PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mr Charcoal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marco Polo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Polo is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: On The Floor. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Charcoal
vs
Polo

182 cm
45
155 lbs
32 - 19 - 0

178 cm
34
153 lbs
12 - 21 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

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 32 - 19 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mr Charcoal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 21 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Marco Polo!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Ren Mimura and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Polo scores with a hook.
Polo swings widly with a right hand
and Charcoal cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Polo scores with a leg kick.
Polo scores with a kick to the midsection.
Polo tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Charcoal cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Marco Polo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Polo shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Charcoal is looking for a counter combo.
Nice sprawl there from Charcoal as Polo shoots in.
Charcoal fires out a quick counter leg kick but Polo just manages to avoid it.
Polo tries for a takedown but Charcoal circles away easily
and Charcoal counters with a body kick.
Mr Charcoal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marco Polo.
Polo misses with a hook.
It looked like Charcoal was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Polo throws a head kick that misses.
A quick step to the side and Charcoal tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Polo missing with a left hand there. Charcoal was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Charcoal appears to be looking for a big counter.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Polo throws a body kick, spinning off balance

and Charcoal counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Charcoal.
Charcoal slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Charcoal passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Polo is looking for a sweep.
Polo takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Polo takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
You can see the frustration on Polo's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal in side control lands a decent elbow.
Charcoal throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Polo told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Polo tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Charcoal cracks Polo with an elbow. That is naaassty.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Charcoal thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Charcoal lands a nice forearm strike.
Polo avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Charcoal.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
An elbow from Charcoal crashes against the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Charcoal's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Charcoal lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Polo down.
Charcoal lands a decent elbow from side control.
Charcoal wants to lay and pray for a moment but Polo keeps working.

Charcoal swings around for an armbar but Polo sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Charcoal's guard.

Charcoal has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Polo can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Charcoal looking to hit a scissor sweep but Polo is one step ahead there.
Polo controlling from the top position.
Charcoal striking off his back but it's not causing Polo any problems.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Polo wants to control from the top but Charcoal keeps moving.
Charcoal throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Charcoal working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Polo.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Charcoal bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Polo's guard.

Charcoal preventing the sweep.
Charcoal lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Charcoal is in close to Polo's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Polo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Charcoal won't allow Polo to sweep him here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Charcoal postures up and lands a big shot to Polo's brow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mr Charcoal dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Polo swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Polo dives in for a single leg takedown but Charcoal sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Charcoal tries to counter with a takedown but Polo is quick to defend against it.
Polo dives in for a single leg takedown but Charcoal sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Polo wants to clinch up but Charcoal keeps it at a distance.
A chopping leg kick lands by Polo.
Polo swings widly with a right hand

and Charcoal decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Polo's guard.
Polo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Polo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Charcoal is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Polo can do to turn this around?
Polo controlling Charcoal's posture.
Polo looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Charcoal working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Polo's head.
Polo looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Charcoal puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Charcoal is nestled in close to Polo, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Charcoal missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Charcoal wants to take a breather but Polo is having none of it.
Polo is controlling Charcoal's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Polo is trying to stand up here but Charcoal is controlling him well.
Mr Charcoal overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Polo is trying to control but can't.
Charcoal thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Charcoal throwing shots but Polo is blocking nicely.
Polo wants to improve his position but Charcoal is controlling well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Polo has hold of Charcoal's hands but Charcoal slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Polo is trying to control but can't.
Polo is looking to improve his position.
Polo trying to control from the bottom.
Polo tries to roll over but Charcoal keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Charcoal is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Polo reverses the position - he's now on top in Charcoal's guard.
Charcoal trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Charcoal trying to control the position.
Charcoal keeping moving, preventing Polo from controlling successfully.
Polo is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Charcoal lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Polo has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Charcoal off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Charcoal circles away from the clinch attempt.
Charcoal throws a quick counter head kick but Polo was just out of range.
Polo tries for a takedown but Charcoal sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
It looked like Charcoal was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Polo.
Mr Charcoal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marco Polo.
Polo dives in for a single leg takedown but Charcoal sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Charcoal tried to counter with a leg kick but Polo avoided it.
Polo shoots in and drives through. Charcoal sprawls well.
Charcoal attempts a counter takedown but Polo avoids it well and moves away.
Charcoal stuffs the takedown attempt from Polo. Polo gets slowly back to his feet.
Charcoal is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Polo tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Charcoal avoids the head kick by Polo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mr Charcoal dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Polo throws a poor cross that misses
enabling Charcoal to counter with a crisp jab.
Good standup being displayed there by Polo as he connects with a hook.
Polo dives in for a single leg takedown but Charcoal sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Charcoal feinted with a counter takedown.
Polo with a poor takedown
and Charcoal counters with a good low kick that Polo was not able to check.
Polo shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Charcoal defends it nicely.
Mr Charcoal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marco Polo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Polo shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Charcoal works his way to full guard. Good work.
Charcoal tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Polo tries to free his leg and advance position but Charcoal is retaining full guard.
Charcoal preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Charcoal is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Charcoal winds up and cracks Polo with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Polo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Polo keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Polo makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Polo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal postures up and lands a big shot to Polo's brow.
Charcoal working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Charcoal is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Charcoal works over Polo with some ground and pound from guard.

Polo is rocked!
Polo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Charcoal's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Polo is still in real trouble! Can Charcoal finish him?
Charcoal passes into half guard.
Polo seems to have recovered his senses.
Charcoal working Polo over with strikes.
Charcoal drops an elbow to the side of Polo's head.
Charcoal 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.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Polo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Nice strikes from Charcoal there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal working the head and body with strikes.
Charcoal lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

Charcoal is trying to work for a kimura but Polo is defending well.
Polo avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Charcoal.
Charcoal scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Charcoal throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Polo to regain full guard.
Charcoal wants to pass the guard but Polo is keeping the position.
Charcoal being controlled here momentarily.
Marco Polo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Charcoal postures up.
Charcoal makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Polo is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Charcoal is aware though and is defending well.
Polo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Charcoal distracts Polo with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Charcoal with a flurry of punches that miss.
Polo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Charcoal is in close to Polo's body, working some short punches and elbows.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Charcoal landing with the ground and pound.
Charcoal throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mr Charcoal showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Charcoal 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mr Charcoal!
Mr Charcoal very nearly forgot to thank ONI amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.