PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rick Van Buuren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francisco Escobar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Van Buuren
vs
Escobar

188 cm
26
210 lbs
4 - 3 - 1

185 cm
28
220 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

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 4 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Rick Van Buuren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Francisco Escobar!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Alyssa Summers and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Escobar takes the fight into the clinch.
Van Buuren lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Escobar is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Van Buuren is defending well for now.
A head punch on the inside from Van Buuren fails to land.
Van Buuren throws a head punch that misses.
Escobar tries to work over Van Buuren's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Escobar blocks an uppercut.
Van Buuren is trying to pull guard but Escobar turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Van Buuren fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Van Buuren tries to pull guard but Escobar won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rick Van Buuren. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Escobar is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Buuren being controlled against the cage.
Van Buuren throws a head punch that misses.
Van Buuren taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobar blocks an uppercut.
Van Buuren swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Escobar.
Van Buuren managing to block the knees to the body from Escobar.

Escobar gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Van Buuren regains guard.
Van Buuren looking for a sweep. Not yet Van Buuren, not yet.
Van Buuren is working hard here to advance position.

Van Buuren has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Escobar is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Van Buuren.
Van Buuren knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Escobar on the ground.

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

Escobar thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Buuren tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Van Buuren tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Escobar presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Van Buuren is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Escobar with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

Escobar working for a submission but Van Buuren is keeping him at bay.

Escobar is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Van Buuren to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Van Buuren shrugs it off.
Van Buuren regains half guard.
Escobar is thwarting Van Buuren's attempts to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Escobar is looking for a kimura here.
Van Buuren is trying to get back to full guard.

Escobar is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Van Buuren sees it coming and defends easily.
Van Buuren is looking for a sweep. Escobar is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Escobar is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Escobar seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Escobar passes the guard and advances to mount!

Escobar is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Van Buuren can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Escobar looking to isolate an arm here. Van Buuren doesn't see it coming and as Escobar extends the arm, he's forced to tap out! Nice submission by Escobar!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:28 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Francisco Escobar!