PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between James Raban (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pedro Aristides Leopoldo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Leopoldo's choice of entrance music: Carmina Burana - Carl Orff. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Raban
vs
Aristides Leopoldo

200 cm
31
270 lbs
13 - 13 - 0

190 cm
28
280 lbs
14 - 10 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

V-Mask Clothing (10%)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 13 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, James Raban!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Pedro Aristides Leopoldo!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Albert Achterberg and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Leopoldo takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

It looks like Pedro Aristides Leopoldo has been cut.
Nice straight punches there by Raban. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Raban.
Raban throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Leopoldo.
Nice body kick from Raban.
Leopoldo moves out of range of the body kick.
Raban with a body punch. A glancing blow.
The crowd cheers as Raban lands an impressive looking overhand right. Leopoldo doesn't seem phased though.
Raban has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Sanitarium in the buildup to the fight.
Leopoldo throws the left hand but Raban avoids the punch easily.
Leopoldo blocks the body kick.
Leopoldo with the counter takedown but Raban avoids it easily.
Raban lands with a kick to the ribs.
Raban misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Raban takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Leopoldo looks to score with a jab to the body but Raban is just out of range.

Raban closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Leopoldo is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raban 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.
Raban is keen to just control but Leopoldo is a slippery customer.

Leopoldo is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Raban pulls his head out easily.
Nice strikes from Raban there.
Leopoldo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Raban is looking to advance position but Leopoldo won't allow it.

Leopoldo looking for submissions off his back.
Raban 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.

That has opened up Pedro Aristides Leopoldo's cut even more.
Leopoldo punching from the bottom.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Raban lands a nice short elbow.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Raban wants to work for an arm triangle but Leopoldo is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Raban lands with a punch from half guard.
Leopoldo is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Raban jumps into side control!
Raban has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Leopoldo is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Raban works to advance to full mount. Leopoldo defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Raban scoring with strikes but Leopoldo is staying in there.
Leopoldo is trying desperately to improve position.
Raban trying to control but Leopoldo is having none of it.
Leopoldo bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Leopoldo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leopoldo throwing strikes from guard but Raban blocks nicely.
Raban is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Raban is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Leopoldo defends well.
Leopoldo missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Leopoldo postures up.
Raban lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Leopoldo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Raban doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Raban manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Raban postures up and lands a big shot to Leopoldo's brow.
Leopoldo keeping moving, preventing Raban from controlling successfully.
Raban controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raban is pushing down on Leopoldo's leg trying to pass to half guard. Leopoldo is fighting to maintain full guard but Raban has managed to sneak the leg through.
Leopoldo wants to get back to full guard.

Raban is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Leopoldo tries to roll over but Raban keeps him under control.
Raban trying to control the action but Leopoldo is working from the bottom.
Leopoldo slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Leopoldo is on top in guard.

Raban wants to sweep but no luck.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Leopoldo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Raban dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Pedro Aristides Leopoldo'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.

A nice leg kick lands there from Raban.
Raban slips a jab and a cross from Leopoldo.
Raban attempts a counter takedown but Leopoldo avoids it well and moves away.
Raban looks to land a body kick but Leopoldo moved away.
Raban fails to land with a series of punches.
Leopoldo stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Raban throws a head kick but Leopoldo moves out of range.
Raban slips a jab from Leopoldo.
Raban is looking to counter punch.
Good work by Leopoldo as he checks the leg kick.
Leopoldo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Raban tries to avoid it but Leopoldo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Raban to the ground. Raban escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Raban quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Raban connects with a single shot there.
Leopoldo shoots in looking for a takedown but Raban manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Leopoldo's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Raban seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
A nice combination there by Raban.
Raban is looking to slow Leopoldo down with leg kicks.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Raban throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Leopoldo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leopoldo avoids a kick to the body.
Leopoldo with the counter takedown but Raban avoids it easily.
Raban is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Leopoldo can do to turn this around?
Leopoldo takes a swing at Raban's ribcage but misses.
Leopoldo dips to his left and cracks Raban with an uppercut!
Raban thuds his shin into the meat of Leopoldo's side.
Raban pushes Leopoldo away with a front kick.
Leopoldo fails to land with a series of punches.
As Leopoldo looks to move away, Raban throws a big counter combo bu Leopoldo just gets out of the way.
Raban throws a nice inside leg kick.
Leopoldo walks into a stiff left hand from Raban.
Raban throws a head kick that Leopoldo semi-blocks.
Raban throws out a powerful jab.
Raban lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Raban throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

The cut above Pedro Aristides Leopoldo's eye is starting to cause him problems now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Raban misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Leopoldo throws a hook but Raban blocks it.
Leopoldo lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Raban at a distance.

Raban looking to score a takedown here. Leopoldo is defending well but Raban drives through and ends up in Leopoldo's guard.

Raban got a little sloppy there for a moment and Leopoldo has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Raban has managed to get both his arms back between Leopoldo's legs - danger averted.
Raban trying to control the position from guard on top but Leopoldo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Leopoldo bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Raban's guard.

Raban looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Raban escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Leopoldo gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
James Raban overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Raban looking to control.
Leopoldo loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raban lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Raban is working Leopoldo over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Leopoldo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Raban scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Raban passes Leopoldo's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Raban controlling the action here.
Leopoldo gets full guard.
Raban pushes down on Leopoldo's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Raban seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Leopoldo does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leopoldo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Leopoldo is looking to get back to full guard here but Raban has managed to pass to side control instead.
Leopoldo tries to bench press Raban off him but Raban keeps the position.
Raban connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Leopoldo some visible discomfort.

Pedro Aristides Leopoldo's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Pedro Aristides Leopoldo's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:44 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). James Raban!
James Raban decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.