PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joao Cardozo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Arisch Joe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Cardozo
vs
Joe

188 cm
20
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joao Cardozo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Arisch Joe!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Alan Glass and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cardozo tries to clinch but Joe moves out of range.
Joe has a takedown stuffed.

Joe moves into the clinch successfully.

Cardozo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Joe throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

Cardozo gets the takedown into side control.

Joe explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
Joe tries to score a power double leg takedown but Cardozo sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Joe somewhat.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Joe tries to close the distance and clinch but Cardozo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Joe rushes Cardozo and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cardozo has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Joe uses from the top position.
Cardozo has a closed guard, preventing Joe from standing up.
Joe wants to control from the top but Cardozo keeps moving.
Cardozo is pulling down on Joe's head to control his posture.
Joe would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Joe stands up over Cardozo, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Joe must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Joe trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Cardozo manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joe looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Joe is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Cardozo is fighting to break Joe's control of his arms but Joe is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Cardozo content to stall in guard here.
Joe is trying to control the position but Cardozo postures up.

Cardozo decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Joe, up you get!

Cardozo closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Joe quickly recovers to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cardozo stands up and beckons Joe to join him on the feet.
Cardozo scores with a leg kick.
Joe tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Cardozo counters with a series of strikes. Joe will be more careful next time no doubt.
Joe looks winded!
Cardozo doesn't manage to clinch there - Joe circles away.
Cardozo misses with a low kick.
Joe has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Cardozo throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Cardozo stuffs the takedown.
Joao Cardozo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arisch Joe.
Joe misses with an attempted mid kick.
Cardozo lands with a thumping leg kick.
Nice sprawl there from Cardozo as Joe shoots in.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardozo will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Cardozo throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Joe was covering up waiting for the punch and Cardozo finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Joe is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Cardozo dives into side control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Cardozo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Cardozo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Cardozo landing a few strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joao Cardozo dominated that round.
That's time! Cardozo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Cardozo tries a head kick but it misses.
Joe lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Joe stuffs the takedown attempt from Cardozo. Cardozo gets slowly back to his feet.
Joe tries to counter by closing the distance.

Joe closes the distance and clinches.
Joe goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Cardozo gets control of Joe's arms and successfully pulls guard. Cardozo will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Joe wants to control from the top but Cardozo keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Joe tries to free his leg and advance position but Cardozo is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joe is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Cardozo is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Joe slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Joe is looking to sweep but instead, Cardozo has passed into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cardozo wants to free his trapped foot but Joe is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joe is looking to improve his position.
Cardozo prevents Joe from standing back up.
Joe is breathing heavily.
Joe trying to control from the bottom.
Cardozo keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Cardozo drops an elbow to the side of Joe's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cardozo escapes and gets back to his feet.
Cardozo stuffs the takedown.
Cardozo tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Joe manages to circle out of the way.

Cardozo forces Joe back against the cage and clinches.

Cardozo manages to break the clinch.
Joe shoots in but no luck this time.
Cardozo seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Cardozo scores with a nice body kick.

Cardozo closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Joe did well to prevent Cardozo getting side control.
Joe trying to control from the bottom.
Still in half guard, Cardozo seems content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardozo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Joe can do to turn this around?

Cardozo stands up from half guard.
Cardozo ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Joe moves away.
Nice sprawl there from Joe as Cardozo shoots in.
Cardozo throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Joe closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cardozo did well to prevent Joe getting side control.

Cardozo kicks Joe off and gets back to his feet.
Joe tries to clinch but Cardozo is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joao Cardozo dominated that second round.
That's time! Cardozo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Cardozo has a takedown stuffed.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cardozo looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cardozo leaves Joe with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
A big left from Cardozo misses.
Joe is looking for the big counter here.

Joe clinches up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cardozo tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Joe just stands there and leans against the cage.
Cardozo looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Joe goes for a takedown attempt but Cardozo pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Joao Cardozo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Joe takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
No luck for Joe with that takedown attempt.
Joao Cardozo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arisch Joe.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cardozo fails with an attempt to clinch.
Cardozo misses with a wild body shot.
Cardozo moves to clinch but Joe breaks away
enabling Joe to counter with a crisp jab.
Joe misses with a low kick.

Cardozo throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Joe was covering up waiting for the punch and Cardozo finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Joe tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cardozo postures up and lands a big shot to Joe's brow.
Cardozo controls from within his opponent's guard.
Joe wants to hit a switch here but Cardozo passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Joe there!
Cardozo manages to capitalize on a mistake by Joe to take his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
What can Joe do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!

Joe has hold of Cardozo's leg, trying to break free but it's let Cardozo lock up a rear naked choke! This could be big trouble! Joe is turning an unusual color here… he's out! Cardozo throws him to one side and jumps onto the cage to celebrate with his fans.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Joao Cardozo!