PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Petey Tarfel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ellie Cunningham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Petey Tarfel has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Tarfel
vs
Cunningham

170 cm
24
142 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

155 cm
25
133 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

Good takedowns
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Petey Tarfel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ellie Cunningham!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Alexandre Firmino and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cunningham slips under a jab from Tarfel.
Cunningham is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Cunningham with a lazy takedown attempt

and Tarfel counters by moving into the clinch.

Tarfel escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cunningham fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Tarfel scores with a jab. Cunningham acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Tarfel closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Cunningham quickly recovers to half guard.
Tarfel is thwarting Cunningham's attempts to control the position.
Cunningham slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tarfel accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Cunningham is on top in guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cunningham trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarfel is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cunningham 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.
Cunningham throws a big right hand that misses.
Tarfel will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Cunningham working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Tarfel's head.
Cunningham trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Tarfel is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Tarfel is looking to take a break and control but Cunningham is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Tarfel wants to work for an arm triangle but Cunningham is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Cunningham manages to get to full guard.
Cunningham looking to control.
Cunningham has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Tarfel chips away with some ground and pound.

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

Cunningham wants to control from the top but Tarfel keeps moving.
Tarfel lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Cunningham looking to control.

Cunningham looking for a guillotine here but Tarfel defends easily.
Cunningham is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarfel lands a couple of elbows.
Tarfel scoring with punches to the head and body.
Tarfel tries to free his leg and advance position but Cunningham is retaining full guard.
Cunningham preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Tarfel postures up and lands a big shot to Cunningham's brow.
Cunningham should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tarfel sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Cunningham's guard.
Cunningham wants to get back to full guard.

Cunningham looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Petey Tarfel dominated that round.
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.

Tarfel gets a takedown into half guard.
Petey Tarfel overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Tarfel is thwarting Cunningham's attempts to control the position.
Tarfel stops Cunningham from getting back to his feet.

Cunningham looking for submissions off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tarfel passes into side control, despite Cunningham's attempt to control the position.
Cunningham being controlled for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cunningham is looking for a sweep.
Tarfel tries to advance to mount but can't.
Tarfel working the head with strikes.
Cunningham tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Tarfel wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Tarfel tries to advance to mount but can't.
Cunningham manages to work his way to half guard, despite Tarfel's best efforts.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarfel working Cunningham over with strikes.
Tarfel scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Cunningham slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Cunningham keeping moving, preventing Tarfel from controlling successfully.
Tarfel content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Tarfel pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cunningham is keeping the position for now.
Tarfel is working hard here to advance position.
Tarfel trying to control but Cunningham is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cunningham wants to sweep but no luck.
Tarfel sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Cunningham's guard.
Cunningham is trying to get back to full guard.
Tarfel content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Cunningham is trying to stand.

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.
Cunningham is trying to control but Tarfel passes into side control!
Tarfel trying to control the position but Cunningham is working away.
Cunningham can't do much from the bottom here.
Tarfel landing strikes.
You can see the frustration on Cunningham's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Tarfel looks up at the clock and then as Cunningham takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Tarfel smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Cunningham is breathing heavily.
You can see the frustration on Cunningham's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Petey Tarfel dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Cunningham fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Decent striking displayed by Tarfel there.

Cunningham gets caught flat footed, as Tarfel shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Tarfel preventing the sweep.
Tarfel passes into half guard.
Tarfel is trying to control. Cunningham wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cunningham trying to hold on to Tarfel's head to control him but Tarfel postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarfel content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Cunningham trying to control but Tarfel postures up.
Tarfel is keen to just control but Cunningham is a slippery customer.

Tarfel is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Cunningham has hold of Tarfel's hands but Tarfel slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Tarfel lands strikes from half guard.
Petey Tarfel is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two 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.
Tarfel looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Tarfel seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Cunningham does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Cunningham is looking to escape.
Tarfel prevents Cunningham from improving his position.
Tarfel controlling the pace.
Tarfel wants to lay and pray for a moment but Cunningham keeps working.
Cunningham has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Tarfel is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarfel wants to pass the guard but Cunningham is defending well.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

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

Cunningham looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Cunningham takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Cunningham is looking to control Tarfel's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Cunningham avoid being mounted?
Tarfel sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarfel's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Tarfel has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Ellie Cunningham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Tarfel has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Petey Tarfel showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Tarfel has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Petey Tarfel!
Petey Tarfel spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.