PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between John Equinox (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nuriel Leonard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nuriel Leonard has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with John Equinox's chin.

Equinox
vs
Leonard

172 cm
47
147 lbs
61 - 32 - 1

168 cm
40
147 lbs
38 - 21 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
KO power

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Spartan Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 61 - 32 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Equinox!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 38 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Nuriel Leonard!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Seu Braga and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice defenses there by Equinox.
Equinox swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Nuriel Leonard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Equinox is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Leonard jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Equinox throws a hook but Leonard blocks it.

Equinox closes the distance and clinches.
Leonard lands a body punch in the clinch.
Leonard with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Equinox lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Leonard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Nice body punch from Equinox - that landed with a thud.
Leonard will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Equinox up against the cage.
Leonard with a knee to the head.
A right hook to the body lands for Leonard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Leonard blocks a body shot from Equinox.
Leonard lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Equinox backwards.
Leonard struggles to land a body shot inside as Equinox controls his hands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Equinox working aggressively here.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Leonard.
Leonard can't find room to land a body shot as Equinox controls the action.
Equinox doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Leonard with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Equinox misses with some punches.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Equinox creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Equinox scores with a shot to the side of Leonard's head.
A short right from Equinox.
Equinox lands a left hand that snaps the head of Leonard backwards.
Leonard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Leonard blocking some punches.
Equinox misses with some punches.
Leonard lands a nice uppercut.
Leonard tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Equinox doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Equinox fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Equinox fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Leonard breaks from the clinch.
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!
Leonard works the jab nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leonard scores with the left hand. Equinox knows he should have avoided that one.
Leonard throws out a loose jab but Equinox uses good head movement to avoid it.
Equinox throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Equinox sets himself, and Leonard steps forward looking for the clinch! Equinox avoids it this time.
Leonard displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Equinox tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Leonard was well out of range. Poor timing from Equinox.
Leonard tests Equinox's chin there with a solid looking shot.
A jab from Leonard misses.
Leonard looks to score with a jab to the body but Equinox is just out of range.

Leonard changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Equinox looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The strikes coming from Leonard are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Leonard misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
The strikes coming from Leonard are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Leonard looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Equinox is avoiding damage well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leonard misses with the ground and pound.
Equinox tries to buck Leonard off but Leonard is having none of it.
Leonard working the ground and pound from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The strikes coming from Leonard are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Leonard cracks Equinox with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Leonard wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Leonard wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Equinox uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Leonard.
Leonard shoots for a takedown but Equinox saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Equinox takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Equinox loads up on a big right hand but Leonard slips the punch.
Equinox uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Leonard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leonard lands a nice shot to the body.
Leonard pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Leonard throws a right hand that misses
and Equinox counters with a left to the body.
Equinox walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
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!
Leonard swinging wildly here.
A lazy left from Leonard finds it's target.
Equinox on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Leonard throws a body shot but no joy.
Equinox keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Leonard misses with a body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nuriel Leonard dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Leonard shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Equinox keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Ground and pound from Leonard.
Leonard seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Leonard uses his free foot to push down on Equinox's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Equinox.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Leonard in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
We've been hearing good reports from Equinox's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Equinox wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Leonard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leonard thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Leonard sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Leonard raining down hammerfists from mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Leonard cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Equinox is rocked!
My spies in The Warehouse inform me that Leonard has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Leonard misses with a head shot.
Equinox takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Oh Equinox is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Equinox tries to reverse the position but Leonard maintains control.
Leonard misses with a head shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leonard lands a heavy elbow.
Leonard scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Equinox?
Leonard throwing strikes here but Equinox is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Leonard throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Equinox working to try and regain half guard.
Equinox seems to have got his legs back now.
Leonard has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Leonard lands a big shot there that rocks Equinox but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Poor strikes thrown by Leonard there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Leonard dominating with strikes here.
Leonard throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Leonard looking to ground and pound but Equinox is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leonard thowing shots but they're missing.
Leonard lands a big elbow.
Leonard lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

Leonard moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Equinox has worked his arm free - good work by Equinox!
Leonard throws an elbow but Equinox slips to the side and avoids it well.
Leonard misses with the ground and pound.
Leonard trying to control the action but Equinox is working from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Leonard lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Equinox circles away quickly and effectively.

That's four 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.
Equinox takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Leonard misses with a two punch combination.

Equinox gets caught flat footed, as Leonard shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Leonard has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Equinox controlling the position.
Equinox keeping full guard, as Leonard tries to pass.
Nuriel Leonard has got the better of the ground game so far.
Leonard missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Leonard scoring with punches to the head and body.
Leonard working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Leonard wants to control from the top but Equinox keeps moving.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nuriel Leonard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

A jab from Leonard misses.
Leonard swings for the body but Equinox moves out of range.
Leonard lands an overhand right.
Equinox stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Equinox wants it to stay on the feet.
Leonard dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Leonard throws an off balance right hand
and Equinox counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Leonard missing with a left hand there. Equinox was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Leonard fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

Leonard scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Leonard in side control, throwing shots but Equinox defends.
Equinox on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Equinox is trying to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leonard postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Leonard scoring with punches from side control.
Leonard working the ground and pound.
Equinox wants to control but Leonard postures up.
Leonard passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Equinox!
Leonard thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Equinox avoids a series of strikes thrown by Leonard.
Leonard pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Leonard takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Leonard lands a big elbow.

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.
Leonard scoring with strikes but Equinox is staying in there.
Leonard throws some wild stikes that Equinox manages to avoid easily.
Poor strikes thrown by Leonard there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Leonard raining down hammerfists from mount.
Leonard sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Equinox holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Leonard tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Leonard lands a nice shot to the head.
Leonard controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leonard thowing shots but they're missing.
Leonard lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Leonard is landing with some decent strikes but Equinox is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Equinox working to try and regain half guard.
Leonard postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Equinox in real trouble here! The ref calls for Equinox to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Nuriel Leonard!
Nuriel Leonard took his opportunity to call for a title shot in his post fight interview.