PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Tim Morello (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juan Gabaldon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Morello's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on parade. Juan Gabaldon told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Morello
vs
Gabaldon

186 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
30
182 lbs
7 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Tim Morello!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Juan Gabaldon!
The judges for this bout are , Don Winkell and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morello scores with a hook.

It looks like Juan Gabaldon has been cut.
Morello misses with a two punch combination.
Morello takes a swing at Gabaldon's ribcage but misses.
Gabaldon goes for a double leg but Morello avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Morello continues to drive forward.
Gabaldon takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
No joy there for Morello, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Horrible takedown attempt by Gabaldon or perhaps it was just good defense by Morello, which made it look bad.
Morello ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gabaldon moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morello stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Morello wants it to stay on the feet.
Tim Morello has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Juan Gabaldon.
Gabaldon shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Morello rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Gabaldon counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Gabaldon.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gabaldon trying to control but Morello is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabaldon controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Morello knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gabaldon on the ground.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gabaldon accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gabaldon stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morello swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gabaldon passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gabaldon throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Gabaldon takes a little break here. Morello wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Gabaldon's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morello is not content to let Gabaldon control the position.
Morello wants to control but Gabaldon postures up.
Gabaldon advances to mount.
Morello holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Gabaldon tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

Gabaldon is working for a guillotine from mount but Morello frees his head quite easily.
Gabaldon thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gabaldon tries to control but Morello wriggling away.
Gabaldon takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
A nice elbow there by Gabaldon.
Gabaldon throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morello is trying to stand up.
Gabaldon lands a big shot there that rocks Morello but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

Morello is rocked!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juan Gabaldon dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Juan Gabaldon's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Morello lands a nice shot to the body.
Gabaldon tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Morello defends well and Gabaldon ends up having to push Morello into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Gabaldon misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Morello scores with a jab to the head.
Morello scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Gabaldon shoots in but no luck this time.
Morello lands with a hook. Gabaldon tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Morello looks to land a combination but Gabaldon avoids it well.
Morello is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
No luck for Gabaldon with that takedown attempt.
Tim Morello has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Juan Gabaldon.
Nice takedown defense from Morello. No joy for Gabaldon on that attempt.
Tim Morello is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabaldon closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Gabaldon keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Morello.
Morello throws a poor cross that misses

and Gabaldon counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Gabaldon in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gabaldon trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Morello looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Gabaldon wants to pass the guard but Morello is keeping the position.
Morello wants to get back to his feet but Gabaldon is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Gabaldon has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Morello utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gabaldon in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Gabaldon fails with the takedown.
It looked like Morello was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Gabaldon.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Gabaldon is defended easily by Morello.
Morello misses the shot to the body.
Morello looks to score with a jab to the body but Gabaldon is just out of range.
Morello is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Morello misses with a hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morello scores with a sloppy right hand. Gabaldon should have avoided that one.
Morello misses with a looping right.
Morello throws a hook but Gabaldon avoids it easily.
Morello moves into range and connects with a jab.
Gabaldon shoots in but Morello avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Gabaldon is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Morello's half guard.
Gabaldon trying to control from half guard but Morello is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gabaldon might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Morello haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Morello keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gabaldon is trying to control. Morello wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Morello won't allow Gabaldon to pass to mount.
Morello wants to control but Gabaldon is keeping busy and won't allow it.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Gabaldon is controlling the pace.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gabaldon looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tim Morello dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Juan Gabaldon's cut.
That's time! 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.

Morello misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Gabaldon.
A jab from Morello finds it's way through Gabaldon's defenses.
Tim Morello is winning the standup battle so far.
Gabaldon takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Tim Morello seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gabaldon fails in his attempt to clinch.

Gabaldon shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Juan Gabaldon has got the better of the ground game so far.
Morello avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gabaldon.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gabaldon missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Gabaldon controlling the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabaldon is trying to control the action in half guard but Morello is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Gabaldon looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Gabaldon takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Gabaldon is trying to control. Morello wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Horrible takedown attempt by Gabaldon or perhaps it was just good defense by Morello, which made it look bad.
A slow jab from Morello misses its intended target.

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.
Gabaldon shoots for a takedown but Morello saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Gabaldon doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Morello falls off balance throwing a combination

and Gabaldon counters with a single leg into guard. Morello didn't expect that.
Gabaldon wants to control from the top but Morello keeps moving.
Morello on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Morello tries to get out of the position.
Gabaldon is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Morello will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Morello keeping full guard, as Gabaldon tries to pass.
Gabaldon slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gabaldon sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Morello's guard.
Gabaldon sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Morello defending well though.
Gabaldon works his foot free and advances to mount.
Gabaldon looking to control and managing it successfully.
Poor strikes thrown by Gabaldon there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gabaldon looking to finish with strikes here!
Gabaldon controlling from the full mount.
Gabaldon fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morello in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gabaldon unloads with some shots from mount but Morello bucks and avoids them well.
Gabaldon sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

And that's the end of the fight!
Juan Gabaldon comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Gabaldon 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Juan Gabaldon!
Juan Gabaldon looked relieved post fight as he said the following; 'Thank you guys, I'm more capable on what I have performed tonight. Is that a fight of the night?'.