold on but Queiroz postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Queiroz thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Cardenas wants to hold on but Queiroz pushes him away.
Queiroz content just to control the position here.
Cardenas tries to hold on but Queiroz pushes him away.
Cardenas tries to reverse the position but Queiroz maintains control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Queiroz controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Queiroz trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cardenas bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Cardenas has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Cardenas controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Cardenas avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Queiroz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Cardenas controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardenas wants to stand but Queiroz is controlling his posture from full guard.
Queiroz bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cardenas's guard.

Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cardenas keeping moving, preventing Queiroz from controlling successfully.
Cardenas is controlling Queiroz's posture.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paulo Queiroz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Queiroz has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 28:29
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 28:29
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paulo Queiroz!