PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Fabricio Valakas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yong Wright (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Valakas comes to the cage accompanied by Coolio - Gangster's Paradise. Wright is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Emancipator - Soon It Will Be Cold Enough To Build Fires. Fabricio Valakas could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Yong Wright's chin.

Valakas
vs
Wright

160 cm
22
155 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

165 cm
29
164 lbs
11 - 1 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
KO power

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

Arcticus University: London

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 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Fabricio Valakas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yong Wright!
The judges for this bout are Josh West, Micheangelo Fripello and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Valakas misses with a left hand

and Wright counters by clinching up.
A nice right hand lands inside from Valakas.
Valakas tries a body shot but Wright blocks it.
Wright misses with a hook from the clinch.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Valakas.
Valakas lands a nice shot to the body.
Valakas has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Wright holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Wright has Valakas pressed against the cage, preventing Valakas from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A nice right hand lands inside from Valakas.
Valakas misses with the head strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Valakas is looking to control Wright's arms but Wright gets an underhook and turns him. Now Valakas has his back to the cage.
Valakas lands a nice uppercut.
Valakas's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!

Valakas manages to break the clinch.
Wright ducks under a wild hook from Valakas.
Valakas swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Valakas.
Valakas dives in and grabs Wright's left leg, looking for a takedown. Wright pushes down on Valakas's head and hops out.

Wright instigates a clinch.
Wright blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Wright fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Valakas throws a punch but it's blocked by Wright.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Valakas is trying to force a seperation but Wright has the dominant position.
Wright blocks an uppercut.
Valakas is working Wright over against the cage.
Valakas tries to throw a body punch but Wright avoids it by throwing Valakas back against the cage.
Valakas misses with some punches.
Valakas swings wildly with an uppercut but Wright uses good head movement to avoid it.
Valakas misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Valakas lands a body punch in the clinch.
Valakas wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Wright.
Wright is stalling here.
Valakas can't find room to land a body shot as Wright controls the action.
A bit of stalling here from Wright.
Wright tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Valakas is trying to break the clinch but Wright has him pressed against the cage.
Valakas is trying to push Wright away but Wright has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Valakas blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Valakas blocks an uppercut.
Valakas tries to circle away but Wright has him pinned against the cage.
Wright misses with a punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valakas wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Wright has him pressed against the cage.
Valakas is trying to push Wright away but Wright has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Wright stalling in the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Wright - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Valakas wants to get back to striking at distance but Wright won't allow it.
Wright lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Valakas lands a right hand that snaps the head of Wright backwards.
Valakas tries a body shot but Wright blocks it.
Valakas lands a hook that snaps the head of Wright backwards.
Valakas looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Valakas misses with a punch on the inside.
Wright is looking to control Valakas's arms but Valakas gets an underhook and turns him. Now Wright has his back to the cage.
Valakas tries to work over Wright's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Valakas lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Valakas blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nice body punch from Valakas - that landed with a thud.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Wright.
Valakas scores with a shot to the side of Wright's head.
Wright working aggressively here.
Valakas working aggressively here.
Valakas is trying to push Wright away but Wright has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
The referee calls for Wright to work.

Valakas's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Valakas has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Valakas there as he acknowledges the shot.
Valakas just misses with a punch to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Wright pushes Valakas up against the cage in a clinch.
Valakas misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Valakas blocking some punches.
Wright lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Fabricio Valakas will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Valakas throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Wright avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Valakas shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Wright sprawls well. Wright wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Valakas gets slowly back to his feet.
Wright changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Valakas moves away from the strike by Wright.

Wright gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Valakas is trying to push Wright away but Wright has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Fabricio Valakas has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Valakas tries to break the clinch but Wright is controlling the position.
Wright stalling the fight.
Wright blocks an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Valakas misses with a punch on the inside.
Valakas blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Valakas lands a left hand that snaps the head of Wright backwards.
Wright content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Wright is stalling here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Valakas cracks Wright with a nice body shot.
Valakas wants to get back to striking at distance but Wright won't allow it.
Wright slows down the pace here.
Valakas fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Valakas wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Wright has him pressed against the cage.
Wright misses with the head strike.
Wright blocks a body shot from Valakas.
Valakas blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Wright lands a left hand that snaps the head of Valakas backwards.
Valakas has had enough of the clinch but Wright keeps him there for the moment.

Valakas breaks from the clinch.
Valakas throws a hook but Wright avoids it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Wright closes the distance and clinches.
Wright misses with a short punch on the inside.
Valakas tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Valakas tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Valakas swings wildly with an uppercut but Wright uses good head movement to avoid it.
Wright blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Wright throws a head punch that misses.
Wright misses with some punches.
Valakas blocking some punches.
Valakas misses with some punches.
Wright takes a shot to the head.
Valakas can't break the clinch.
Valakas misses with a punch on the inside.
Wright blocks a body shot from Valakas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valakas misses with a body punch.
Wright has a couple of punches blocked by Valakas.
A head punch on the inside from Valakas fails to land.
Nice body punch from Valakas.
Valakas tries to break free but Wright pushes him back against the cage.
Wright blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Valakas lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Wright or not.
Valakas misses with a body punch.
Valakas is looking to break free of the clinch but Wright has double underhooks.
Valakas tries to break the clinch but Wright is controlling the position.
Valakas taking a breather.
Wright scores with a shoulder strike.
Wright lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Valakas taking a breather.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Valakas as Wright tries to tie him up.
Valakas tries to work over Wright's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Valakas lands a hook to the side of the head.
Wright misses with a short punch on the inside.
Valakas lands a right hand that snaps the head of Wright backwards.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Wright.
Wright misses with the head strike.
Wright leaning his opponent against the cage.
Valakas has a couple of punches blocked by Wright.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Wright misses with the head strike.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Valakas.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Valakas blocking some punches.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Wright.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Yong Wright will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Valakas connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Valakas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Wright counters with a takedown into side control.

Wright tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Wright has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Valakas tries to improve position but can't.
Valakas is working hard here to advance position.
Wright advances to full mount.
Valakas is looking to get to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wright looking to control but Valakas is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Valakas is trying to escape the mount.
Wright avoids the attempt from Valakas to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright takes Valakas's back. Could be looking for a rear naked choke here - either way, Valakas is in trouble.

Wright is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Valakas has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Valakas tries to roll but Wright sticks to his back.
Wright is trying to stick to Valakas's back but Valakas is turning into Wright. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Wright's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Valakas.
Wright wants to sweep but no luck.

Wright looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Wright controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wright is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Wright is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Wright is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Wright has momentary wrist control but Valakas slips an elbow through the middle.
Wright keeping moving, preventing Valakas from controlling successfully.
Wright preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Valakas lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Valakas stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Wright swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Valakas is looking to work some ground and pound but Wright has wrist control.
Wright avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valakas makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Valakas looking to pass the guard.
Wright pulls Valakas in to control the position.
Wright trying to control the position.
Wright wants to sweep but no luck.
Wright is trying to control the position from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Valakas misses with the combination.
Valakas throws a lazy uppercut
and Wright counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Valakas throws a big shot that misses.

Wright manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Valakas on his heels. He'll look to pass Valakas's guard now, I'm sure.
Wright advances position into side control!

Wright tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Wright has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Valakas is looking to regain half guard here but Wright keeps moving and retains side control.
Wright is looking to take a break and control but Valakas is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Wright tries for a kimura but Valakas is defending well.
Valakas is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yong Wright comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Wright 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 Josh West scores the fight 29:28
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 28:30
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a draw!