PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alex Cunha Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Luiz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago Luiz will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Cunha Almeida
vs
Luiz

185 cm
21
195 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

187 cm
25
178 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Alex Cunha Almeida!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Luiz!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Alexandre Firmino and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Almeida lands with a slapping head kick.
Luiz looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Almeida tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Luiz gets caught flat footed, as Almeida shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Luiz is rocked!

Almeida decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Luiz, up you get!
Luiz is still on wobbly legs! Can Almeida finish him?

Almeida has closed the distance and engaged Luiz in a clinch.
Almeida is looking for a takedown.

Almeida pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Luiz seems to have recovered his senses.

Almeida drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Luiz is looking to get back to his feet here but Almeida is keeping cool and he's managed to take Luiz's back.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Almeida controlling the position well here. Luiz rolled but Almeida kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Almeida has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Luiz defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

Luiz is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.

Almeida working for a choke but Luiz is defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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.

Luiz is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Almeida gets his way!
I really don't envy Luiz right now.
Almeida trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Luiz doesn't escape.
Almeida is hanging on to Luiz's back as he tries to escape.
Almeida biding his time, looking for the opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luiz rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Almeida with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Almeida thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Luiz's head.
Almeida is looking to advance position but Luiz won't allow it.
Almeida perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

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.

Almeida is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Almeida stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Luiz to get to his feet.
Luiz tries a head kick but it misses.
It looked like Almeida was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Almeida pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Some bone on bone action there as Almeida checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Luiz stuffs the takedown.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Almeida drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Luiz wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Almeida manages to pass to side control.

Almeida content to control rather than advance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Cunha Almeida dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Almeida fails to land the takedown.
Almeida jabs at Luiz's body.

Almeida closes the distance and clinches.

Almeida pulls guard successfully.
Almeida is pulling down on Luiz's head. It's preventing any offense from Luiz, at least for the moment.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Luiz trying to control but Almeida is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida pulls Luiz in close to prevent any damage.
Almeida wants to stand up but Luiz is controlling him.

Luiz postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Almeida is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Luiz, into his guard.

Luiz controls Almeida momentarily but Almeida frees himself.

Luiz looking for a guillotine here but Almeida defends easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Almeida with a flurry of punches that miss.
Luiz is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Almeida is controlling him.

Almeida stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Almeida tries to score a power double leg takedown but Luiz sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Almeida somewhat.
Luiz leaves Almeida with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Cunha Almeida. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Almeida misses.

Almeida has taken the fight to the clinch.

Almeida manages to break the clinch.

Almeida drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Almeida stays in close to Luiz's body and controls the position.
Almeida tries to free his leg and advance position but Luiz is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Almeida stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Luiz avoids the head kick by Almeida.
Luiz lands with a slapping head kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Almeida gets a clinch.
Almeida looking to throw knees to the head but Luiz is blocking nicely.
Luiz is trying to push Almeida away but Almeida has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Luiz goes for a takedown in the clinch but Almeida prevents it.
Luiz is looking to break free of the clinch but Almeida has double underhooks.

Almeida lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Luiz makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Almeida shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Luiz defends it nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Cunha Almeida dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Almeida looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Almeida shoots in and drives through. Luiz sprawls well.
Luiz throws a sloppy head kick and Almeida moves out of range easily.
Almeida chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Luiz gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Almeida is stalling in the full guard.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Almeida.
Alex Cunha Almeida overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Luiz working a defensive guard here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Almeida slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Almeida gets to his feet. Luiz looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Luiz throws a low kick, looking for Almeida's leg but Almeida calmly moves out of range.
Almeida is looking for a counter combo.

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

Almeida pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Almeida throws the kick towards the body but Luiz avoids it.

Almeida moves into the clinch successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short left from Almeida.
A right handed body shot lands from Almeida.

Almeida manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Luiz throws a big right hand that misses.
Almeida is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Almeida is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Luiz has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Almeida is proving hard to escape from.
Luiz is fighting to break Almeida's control of his arms but Almeida is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luiz trying to control the position from guard on top but Almeida is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Almeida is looking to stand up but Luiz isn't so interested in that idea.
Thiago Luiz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Almeida has control of Luiz's left arm, preventing Luiz from doing any damage.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Luiz scores with a head kick. Almeida tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Luiz looks to throw the jab but Almeida is out of range.
It looked like Almeida was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Luiz throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Luiz fails to land with a series of punches.
Almeida connects with a solid leg kick.
Almeida scores with a one two! Luiz had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Almeida avoids the head kick by Luiz.

Almeida shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Luiz's guard.

Luiz working for a triangle but Almeida defends it easily.
Our spies down at at Sentinel Sparring inform us that Luiz has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Almeida looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Luiz not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Cunha Almeida showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Almeida has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Cunha Almeida!