PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Efriam Haldi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jonatan Jose (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Haldi
vs
Jose

167 cm
32
144 lbs
17 - 13 - 0

160 cm
29
145 lbs
12 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Good gas tank

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

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 17 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Efriam Haldi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jonatan Jose!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Haldi shoots in but Jose avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Jose wants to land a leg kick but Haldi is out of range.
Jose fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Haldi manages to avoid it.

Jose scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Haldi is in a tricky position. We've heard reports from his gym mates at Rape Academy that he's been drilling escapes, so let's see if he can get back to his feet.
Haldi manages to get to full guard.
Jose postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Haldi trying to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jose lands a couple of digs.
Haldi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Jose controlling from the top position.
Jose throwing strikes from guard but Haldi blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Haldi not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Jose content to stall in guard here.
Haldi is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Jose lands a couple of elbows.
Jose stands up over Haldi, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Jose trying to control but Haldi is working from the bottom.
Jose throws a big right hand that misses.

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.
Jose with a flurry of punches that miss.
Jose trying to control the position from guard on top but Haldi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Jose chips away with some ground and pound.
Jose wants to control from the top but Haldi keeps moving.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Haldi looking for a sweep. Not yet Haldi, not yet.
Jose trying to control the position from guard on top but Haldi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Haldi checks a leg kick.
Nice sprawl there from Jose as Haldi shoots in.
Haldi is breathing heavily.
Jose blocks a head kick by Haldi.
Jose throws a leg kick but Haldi checks it.
Efriam Haldi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Jose gets caught flat footed, as Haldi shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Jose escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Haldi gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Jose is trying to control the position but Haldi postures up.

Jose looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Haldi passes into side control.
Haldi working away.
Haldi wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jose keeps working.

Haldi tries for a kimura but Jose is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Jose is looking to regain half guard here but Haldi keeps moving and retains side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Haldi looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Haldi working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jonatan Jose dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Jose tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Haldi defends well and Jose ends up having to push Haldi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Jose drives through with a takedown into Haldi's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Jose with a nice head shot there.
Jose throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Jose postures up in Haldi's guard and throws a big left but Haldi blocks it.
Jose looking to sit in guard and control but Haldi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Jose keeping moving, preventing Haldi from controlling successfully.
Jose is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Jose is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Haldi defends well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jose manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Haldi manages to get himself to full guard.

Jose postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Haldi looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Jose has picked Haldi up and slammed him! Haldi can't keep hold of the triangle and Jose manages to pass to side control!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Jose works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Haldi manages to work his way to half guard, despite Jose's best efforts.
Haldi tries to roll over but Jose keeps him under control.
Jose lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Jose in particular looking to stall.
Jose not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Jose thows a huge punch but Haldi dodges it nicely.
Haldi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Jose.
Jose with the ground and pound but Haldi uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Jose trying to control but Haldi is working from the bottom.
Haldi trying to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jose works over Haldi with some ground and pound from guard.
Jose scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Jose scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Jose wants to control from the top but Haldi keeps moving.
Jose scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Jose wants to control from the top but Haldi keeps moving.
Jose scoring with punches to the head and body.
Jose is looking to work some ground and pound but Haldi has wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jose missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Jose cracks Haldi with a solid left hand.
Jose trying to control but Haldi is working from the bottom.
Jose has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Haldi working a defensive guard here.
Jose is working Haldi over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Jose's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Jose passes into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Haldi has hold of Jose's hands but Jose slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Jose is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Jose throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jonatan Jose showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Haldi looking to land some kicks to the body here.

Jose gets the takedown into side control.
Haldi tries to buck Jose off but Jose is having none of it.
Jonatan Jose has got the better of the ground game so far.
Haldi takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Jose lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Jose landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Jose misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Haldi manages to work his way to half guard, despite Jose's best efforts.
Haldi wants to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jose lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Jose is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Haldi doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Jose.
Jose looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Jose is looking for a kimura but Haldi is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Jose to get the leverage.
Jose controlling the action here.
Jose is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Haldi tries to roll over but Jose keeps him under control.
Haldi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Jose wants to work for an arm triangle but Haldi is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

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.
Jose takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Jose landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Jose is trying to control the action in half guard but Haldi is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Jose throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Jose winds up and cracks Haldi with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Haldi is looking to improve his position.
Jose lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Jose wants to take a breather but Haldi is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jose looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Haldi with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Jose is keen to just control but Haldi is a slippery customer.
Jose not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Jose missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Haldi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Jose.
Jose working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Jonatan Jose is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Haldi is refusing to be controlled, as Jose sits in half guard.

Haldi actively working from the bottom here.
Jose trying to control the pace.

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

Jose fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Haldi sprawls well initially but Jose persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Jose there.
Jose takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Jose wants to pass the guard but Haldi is defending well.
Jose thows a huge punch but Haldi dodges it nicely.
Jose is pressing down on Haldi's thigh, looking to free his foot. Haldi is holding on for now.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Efriam Haldi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jose working the head and body with strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jonatan Jose comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Jose has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 26:30
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jonatan Jose!
Our winner, Jonatan Jose, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.