PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tomas Morato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Erik Ruiz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tomas Morato had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Morato
vs
Ruiz

178 cm
21
190 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

187 cm
19
193 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tomas Morato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Erik Ruiz!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Gwen Towbar and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Morato drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Morato creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Morato is looking to take a break and control but Ruiz is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ruiz is looking to reverse the position.
Morato creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Ruiz sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Morato wants to stand but Ruiz is controlling his arm.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morato is working Ruiz over with some ground and pound from side control.
Morato lands a few punches from side control.
Morato lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Ruiz down.

It looks like Erik Ruiz has been cut.
Ruiz is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Morato's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruiz is trying to control but can't.
Nice strikes from Morato there.
Ruiz slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Ruiz not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morato postures up and lands a big shot to Ruiz's brow.
Ruiz controls Morato momentarily but Morato frees himself.
Morato cracks Ruiz with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morato postures up in Ruiz's guard and throws a big left but Ruiz blocks it.
Morato looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Ruiz trying to control the position.
Morato postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Ruiz is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Morato has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Morato being controlled here momentarily.
Morato with a flurry of punches that miss.
Morato not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morato wants to control from the top but Ruiz keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Erik Ruiz is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ruiz swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Morato counters with a nice double leg into side control. Ruiz won't be happy with that.
Ruiz is trying to get back to half guard.
Morato creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Ruiz sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Morato trying to control the position but Ruiz is working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Ruiz is trying to control Morato's posture but Morato avoids it.
Morato trying to control the position but Ruiz is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morato working away.
Morato working the head and body with strikes.
Ruiz is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Morato's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Morato looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Ruiz with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That has opened up Erik Ruiz's cut even more.
Ruiz is refusing to be controlled, as Morato sits in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morato controlling the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tomas Morato dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Erik Ruiz's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Morato shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Ruiz trying to keep a closed guard but Morato is proving a slippery customer.
Morato trying to control the position from guard on top but Ruiz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morato scoring with punches to the head and body.

Morato thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ruiz has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Ruiz working a defensive guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morato wants to control from the top but Ruiz keeps moving.
Morato stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ruiz swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Morato throws a big right hand that misses.
Morato with a flurry of punches that miss.
Ruiz pulls Morato in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ruiz ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Morato moves away.
Ruiz scores with a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morato slips a jab from Ruiz.
Ruiz throws out a powerful jab.
Morato takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Ruiz scores with a jab to the jaw.
Ruiz fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Ruiz lands with an uppercut that bounces Morato off the cage and back into range.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice uppercut there from Morato.
Morato uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Ruiz.

Morato shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Morato showed some decent athleticism there.
Morato seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Ruiz keeps control of the position for the meantime.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Morato trying to pass the guard but Ruiz defending well.
Morato working the head and body with strikes.
Ruiz wants to improve his position but Morato is controlling well.

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.
Ruiz keeping control of the position.
Morato throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Ruiz avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Morato.
Ruiz is doing well to control the position and prevent Morato from advancing to side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ruiz trying to control from the bottom.
Morato throwing shots but Ruiz is blocking nicely.
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 Tomas Morato will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Erik Ruiz's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're 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.

The fighters circling - Ruiz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Ruiz lands a nice shot to the body.
Ruiz scores with a sloppy right hand. Morato should have avoided that one.
Ruiz scores with a jab to the jaw.
Morato takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Ruiz throws a combination that misses
and Morato counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Morato misses the jab.
Jab, jab by Ruiz - just one landing.
Morato throws the left hand but Ruiz avoids the punch easily.
Nice jab there from Ruiz.
Ruiz just misses with a punch to the body.

Morato drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ruiz pulls Morato in close to prevent any damage.
Morato trying to control the position from guard on top but Ruiz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morato works over Ruiz with some ground and pound from guard.
Ruiz preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Morato missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Morato accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Morato throwing strikes from guard but Ruiz blocks nicely.
Ruiz controls Morato momentarily but Morato frees himself.
Morato trying to control but Ruiz is working from the bottom.
Erik Ruiz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ruiz utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Morato trying to control but Ruiz is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Ruiz misses the shot to the body.
Ruiz tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Morato was well out of range. Poor timing from Ruiz.
Morato is looking to counter punch.

Morato feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Ruiz pulls Morato in close to prevent any damage.
Morato makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

The cut above Erik Ruiz's eye is starting to cause him problems now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Morato's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Erik Ruiz'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 Erik Ruiz's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:25 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Tomas Morato!