PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Darwin Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rhys Duch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Alvarez
vs
Duch

225 cm
23
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

192 cm
22
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Darwin Alvarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rhys Duch!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shirou Masuda and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice takedown defense from Duch. No joy for Alvarez on that attempt.
Alvarez shoots in but no luck this time.
Duch swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Duch closes the distance and pushes Alvarez back into the cage.
Duch lands an elbow inside that Alvarez shrugs off.

It looks like Darwin Alvarez has been cut.

Alvarez breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Duch scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Duch in side control, throwing shots but Alvarez defends.

Duch goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Alvarez rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Duch's guard! Nice work there by Alvarez!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alvarez's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Duch throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Duch is adopting a defensive guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duch looking for a sweep. Not yet Duch, not yet.
Duch has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Alvarez has passed into side control.
Both fighters take a look at the clock.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Alvarez in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Alvarez is working Duch over with some ground and pound from side control.
Alvarez will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Alvarez lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Duch is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Alvarez scores with a couple of short elbows.
Duch really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Alvarez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Alvarez lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Duch down.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Duch trying to remain calm as Alvarez controls from the top position.

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

Alvarez bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Duch avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Alvarez.
Duch throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez wants to control but Duch is keeping him busy.
Duch tries to improve position but can't.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Alvarez scores with a couple of short elbows.
Duch is trying to improve his position.

Alvarez has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

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.
Duch dodges the punch combination from Alvarez.
Duch swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Duch closes the distance and clinches.
Alvarez really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Alvarez gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Alvarez is looking to advance position but Duch won't allow it.
Still in half guard, Alvarez seems content to control.

Duch pushes Alvarez off and gets back to his feet.
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 Darwin Alvarez will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Darwin Alvarez's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Duch looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Duch misses with an uppercut.
Duch avoids the head kick by Alvarez.
Alvarez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Duch swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.

Duch drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Duch lands a decent elbow from side control.
Duch taking a breather here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alvarez is trying to improve his position.

Duch tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Duch has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alvarez is looking to reverse the position.
Alvarez struggling a bit here.
Sloppy strikes there by Duch.
Alvarez can't do much from the bottom here.

Duch decides to stand up, so the ref orders Alvarez to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Alvarez misses with a combination

and Duch counters with a nice double leg into guard.

Alvarez is looking to cinch up a triangle. Duch throws the leg off to one side though and gets in tight to Alvarez's body to avoid the submission. Alvarez has instead reached around Duch's neck and now has a guillotine! Oh, this is biiiig trouble! Alvarez arches his back and squeezes and forces the tap from his hapless opponent.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:34 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Darwin Alvarez!