PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Yoel Romero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gerald Hendo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Romero
vs
Hendo

190 cm
24
195 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

188 cm
21
187 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yoel Romero!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Gerald Hendo!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hendo fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Romero, pushing him back against the cage.

Hendo pulls guard.
Hendo is pulling down on Romero's head. It's preventing any offense from Romero, at least for the moment.
Hendo keeping moving, preventing Romero from controlling successfully.
Romero throws a big right hand that misses.
Romero throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hendo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Romero throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hendo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hendo throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Romero postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Romero won't allow Hendo to get back to his feet.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Hendo bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Romero's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hendo controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
My spies in Bobby B's Gem inform me that Hendo has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Hendo has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Romero is proving hard to escape from.
Romero trying to control the position here.
Romero looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Romero manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hendo manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hendo wants to stand but Romero is controlling the position.
Romero stands up over Hendo, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Hendo keeping moving, preventing Romero from controlling successfully.
Romero throws an elbow that misses. Hendo uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Romero's guard. Nice move by Hendo!
Hendo trying to move into half guard but instead Romero has managed to sweep!
Romero trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Romero with a nice head shot there.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Hendo can do anything to dispel that myth.
Romero throwing strikes but missing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero looking to sit in guard and control but Hendo gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Romero looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Hendo is looking to stand up but Romero won't let him.
Hendo is stalling in the full guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hendo looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hendo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Hendo fails to land the takedown.
Hendo looks winded!
Hendo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Romero tries to avoid it but Hendo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Romero to the ground. Romero escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hendo fails with a takedown attempt.
Yoel Romero has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gerald Hendo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hendo finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Romero appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Romero shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Hendo has taken the fight to the clinch.
Hendo gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Romero.

Hendo manages to break the clinch.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Romero moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

Romero gets tackled into the cage by Hendo. Hendo maintains the clinch.
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 Yoel Romero will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Romero shoots in but no luck this time.
Hendo throws a combination that misses
and Romero counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Hendo fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Hendo shoots for a double leg takedown but Romero sprawls well. He's pushed Hendo's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Hendo takes the fight into the clinch.
Romero changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Hendo fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Romero tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Hendo paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Hendo is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Romero shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Hendo but Hendo pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yoel Romero. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Hendo instigates a clinch.
Hendo is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romero changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Hendo fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Hendo tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Romero shoots in for a double leg but Hendo sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Romero circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hendo tries a low kick but Romero avoids it.
Romero attempts a counter takedown but Hendo avoids it well and moves away.
Hendo moves in looking to clinch but Romero pushes him off.

Hendo closes the distance and pushes Romero back into the cage.
Romero is looking for a takedown.

Hendo manages to pull guard.
Hendo has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Romero accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hendo wants to stand but Romero is controlling the position.
Hendo is pulling down on Romero's head to control his posture.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romero landing some decent shots from guard.
Romero postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Romero with a flurry of punches that miss.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hendo has momentary wrist control but Romero slips an elbow through the middle.
Romero missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Romero throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hendo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Romero prevents Hendo from getting back to his feet.
Romero postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Hendo is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero wants to control from the top but Hendo keeps moving.
Hendo wants to get back to his feet but Romero is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Hendo gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Romero to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hendo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Hendo wants to stand up but Romero is controlling him.
Hendo trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Romero controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Romero wants to control from the top but Hendo keeps moving.
Romero tries to free his leg and advance position but Hendo is retaining full guard.
Romero scoring with some ground and pound.
Hendo wants to stand but Romero is controlling the position.
Hendo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Romero.
Romero has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hendo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Hendo has a closed guard, preventing Romero from standing up.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Yoel Romero will probably get the nod.
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. This is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Hendo looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hendo misses with a two punch combination.
Hendo is looking to clinch.
Hendo tries to grapple but his opponent circles
letting Romero counter with a right hand.
Yoel Romero is winning the standup battle so far.

Hendo gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Romero to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Romero stops Hendo from standing up.
Hendo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hendo looking for a sweep. Not yet Hendo, not yet.
Romero with a nice head shot there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romero loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Romero pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hendo is keeping the position for now.
Romero in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Romero working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Hendo's head.
Romero postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Romero pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hendo is keeping the position for now.
Yoel Romero overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Romero wants to control from the top but Hendo keeps moving.
Romero throws a strike but Hendo rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Hendo is looking to stand up but Romero won't let him.
Romero tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Hendo tries to stand but Romero is controlling from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Romero shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Hendo wants to get back to his feet but Romero is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Romero postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Romero scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Romero is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Hendo preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero trying to control but Hendo is working from the bottom.
Hendo is looking to stand up but Romero isn't so interested in that idea.
Romero scoring with punches to the head and body.
Romero controls from within his opponent's guard.
Romero postures up and lands a big shot to Hendo's brow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hendo wants to stand and escape but Romero is having none of it.
Hendo preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Romero works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Romero wants to control but Hendo is keeping him busy.
Romero working the head and body with strikes.
Hendo is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Romero scores with a couple of nice shots.
Romero looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Hendo with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Romero thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Hendo's head.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hendo is trying to stand up here but Romero is controlling him well.
Romero lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Gerald Hendo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Yoel Romero is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Hendo looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yoel Romero showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Romero, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:28
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yoel Romero!