PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Rastum Hendo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matos Yury (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Matos Yury is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Hendo
vs
Yury

180 cm
23
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
20
155 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rastum Hendo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matos Yury!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Alexandre Firmino and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yury misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Hendo seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Yury.
Hendo moves out of range of the body kick from Yury.
Matos Yury seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Yury throws a lazy head kick

and Hendo decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Yury's guard.
Yury keeping moving, preventing Hendo from controlling successfully.
Hendo is really struggling to control Yury but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Hendo stays in close to Yury's body and controls the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hendo trying to move into half guard but instead Yury has managed to sweep!

Hendo is controlling Yury's posture.
Yury must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yury wants to get up but he can't break Hendo's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Hendo trying to control the position here.
Hendo wants to stand up but Yury is controlling him.
Hendo is pulling down on Yury's head to control his posture.

Hendo escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Yury gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Hendo is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Yury defends well.
Hendo working a defensive guard here.

Hendo has his foot on Yury's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Yury works his way back into a safe position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hendo is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Hendo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Yury has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Soul Supremacy Rio. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Hendo is trying to keep Yury in close.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Hendo avoids the head kick by Yury.
Yury thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Hendo if he has to take too many more of those.
Yury looks to land a combination but Hendo avoids it well.
Hendo avoids the head kick by Yury.
Yury lands a high kick!

Hendo is rocked!

It looks like Rastum Hendo has been cut.
Horrible takedown attempt by Hendo or perhaps it was just good defense by Yury, which made it look bad.
No joy there for Yury, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yury throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Yury misses with a head kick.
Hendo tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Yury manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Yury is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.

Hendo feints and as Yury raises his hands in defense, Hendo changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hendo is breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hendo passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hendo remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

Hendo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Hendo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Matos Yury will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Rastum Hendo's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Yury throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Yury misses with an attempted mid kick.
As Yury looks to move away, Hendo throws a big counter combo bu Yury just gets out of the way.
Rastum Hendo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hendo will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hendo shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Yury as he jumps to the side.

Hendo clinches with his opponent.
Yury is trying to force a seperation but Hendo has the dominant position.
Hendo lands a nice elbow.
Yury is trying to push Hendo away but Hendo has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Hendo blocks an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yury is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Yury is defending well against a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rastum Hendo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Hendo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Yury throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Yury circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hendo takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
A combination from Yury does no damage.
Hendo seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Yury throws a head kick that misses.
Yury connects with a high kick.
Yury lands with a slapping head kick.
Oh Hendo is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Yury is breathing heavily.
Yury throws a lazy head kick
and Hendo counters with a stiff right hand.
Yury has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Hendo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hendo seems to have got his legs back now.
Yury being controlled here, momentarily.
Hendo throwing strikes from guard but Yury blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hendo stays in close to Yury's body and controls the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hendo slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yury is not content to let Hendo control the position.
Yury parries the strikes from Hendo easily there. Hendo is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Yury to escape.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Yury throws a sloppy head kick and Hendo moves out of range easily.
Hendo throwing a counter right hand but Yury manages to avoid it.
Yury goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Hendo blocks a head kick by Yury.
Hendo has a takedown stuffed.
A combination from Yury does no damage.
Hendo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Yury pinned against the cage. Yury gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Hendo forces Yury back against the cage and clinches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Yury wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Hendo lands a takedown into guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Matos Yury will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Rastum Hendo's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Yury tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Hendo throws a counter high kick but Yury was just alert enough to avoid it.

Hendo scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Hendo wants to control but Yury is keeping him busy.
Hendo seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hendo seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Yury does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Hendo shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Yury napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hendo happy to just control the position for now.
Hendo's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hendo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Yury is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Yury is not content to let Hendo control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yury is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Hendo is controlling him well.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Hendo misses with a wild combination.
Yury is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Hendo dives in and grabs Yury's left leg, looking for a takedown. Yury pushes down on Hendo's head and hops out.

Yury lands a big head kick that sends Hendo tumbling to the mat! Yury takes a step backwards and waves Hendo back to his feet - he wants the finish!
Yury misses with a few strikes there.
Yury misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Rastum Hendo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hendo throws a nice head kick!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Yury throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Hendo's head.
Yury pulls out of a head kick attempt.
As Yury tries to get set, Hendo tries to push him back and clinch up but Yury manages to avoid the attempt.
Yury misses with a head kick.
Hendo moves out of range of the body kick from Yury.
Hendo throws a big counter combination but Yury scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Hendo feints and as Yury raises his hands in defense, Hendo changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hendo is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Rastum Hendo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hendo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

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 Rastum Hendo.
I think Yury 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 28:29
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Matos Yury!