PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Aldo Gilbert (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Sharp (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tom Sharp will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Gilbert
vs
Sharp

168 cm
26
140 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

190 cm
25
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Aldo Gilbert!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Tom Sharp!
The judges for this bout are Ben Hemmingworth, Darius Henderson and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
An inside leg kick lands from Sharp.
Sharp shoots and misses
and Gilbert connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Gilbert has managed to clinch.

Gilbert breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

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

Sharp is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gilbert defends well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sharp wants to stand but Gilbert is controlling the position.
Gilbert lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Sharp not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sharp utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Gilbert throwing strikes but missing.
Sharp has a closed guard, preventing Gilbert from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gilbert lands a couple of digs.
Sharp pulls Gilbert in close to prevent any damage.
Gilbert wants to get up but he can't break Sharp's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gilbert throwing strikes but missing.
Gilbert scoring with punches to the head and body.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gilbert accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gilbert chips away with some ground and pound.
Gilbert content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Sharp is trying to control the position but Gilbert postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gilbert missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Gilbert with a nice head shot there.
Sharp is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Gilbert content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Gilbert scoring with punches to the head and body.
Sharp looking to control.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Sharp wants to stand but Gilbert is controlling the position.
Gilbert won't allow Sharp to sweep him here.
Gilbert keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Sharp's head.
Sharp preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert works over Sharp with some ground and pound from guard.
Gilbert working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Sharp's head.
Gilbert landing with the ground and pound.
Gilbert 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.
Sharp is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sharp wants to stand up but Gilbert is controlling him.
Gilbert is in close to Sharp's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Sharp is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Gilbert lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Gilbert with a flurry of punches that miss.
Sharp controls Gilbert momentarily but Gilbert frees himself.
Gilbert scoring with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert is in close to Sharp's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Gilbert is working Sharp over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Gilbert throwing strikes but missing.
Gilbert is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Gilbert landing with the ground and pound.
Sharp utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Gilbert might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Gilbert lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gilbert postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Gilbert is working Sharp over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sharp not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Gilbert working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sharp fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Gilbert fires out a quick counter leg kick but Sharp just manages to avoid it.
Sharp misses with a takedown

and Gilbert counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Sharp tries to pull guard but Gilbert forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Aldo Gilbert has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Sharp.
Sharp tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Gilbert smiles and moves away.
Sharp tries for a takedown but Gilbert circles away easily
and Gilbert connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Horrible takedown attempt by Sharp or perhaps it was just good defense by Gilbert, which made it look bad.
Sharp is breathing heavily.
Sharp misses with a double jab.
Gilbert is looking to counter with head kicks.
Tom Sharp is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sharp shoots in but no luck this time.
It looked like Gilbert was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Sharp.
Gilbert fails with a takedown attempt.
Sharp looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Gilbert blocks a jab.
Gilbert appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Gilbert takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Gilbert takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Sharp moves out of range of the leg kick from Gilbert.
Sharp throws a counter combo.
Gilbert is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sharp can do to turn this around?
Sharp shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Gilbert as he avoids it easily.
Gilbert is looking to counter the offense by Sharp and move into the clinch.
Sharp throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sharp thows a left - swing and a miss!
Gilbert tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Sharp manages to circle out of the way.
Sharp looks to clinch
and Gilbert counters with a two punch combo.

Sharp is rocked!

Gilbert gets the takedown into side control.
Sharp is still in real trouble! Can Gilbert finish him?
Aldo Gilbert overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gilbert scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Sharp to see if he's OK.
Sharp takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Gilbert is putting a hurting on Sharp here, landing some big shots from side control.

Gilbert tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Gilbert scores with a couple of short elbows.
Gilbert lands a few punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert scoring with punches and elbows.
Sharp is looking to regain half guard here but Gilbert keeps moving and retains side control.
Sharp is working to avoid the ground and pound but Gilbert connects with a decent elbow.

Gilbert tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Gilbert thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Gilbert is working Sharp over with some ground and pound from side control.

Gilbert stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Gilbert looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Sharp!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Gilbert working the ground and pound.
Sharp takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Sharp takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Gilbert has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Gilbert shoots in for a double leg but Sharp sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Sharp misses with a takedown
and Gilbert makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Sharp seems to have recovered his senses.

Gilbert closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aldo Gilbert dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Sharp wants to clinch.
No luck for Gilbert with that takedown attempt.
Sharp darts in looking for a takedown but Gilbert gets double underhooks and turns Sharp into the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gilbert tries for a takedown but Sharp sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Nice takedown defense from Gilbert. No joy for Sharp on that attempt.
Gilbert circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Sharp tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Aldo Gilbert has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Sharp.
Sharp takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sharp drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Gilbert gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Gilbert wants to take the fight to the mat but Sharp manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Gilbert is trying to pull guard but Sharp turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Gilbert is working Sharp over against the cage.

Gilbert escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Sharp tries to clinch up.
It looked like Gilbert was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Sharp looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A left lands for Sharp.

Gilbert dives in and scores a takedown into Sharp's guard.

Sharp manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Sharp has closed the distance and engaged Gilbert in a clinch.
Gilbert wants to get back to striking at distance but Sharp won't allow it.
Sharp jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Gilbert walks away with a smile on his face. Sharp gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Gilbert has a takedown stuffed.
Sharp is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sharp shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Gilbert counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Sharp is trying to maintain a safe position but Gilbert gets an underhook and turns Sharp into the cage.
Gilbert trying to land knees to the body.
Gilbert tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sharp avoids it.
Sharp can't get the takedown.
Gilbert pressing his opponent against the cage.

Sharp pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sharp throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Gilbert's waist but Gilbert gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sharp off to one side.

Gilbert shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gilbert lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Gilbert wants to get up but he can't break Sharp's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gilbert scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Gilbert working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Gilbert landing with the ground and pound.
Gilbert distracts Sharp with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Sharp trying to keep a closed guard but Gilbert is proving a slippery customer.
Gilbert with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gilbert chips away with some ground and pound.
Tom Sharp has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Aldo Gilbert is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Gilbert postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aldo Gilbert showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gilbert 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 Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight 30:26
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aldo Gilbert!