PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Florencio Short (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Papa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tom Papa has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Short
vs
Papa

222 cm
18
161 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
19
164 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Florencio Short!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tom Papa!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yuuki Gou and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Papa misses with a takedown

and Short counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Short.

Short escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Papa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Short.
Short looked to counter with a high kick but didn't commit.
Papa goes for a double leg but Short avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Short continues to drive forward.
Papa shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Short as he jumps to the side.
Florencio Short has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Papa.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Papa throws a head kick that misses.

Short closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Papa blocks an elbow strike from Short.
Papa fails to pull the fight into his guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Papa breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Papa looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Short is fending him off so far but Papa persists. Nope, Short circles away and we're back to standing.
Short drops down looking for a counter takedown but Papa sprawls and moves away.
Short leaves Papa with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Papa tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
As Papa tries to get set, Short tries to push him back and clinch up but Papa manages to avoid the attempt.
Papa is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Short changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Papa misses with a takedown attempt
and Short counters with a nice low kick that buckles Papa's knee momentarily.
Papa swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Short fires out a quick counter leg kick but Papa just manages to avoid it.
Short keeps Papa at a distance using the push kick.
Papa looks winded!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Short moves into the clinch successfully.
Short displaying some good clinch control by pressing Papa up against the cage.
Short effectively controlling the action here.
Short seems to have come into the fight with the intention of avoiding any damage in the clinch, rather than actually showing any aggression.

Short breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Papa moves in looking to clinch but Short pushes him off.
Short wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Papa tries to clinch up.

Papa bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Short sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Short is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Short actively working from the bottom here.

Papa is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Short defends it well.
Papa is trying to control the action in half guard but Short is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

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.
Short is looking to improve his position.
Papa wants to pass the guard but Short is defending well.
Short tries to get to full guard but Papa has control of the leg.
Papa wants to lay and pray for a moment but Short keeps working.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Short tries to roll over but Papa keeps him under control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Florencio Short dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Short gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Short stalling against the cage.
Papa is trying to stall.
Papa tries for a takedown but Short manages to get underhooks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Papa can't find room to land a body shot as Short controls the action.
Short scores with a shot to the side of Papa's head.
Short is looking to take this one to the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stalling in the clinch from Papa.
Short prevents Papa from breaking the clinch.

Short breaks from the clinch.
Short connects with an inside leg kick.
Papa wants to clinch up but Short keeps it at a distance.
Papa shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Short but Short pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Papa fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Short avoids it really well and circles away.
It appears Short was looking to counter with a kick there.
Florencio Short has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Papa.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Short drives through and clinches with Papa against the cage.

Papa wants the takedown. Short is fighting it off but Papa persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Short's guard against the cage.
Short is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Short avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Papa postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Short is pulling down on Papa's head to control his posture.
Short is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Papa can do to turn this around?
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Short not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Short really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Papa decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Papa fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
As Papa tries to get set, Short tries to push him back and clinch up but Papa manages to avoid the attempt.
Papa is looking to clinch.
Short tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Papa manages to circle out of the way.
Short thows a leg kick but Papa checks it

and Papa counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Short!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Papa controlling from side mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Short is trying to control Papa's posture but Papa avoids it.

Papa wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Short, who protects the arm well.
Short is letting Papa control him for a moment.
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 Florencio Short will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Papa throws a half hearted mid kick.

Papa drives through with a takedown into guard.
Short is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Short keeping full guard, as Papa tries to pass.
Short keeping moving, preventing Papa from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Papa is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Papa stands up and waves to Short to follow him.
Papa has a takedown stuffed.
Papa shoots in but Short avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Papa takes a swing at Short's ribcage but misses.

Papa shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

Short manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Papa keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.
Papa takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stalling in the clinch from Short.
Papa looking for a takedown.
Florencio Short has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Papa.
Papa wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Papa working hard to break the clinch.
Papa tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Short smiles and moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Short doesn't manage to clinch there - Papa circles away.
Papa misses with a kick to the body.
Short closes the distance and clinches up with Papa, looking for a takedown. Short pushes Papa against the cage but Papa circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Papa! But no joy.
Nice takedown defense from Short. No joy for Papa on that attempt.
Short half committed to a counter leg kick.
Papa throws a sloppy head kick

and Short counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Short postures up in Papa's guard and throws a big left but Papa blocks it.
Papa is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Short accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Short working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Papa's head.

Papa throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Papa working a defensive guard here.
Papa preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Tom Papa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Florencio Short is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Papa trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Florencio Short showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Short, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Florencio Short!