PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Third Round Romero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shoei Braz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Third Round Romero has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Round Romero
vs
Braz

190 cm
27
213 lbs
12 - 3 - 0

175 cm
30
205 lbs
12 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Voodoo Nutrition

KnockOut

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 12 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Third Round Romero!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Shoei Braz!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Romero thows a leg kick but Braz checks it

and Braz counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Braz content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Braz has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at English Top Team - THE Hybrid Gym (11 ELITE ). Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Romero preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Braz has gone for a leg lock! Romero slips out almost immediately though and dives into Braz's guard.

Braz wants to stand but Romero is controlling the position.

Braz has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Romero can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Braz wants to hit a switch here but Romero passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Braz there!
Braz is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romero wants to control the action but instead Braz gets a body lock and reverses into Romero's guard! Nice work!
Romero looking for a sweep. Not yet Romero, not yet.
Braz tries to free his leg and advance position but Romero is retaining full guard.
Braz is working Romero over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Braz throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Romero looking to control.
Braz throwing strikes from guard but Romero blocks nicely.
Romero bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Braz's guard.

Romero has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Romero is looking to stand up but Braz won't let him.
Romero knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Braz on the ground.

Braz working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Romero doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Romero manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Braz is looking for a triangle here but Romero uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braz is letting Romero control him for a moment.
Braz tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Braz can't do much from the bottom here.
Braz tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Romero wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Braz keeps trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Braz's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Romero is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Braz will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Braz tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Romero wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Braz is trying to control Romero's posture but Romero avoids it.
Braz is looking to reverse the position.
Romero in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Braz has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Braz is looking for a sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Braz struggling a bit here.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Romero dips to his left and cracks Braz with an uppercut!
Braz takes a shot right to the bread basket.
A looping hook to the body misses from Romero. Braz does a little dance to reset his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Romero connects with a body shot.
Romero fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Romero throws a looping overhand right but Braz ducks down to avoid it.
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 Third Round Romero will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Braz takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
A nice leg kick lands there from Romero.
Romero is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Braz can do to turn this around?
Romero swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Romero scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

It looks like Shoei Braz has been cut.
Good shot there by Romero.
Romero throws a lazy uppercut

so Braz counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Braz cracks Romero with a solid left hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Romero utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Braz loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Braz throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Romero works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Braz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Braz throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braz chips away with some ground and pound.
Braz throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Romero works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Braz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Braz is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Romero is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Romero has escaped and now he's on top!

Braz working a defensive guard but Romero manages to pass into side control anyway.
Braz is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braz wants to control but Romero postures up.
Braz is looking for a sweep.
Braz looks to move to half guard but instead Romero has passed into mount! Damn!
Braz is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Braz regains half guard.

Braz looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Romero controlling the action here.

Braz is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Romero pulls his head out easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Romero is looking to take a break and control but Braz is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Romero seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Romero is thwarting Braz's attempts to control the position.

Braz looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Romero is looking to take a break and control but Braz is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

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.

Braz looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Braz actively working from the bottom here.
Romero wants to stand but Braz has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Nice jab there from Romero.
Romero is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Braz's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Romero connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Braz scrambles back to his feet.
Braz moves out of range of the strikes.
Third Round Romero is winning the standup battle so far.
Romero swings and misses with a hook to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Third Round Romero dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Shoei Braz's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Romero lands with a thumping leg kick.
Romero ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Romero loads up on a big right hand but Braz slips the punch.
Braz with the counter takedown but Romero avoids it easily.
Romero stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Braz takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Romero lands with a good body shot.
Romero misses with a body shot

and Braz counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Shoei Braz has got the better of the ground game so far.
Braz is nestled in close to Romero, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Braz seems to be working for a kimura but Romero defends the submission attempt.

Braz looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Braz is looking for a kimura but Romero is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Braz to get the leverage.
Braz looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Braz wants to work for an arm triangle but Romero is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Romero is trying to maintain the position but Braz is very close to passing his half guard.

Braz is looking for a kimura here.

Braz is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Shoei Braz 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.

Braz is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Romero has managed to free his arm - good work.

Braz is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Braz thows a huge punch but Romero dodges it nicely.
Braz looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braz not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Braz not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Romero blocking the ground and pound attempt from Braz.

Braz is working for a submission of some sort.

Braz is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Romero is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Shoei Braz!
Jumping up and down and very excited, Shoei Braz waved his t-shirt featuring KnockOut's logo in front of the cameras.
Third Round Romero spoke after the fight, saying 'How did THAT just happen? Is it possible that Jesus doesn't love me anymore? My opponent was the better fighter tonight, but I'm going to train harder than ever, and make my way back to the top!'.