PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Daniel Valdez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hydro Sumo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Valdez
vs
Sumo

186 cm
23
155 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

172 cm
25
163 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Daniel Valdez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Hydro Sumo!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Sosuke Kotani and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sumo fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Valdez has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Valdez fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Sumo throws a sloppy head kick and Valdez moves out of range easily.
Sumo lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.

Valdez looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Valdez not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Valdez advances to half guard.
Valdez works his foot free and advances to mount.
Sumo is working to get back to half guard.
Valdez controlling from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Valdez tries to control but Sumo wriggling away.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Sumo is looking to get to half guard.
Sumo wants to hold on but Valdez pushes him away.
Valdez looking to control but Sumo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Valdez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

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.
Sumo tries to hold on but Valdez postures up.
Valdez really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Sumo working to try and regain half guard.
Valdez controlling the position easily from mount.
Sumo is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valdez mounts Sumo! Really nice guard pass there!
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Valdez pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Valdez tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Valdez trying to control but Sumo is having none of it.
Sumo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four 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.
Valdez controlling his opponent.
Valdez will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Valdez tries to control but Sumo wriggling away.
We've been hearing that Valdez has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.

Valdez working for a submission but Sumo is keeping him at bay.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Valdez controlling from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sumo throws a head kick that misses.
Sumo throws a sloppy head kick and Valdez moves out of range easily.
Sumo lands a head kick. Valdez smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Valdez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
As Valdez backs off Sumo throws a huge counter combo but Valdez manages to avoid it all.
Valdez steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Sumo. That one must have hurt.
Valdez shoots in and drives through. Sumo sprawls well.
Valdez shoots in for a takedown but Sumo shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Daniel Valdez. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Valdez gets the takedown into side control.
Sumo is not content to let Valdez control the position.
Sumo tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Valdez wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Valdez wants to control but Sumo is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Sumo's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sumo being controlled for a moment.
Valdez wants to control but Sumo is keeping him busy.
Sumo is trying to control Valdez's posture but Valdez avoids it.

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.
Valdez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sumo keeps working.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Valdez decides to stand back up. Valdez steps back and let's Sumo get back to his feet.
Daniel Valdez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Valdez shoots in for a double leg but Sumo sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Sumo throws a head kick but Valdez moves out of range.

Valdez shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Valdez showed some decent athleticism there.
Sumo is staying active underneath Valdez, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Valdez works his foot free and advances to mount.
Valdez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sumo can do to turn this around?

Valdez stands up from mount. Strange move.
Hydro Sumo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Valdez bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Valdez taking a breather here.
Daniel Valdez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Valdez has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Valdez trying to control the position but Sumo is working away.
Sumo tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sumo is letting Valdez control him for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Valdez is looking to take a break and control but Sumo is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sumo can't do much from the bottom here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Valdez is trying to get an arm triangle but Sumo is defending well.
You can see the frustration on Sumo's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daniel Valdez dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Valdez avoids the head kick by Sumo.
Valdez avoids the head kick by Sumo.
Valdez is trying hard to land a takedown here. Sumo sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Sumo tries to sprawl but Valdez drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Sumo pushes Valdez off looking to stand but Valdez dives back in and keeps control.
Sumo trying to control here.
Sumo is in trouble now - Valdez has advanced to mount!
Valdez tries to control but Sumo wriggling away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Valdez stands up from mount. Strange move.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valdez passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Valdez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sumo keeps working.
Sumo is trying to get back to his feet.
Valdez is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Sumo will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Valdez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sumo keeps working.
Sumo wants to control but Valdez postures up.
Valdez trying to control the action but Sumo is working from the bottom.

That's two 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.
Sumo is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Sumo is looking for a sweep.
Valdez trying to control the action but Sumo is working from the bottom.
Sumo is letting Valdez control him for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sumo is looking for a sweep.
Valdez trying to control the action but Sumo is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Sumo is the more experienced fighter here and he's going to need to draw on some of that experience if he's going to pull this one out the bag.
Sumo delivers a nice body kick.
Sumo with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Sumo throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Sumo throws a head kick that Valdez semi-blocks.

Valdez closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Sumo to the mat! Sumo manages to get full guard.
Valdez stays in close to Sumo's body and controls the position.
Sumo wants to stand but Valdez is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Valdez works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Valdez is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Sumo wants to control but Valdez is keeping busy and won't allow it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sumo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Valdez tries to pass to full mount but Sumo defends it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Daniel Valdez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Valdez, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight for Daniel Valdez!
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for Daniel Valdez!
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight for Daniel Valdez!

Daniel Valdez wins by unanimous decision!