PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Bjornigin Xian (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Balerado (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Balerado has chosen Black Eyed Peas - Bebot as his entrance music. Michael Balerado is staring across the ring at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Xian
vs
Balerado

174 cm
19
159 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
155 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Bjornigin Xian!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Michael Balerado!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Xian tries to clinch but Balerado moves out of range.
Balerado throws out a powerful jab.
Balerado with a nice cross.

Balerado shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Balerado showed some decent athleticism there.
Xian on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Xian tries to get out of the position.
Balerado thows a huge punch but Xian dodges it nicely.

Xian is defending against the submission attempts here by Balerado.
Xian tries to get to full guard but Balerado has control of the leg.
Balerado throwing shots but Xian is blocking nicely.
Xian manages to get to full guard.
Balerado chips away with some ground and pound.
Balerado has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Balerado has gone for a leg lock! Xian slips out almost immediately though and dives into Balerado's guard.
Xian wants to stand but Balerado is controlling his posture from full guard.

Balerado is looking for a triangle but Xian pushes his legs off easily.

Balerado looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Xian stands and throws Balerado's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Balerado is looking to regain half guard here but Xian keeps moving and retains side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Balerado gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Xian wants to lay and pray for a moment but Balerado keeps working.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Xian perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Balerado punching from the bottom.
Balerado is trying to get back to full guard.
Xian wants to stand up but Balerado has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Xian trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Balerado throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balerado tries to get to full guard but Xian has control of the leg.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Xian gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Balerado counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Xian is breathing heavily.

Balerado drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Balerado jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Xian is pulling down on Balerado's head to control his posture.
Xian looking for a sweep. Not yet Xian, not yet.
Xian wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Balerado drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Balerado jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Xian has momentary wrist control but Balerado slips an elbow through the middle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balerado pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Xian is keeping the position for now.
Balerado won't allow Xian to sweep him here.
Balerado chips away with some ground and pound.
Xian manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Balerado manages to get himself to full guard.

Balerado escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Xian gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Balerado looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Xian stands up over Balerado, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Xian on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Michael Balerado seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balerado misses with a series of wild punches.
Michael Balerado is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Xian shoots in looking for a takedown. Balerado tries to sprawl out of it but Xian keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Balerado manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Xian looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balerado scores with a jab to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balerado lands a with a good body shot.
Balerado looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Left hook, right uppercut from Balerado.
Xian shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bjornigin Xian. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Balerado lands with a hook. Xian tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Balerado with a hook.
Balerado moves into range and connects with a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balerado works the jab nicely.
Balerado lands with an uppercut that bounces Xian off the ropes and back into rage.
Xian takes one on the button.
Balerado throws a series of strikes that have Xian backpedaling.
Balerado throws a combination. Xian tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Balerado lands a jab to the head.
Jab, jab by Balerado - just one landing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Balerado moves into the clinch.
Xian is working for takedown but Balerado is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Xian is trying to break the clinch but Balerado has him pressed against the ropes.
Xian is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Balerado is working on a single leg takedown against the ropes. Xian can't fight it off and eventually Balerado manages to take the fight to the floor. Xian looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Xian is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Balerado passes into half guard.
Ground and pound from Balerado.
Xian wants to get back to full guard.

Balerado is looking for a kimura here.
Balerado wants to pass to mount but Xian is defending the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Balerado is looking for submissions but instead, Xian has regained full guard.
Balerado postures up.
Xian is looking to stand up but Balerado isn't so interested in that idea.
Balerado missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Balerado with a flurry of punches that miss.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
A combination from Balerado does no damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Balerado showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Balerado closes the distance and pushes Xian back into the ropes.

Balerado breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Balerado throws a right hand that Xian ducks under and follows up with a left that Xian also avoids with ease.
Balerado throws a nice looking combination but Xian bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Xian is pinned up against the ropes taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Balerado misses with an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balerado misses with a series of wild punches.
Balerado circles away from the clinch attempt
and Balerado counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Xian shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Balerado counters with a straight right hand.
Balerado throws a good cross that connects.
Balerado works Xian's body with a nice hook.
Balerado lands a two punch combo.
Jab by Balerado.
Balerado fails with the takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Balerado closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Balerado is trying to get an arm triangle but Xian is defending well.
You can see the frustration on Xian's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Balerado scoring with punches and elbows.

Balerado tries for a kimura but Xian is defending well.
Balerado takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Xian defending against the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Xian manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Balerado tries to roll over but Xian keeps him under control.
Balerado is not content to let Xian control the position.
Xian tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Balerado.

Balerado is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Xian pulls his head out easily.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Xian takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

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.
Balerado misses with a looping right.
Bjornigin Xian has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Xian walks into a left hand.
Balerado wants to clinch.
Balerado throws a series of punches but Xian avoids them all with ease.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Balerado moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Balerado comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Balerado has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Balerado!