PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Lu Hao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Alvarez's choice of entrance music: Doom. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Hao
vs
Alvarez

172 cm
29
148 lbs
12 - 10 - 2

160 cm
26
145 lbs
15 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Powerful

Sully's Bar & Grill
Museum of Monsters & Madmen

Phantom Fightwear
Victory! Sports Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 2, fighting out of London, Lu Hao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Michael Alvarez!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Donald Grub and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hao avoids a kick to the body.
Hao misses with a lunging right hand
and Alvarez counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Alvarez tries a head kick but it misses.
Alvarez gets cracked there but stands up to it.
A left and a right from Hao both land. Nice combination.
Alvarez on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Hao throws a hook but Alvarez avoids it easily.
Alvarez looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Alvarez throws a sloppy head kick and Hao moves out of range easily.
Hao throws a good cross that connects.
Alvarez takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hao pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Hao attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Alvarez moves out of range of the body kick from Hao.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alvarez moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Alvarez throws a nice inside leg kick.
A decent looking cross lands there for Hao.
Alvarez misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hao.
Hao rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Alvarez counters with a solid body kick.
Hao throws a body shot but no joy.
Alvarez looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Hao misses with a body shot.
Alvarez scores with a nice head shot.
A punch combination from Hao misses.
Hao moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Alvarez tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Hao is able to avoid easily.
Hao throws a hook to the side of Alvarez's head but Alvarez sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alvarez takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Alvarez lunges at Hao with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Hao's hand.
Hao thuds his right hand into Alvarez's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Hao throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Alvarez throws a leg kick but Hao checks it.
Nice body kick there by Alvarez.
Hao throws a body shot but no joy.
Alvarez walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Crunch! Alvarez slams his shin into Hao's torso.
Hao is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Hao swings widly with a right hand
and Alvarez counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hao steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Alvarez. That one must have hurt.
Hao jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Alvarez throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
The fighters circling - Hao throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Some bone on bone action there as Alvarez checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Alvarez moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Hao is looking to score with low kicks.
Alvarez feints a counter leg kick.
Hao has a takedown stuffed.
Hao takes one on the button.
Nice shot lands for Hao.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hao connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Hao moves away from the strike by Alvarez.
Hao has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Alvarez.
Alvarez has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
Hao throws a low kick but it's checked well by Alvarez.
Hao throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Hao throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Alvarez throws a lazy body kick
and Hao counters with a stiff right hand.
Alvarez tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Hao connects with a right hand. Alvarez shakes it off.
Alvarez connects with a single shot there.
Alvarez stuffs the takedown.
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 Lu Hao will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

A solid leg kick lands there for Alvarez.
Alvarez throws a sloppy head kick
and Hao cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Alvarez keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Hao.
Alvarez throws a hook but Hao avoids it easily.
Hao feinted with a counter takedown.
Alvarez goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
A big left from Hao misses.
Hao lands a jab.

Alvarez moves into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hao goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Hao lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Alvarez is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Alvarez pushes off an throws an elbow but Hao leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Hao is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hao drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Alvarez gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Hao wants to take the fight to the mat but Alvarez manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lu Hao. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alvarez throws an elbow that misses.
Hao tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alvarez can't find room to land a body shot as Hao controls the action.
Hao blocks the elbow strike.
Alvarez blocking some punches.
Hao throws a punch but it's blocked by Alvarez.
Alvarez looking to slow down the pace here.
Alvarez lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Hao or not.
Alvarez looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Alvarez tries a body shot but Hao blocks it.
Hao lands a hook to the side of the head.
Alvarez doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
With the fighters up against the cage, Alvarez throws an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.

Hao has Alvarez pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Hao pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Alvarez tumbling to the mat - Hao dives into Alvarez's guard.
Hao in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hao stopping the sweep attempt from Alvarez.
Alvarez working a defensive guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hao passes Alvarez's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Hao has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Hao looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Hao content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Alvarez tries to kick Hao off but Hao keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hao is looking for a kimura but Alvarez is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Hao to get the leverage.
Hao trying to control from half guard but Alvarez is working away.
Alvarez pushes Hao off looking to stand but Hao dives back in and keeps control.

Hao is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Hao stops Alvarez from getting back to his feet.
Alvarez keeping hold of Hao's head, controlling as best he can.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Hao is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Alvarez has managed to free his arm - good work.
Alvarez moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Alvarez is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Hao presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Hao lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Alvarez backwards.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Hao is stalling here.
A head punch on the inside from Alvarez fails to land.
Hao drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Alvarez gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Hao turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Hao manages to end up in side control.
A bit of a lull in the action here.

Hao is trying to get an arm triangle but Alvarez is defending well.
Lu Hao overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Alvarez tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Lu Hao will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Hao fails with the takedown.
Nice jab there from Hao.
Alvarez lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Alvarez throws a push kick but Hao slaps the foot to one side.
Hao fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Alvarez on the side of the head.
Hao tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hao has a takedown stuffed.
Hao misses with a double jab.
Alvarez tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alvarez keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Hao.
Hao cracks Alvarez with a good jab.
Alvarez uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hao.
And Alvarez responds with a good body kick, but Hao manages to step out the way in time.
Alvarez lands with a nice body kick.
Alvarez throws a head kick but Hao moves out of range.
Hao throws a low kick, looking for Alvarez's leg but Alvarez calmly moves out of range.
Alvarez misses with a series of wild punches.
Lu Hao is winning the standup battle so far.
Hao throws a lazy right hand but Alvarez sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Alvarez tries to clinch but Hao is having none of it.
An attempted straight right counter from Hao misses the target.
Alvarez lands a head kick. Hao smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez takes a swing at Hao's ribcage but misses.
A little feinted left hand from Hao on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Alvarez misses with a body kick.
Both fighters circling a little - Alvarez finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Hao moves out of range as Alvarez throws a body kick.
Hao drops down looking for a counter takedown but Alvarez sprawls and moves away.
Alvarez chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Hao can pounce on him.
Alvarez throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Alvarez throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hao. Alvarez does a little dance to reset his feet.
A nice inside leg kick there by Alvarez. That's going to slow Hao down.
Alvarez moves out of range of the strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hao checks a leg kick nicely.
It looked like Hao wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Hao throws a nice outside leg kick.
Alvarez staying out of range there.
Hao connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Alvarez momentarily.
Alvarez bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Hao connects with an inside leg kick.
Lu Hao is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Alvarez misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Alvarez on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Hao is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Alvarez throws a leg kick

and Hao counters with a shoot takedown. Alvarez fights it but they end up in guard.
Hao slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Alvarez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hao is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hao trying to control but Alvarez is working from the bottom.
Alvarez manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hao manages to get himself to full guard.

We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alvarez postures up.
Alvarez wants to pass the guard but Hao is keeping the position.
Alvarez sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Alvarez must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Hao pulls Alvarez in close to his closed guard and prevents Alvarez from doing any damage or advancing position.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Michael Alvarez.
I think Hao has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lu Hao!
A victorious Lu Hao thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.
Michael Alvarez spoke after the fight, saying 'I admit defeat. He did a good job.'.