PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ed Ruth (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mario Barrera (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Ruth
vs
Barrera

185 cm
24
213 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

190 cm
26
205 lbs
9 - 2 - 1

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ed Ruth!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 1, fighting out of New York, Mario Barrera!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Steven Brown and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barrera misses with an attempted mid kick.
Barrera throws a body kick, spinning off balance
enabling Ruth to counter with a crisp jab.
Barrera moves away from the strike by Ruth.
Nice body kick there by Barrera.
Barrera scores with a sloppy right hand. Ruth should have avoided that one.
Ruth misses with an uppercut.
Barrera looks to throw a body kick

and Ruth counters with a takedown into side control.
Ruth is working Barrera over with some ground and pound from side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ruth working the ground and pound but Barrera is defending the strikes.
Ruth trying to control the position but Barrera is working away.
Sloppy strikes there by Ruth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruth throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Ruth has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barrera parries the strikes from Ruth easily there. Ruth is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Barrera to escape.
Ruth in side control, throwing shots but Barrera defends.
Barrera is looking for a sweep.
Ruth in side control lands a decent elbow.
Ruth throws an elbow but Barrera slips to the side and avoids it well.
Barrera is trying to control Ruth's posture but Ruth avoids it.
The strikes coming from Ruth are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Ruth working the ground and pound but Barrera is defending the strikes.
Ruth landing a few strikes.
Barrera avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Ruth.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barrera dodges the ground and pound from Ruth.
Sloppy strikes there by Ruth.
Barrera is trying to get back to half guard.
Ruth working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Barrera takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Barrera is not content to let Ruth control the position.
Ruth sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Barrera is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Ruth tries to score with some ground and pound. Barrera controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Ruth looking to control but instead Barrera has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruth is looking to take a break and control but Barrera is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ruth missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Ruth lands with a punch from half guard.
Ruth missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Ruth working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Ruth is looking to take a break and control but Barrera is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ruth throws a strike but Barrera avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Ruth is looking to work some ground and pound but Barrera has wrist control.
Barrera preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Ruth distracts Barrera with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barrera managing to control the position.
Ruth 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.
Ruth wants to control from the top but Barrera keeps moving.
Ruth trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ruth lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ruth throws an elbow that misses. Barrera uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Ruth's guard. Nice move by Barrera!

Barrera is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Ruth looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ed Ruth 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.

Ruth ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Barrera moves away.
Ruth swings widly with a right hand
and Barrera counters with a body kick that stops Ruth in his tracks momentarily.
Barrera misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ruth.
Ruth feinted with a counter takedown.
Ruth takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Ruth is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Barrera can do to turn this around?
Ruth cracks a nice hook into Barrera's ribs.
Barrera tries to land a front kick but Ruth steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Ruth doesn't succeed with the takedown
enabling Barrera to counter with a crisp jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barrera bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Barrera swings for the body but Ruth moves out of range.
Barrera throws a head kick that misses.
Ruth is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
A jab from Ruth finds it's way through Barrera's defenses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barrera lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Ruth throws a jab when Barrera was well out of range.
Barrera jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ruth scores with a shot to the body.
Barrera throws a wild body kick that Ruth sees coming a mile off.
Ruth throws a hook but Barrera avoids it easily.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Barrera.
Nice defenses there by Ruth.
Ruth tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Barrera was well out of range. Poor timing from Ruth.
Ruth rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Barrera counters with a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barrera keeps Ruth at a distance using the push kick.
Ruth keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Barrera uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ruth.
Barrera is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Ruth lunges at Barrera with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Barrera's hand.
Barrera lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Mario Barrera is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ruth lunges at Barrera with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Barrera's hand.
Ruth lands a slapping body shot.
Barrera misses with an attempted mid kick.
As Barrera looks to move away, Ruth throws a big counter combo but Barrera just gets out of the way.
Barrera tries to score with a low kick but Ruth moves his leg out of the way.
Ruth catches Barrera with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Ruth looks to land a left hand but Barrera moved out of range nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruth throws a sloppy body shot
and Barrera counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Barrera steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ruth.
Barrera only half commits to the counter leg kick.
Barrera bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Ruth lands with a nice body punch.
Ruth missing with a left hand there. Barrera was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Barrera uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ruth.
No joy there for Ruth, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Ruth throws a hook to the side of Barrera's head but Barrera sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Barrera takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Barrera scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barrera tries to work over Ruth's front leg with a kick but Ruth checks it.
Barrera goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Barrera cracks Ruth with a good jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barrera misses the shot to the body.
Ruth takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Ruth connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Barrera dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Barrera lands a nice shot to the body.
Barrera swings for the body but Ruth moves out of range.
An attempted straight right counter from Ruth misses the target.
Ruth moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Ruth waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Barrera.
Barrera appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mario Barrera showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Barrera throws a quick inside leg kick.
Ruth throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ruth takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Barrera jabs Ruth right on the nose. Ruth blinks but takes it well.
Ruth takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Barrera slips under a jab.
Some wild striking there from Ruth.
Barrera tries to counter by closing the distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barrera cracks Ruth with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Ruth stalks Barrera and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Barrera's face. Barrera staggers backwards, shaken.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barrera misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ruth.
It looked like Ruth was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Barrera throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Ruth looks to land a right hand but Barrera moved out of range.
Ruth rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Barrera moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ruth misses with a jab, cross combination.
Barrera lands with a nice body punch.
Ruth takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Barrera defending well as Ruth loads up on a big left hand.
Barrera uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ruth.
Barrera lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barrera throws a low kick but it's checked well by Ruth.
Barrera uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ruth.
Barrera uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Ruth.
Ruth takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Ruth sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Mario Barrera seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Barrera takes a swing at Ruth's ribcage but misses.
Mario Barrera seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ruth shoots for a takedown but Barrera saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Nice body kick there by Barrera.
A slapping leg kick lands for Barrera.
Ruth misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruth misses with a right hand
and Barrera counters with a body kick that stops Ruth in his tracks momentarily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Barrera throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Barrera scores with a punch to the head.
Ruth takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Barrera throws a jab when Ruth was well out of range.
Barrera fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Ruth manages to avoid it.
Barrera swings for the body but Ruth moves out of range.
Ruth throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Barrera counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Ruth misses with a looping left.
Barrera doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Ruth takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Ruth throws a shot from downtown. Barrera moves away and avoids it.
Ruth will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barrera changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Barrera slips under a jab from Ruth.
Ruth takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Barrera looks to land a combination but Ruth avoids it well.
Ruth throws a shot from downtown. Barrera moves away and avoids it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Barrera connects with a nice looking jab.
Barrera steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ruth.
An inside leg kick lands from Barrera.
A looping hook to the body misses from Barrera. Ruth does a little dance to reset his feet.
Barrera throws a right hand that Ruth ducks under and follows up with a left that Ruth also avoids with ease.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mario Barrera comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Barrera has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 James Atkins scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mario Barrera!