PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sung Valenzuela (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Blanco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Valenzuela
vs
Blanco

211 cm
25
178 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

190 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sung Valenzuela!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Blanco!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Felipe Paraventi and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Valenzuela looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Blanco is looking for a sweep. Valenzuela is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Blanco is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Blanco is trying to stand back up but Valenzuela is controlling him
Blanco is looking to control Valenzuela's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Blanco avoid being mounted?
Blanco trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Valenzuela manages to pass to mount!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blanco keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Valenzuela landing strikes, looking to finish!
Valenzuela really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valenzuela avoids the attempt from Blanco to control.
Blanco keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Valenzuela takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Valenzuela putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

Valenzuela is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Blanco can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Valenzuela content just to control the position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Valenzuela lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Blanco hang on?
Valenzuela 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.
Valenzuela prevents Blanco from getting the reversal.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Blanco is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Blanco is working to get back to half guard.
Valenzuela sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanco tries to hold on but Valenzuela pushes him away.
Blanco is desperately trying to improve his position but Valenzuela has a good base and remains in mount.
Valenzuela wants to get back to his feet but Blanco is holding on tight.
Blanco takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Valenzuela scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Blanco?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanco wants to control but Valenzuela is having none of it.
Valenzuela controlling the pace for now.
Blanco is looking to improve his position but Valenzuela isn't that keen on the idea.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Valenzuela controlling from the full mount.
Blanco tries to reverse the position but Valenzuela maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sung Valenzuela dominated that round.
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.

Valenzuela throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Valenzuela tries to sprawl but Blanco drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Sung Valenzuela overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Valenzuela is controlling Blanco's trapped leg to prevent Blanco from advancing to side control.
Blanco is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Blanco is keen to just control but Valenzuela is a slippery customer.
Valenzuela is trying to maintain the position but Blanco is very close to passing his half guard.
Blanco is looking to take a break and control but Valenzuela is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Blanco is taking a breather. Valenzuela says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valenzuela keeping control of the position.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Blanco is trying to control the action in half guard but Valenzuela is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Blanco fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Valenzuela sprawls well initially but Blanco persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Valenzuela is looking to improve his position.

Valenzuela actively working from the bottom here.
Blanco tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Valenzuela.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blanco wants to pass to mount but Valenzuela is defending the position.
Valenzuela makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Valenzuela.
Blanco postures up.
Blanco throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Valenzuela will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Valenzuela is adopting a defensive guard.
Valenzuela is looking to stand up but Blanco isn't so interested in that idea.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Sung Valenzuela is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blanco throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Valenzuela misses with a takedown attempt

and Blanco holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Blanco managing to block the knees to the body from Valenzuela.
Blanco throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Valenzuela blocks it with crossed arms.
Valenzuela looking for a takedown.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Blanco.

It looks like Sung Valenzuela has been cut.
Valenzuela drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sung Valenzuela. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Blanco pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Valenzuela looks for a takedown but Blanco sprawls well.
And Blanco tries to counter it with a takedown but Valenzuela pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Blanco throws a head kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blanco tries to clinch but Valenzuela moves out of range.

Blanco gets a takedown into half guard.
Blanco trying to control the action but Valenzuela is working from the bottom.
Valenzuela is holding on to half guard well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Valenzuela is looking to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Blanco showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Sung Valenzuela's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Blanco darts in trying to clinch
and Valenzuela counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Valenzuela tries to close the distance and clinch but Blanco swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Valenzuela tries for a takedown but Blanco circles away easily
and Blanco counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Valenzuela misses with a few strikes there.

Blanco closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Blanco decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Blanco shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Valenzuela preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blanco trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Valenzuela manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Valenzuela won't allow Blanco to get back to his feet.
Valenzuela won't allow Blanco to sweep him here.
Blanco takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Valenzuela sitting in guard here, content to control.
Blanco seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Valenzuela looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Blanco drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valenzuela manages to work his way to half guard, despite Blanco's best efforts.
Valenzuela tries to get to full guard but Blanco has control of the leg.
Valenzuela keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The fighters are battling for position here. Valenzuela manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Valenzuela pulls Blanco in to control the position.

That's four 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.
Valenzuela continues to stall.
Valenzuela keeping full guard, as Blanco tries to pass.
Blanco is fighting to break Valenzuela's control of his arms but Valenzuela is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Blanco lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

Valenzuela scores with a takedown into Blanco's guard.

Blanco has his feet on Valenzuela's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jose Blanco comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Blanco 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jose Blanco!