PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Rashad Soto (ranked 23864 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lamont Shaw (ranked 5988 p4p, 444 weight class). Lamont Shaw will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Soto
vs
Shaw

154 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

170 cm
19
144 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Rashad Soto!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Lamont Shaw!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Ryoma Takatsuka and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Shaw rushes Soto and presses him up against the cage.
Shaw letting Soto take a breather here.
Shaw is working for takedown but Soto is calmly controlling the position for now.

Shaw decides to pull guard.
Shaw wants to sweep here but Soto controlling him for the moment.
Soto throws a big elbow that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Soto accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Soto postures up in Shaw's guard and throws a big left but Shaw blocks it.
Soto is looking to work some ground and pound but Shaw has wrist control.
Soto could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Soto trying to control the position from guard on top but Shaw is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Shaw has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Soto can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Shaw had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Soto defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaw looking to control.

Shaw working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Soto doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Soto manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Shaw working for submissions but it's allowed Soto to get to half guard.
Shaw keeps control of the position for the meantime.

Shaw actively working from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Shaw wants to get back to his feet.
Soto throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Shaw gets full guard.
Shaw wants to sweep here but Soto controlling him for the moment.
Soto trying to control the position from guard on top but Shaw is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Shaw working for a triangle but Soto defends it easily.
Soto stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Shaw swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Shaw escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Soto gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Soto postures up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Soto gets tackled into the cage by Shaw. Shaw maintains the clinch.
Soto trying to stall but Shaw improves his position.

Soto manages to break the clinch.
Shaw misses the jab.
Shaw misses with a takedown
enabling Soto to counter with a crisp jab.
Shaw looks winded!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Soto enables Shaw to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Soto manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Soto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Soto bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Shaw's guard.

Shaw controlling Soto's posture.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Shaw can do anything to dispel that myth.
Soto loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Shaw tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Soto scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Soto avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Soto postures up in Shaw's guard and throws a big left but Shaw blocks it.
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 Rashad Soto will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Shaw keeps the fight on the outside.

Soto rushes Shaw and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Soto presses Shaw against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

Shaw decides to pull guard.
Soto with a flurry of punches that miss.
Shaw trying to keep a closed guard but Soto is proving a slippery customer.
Shaw keeping moving, preventing Soto from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shaw 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.
Shaw is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soto trying to control the position from guard on top but Shaw is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Shaw looking for a guillotine here but Soto defends easily.
Shaw 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.
Shaw is pulling down on Soto's head. It's preventing any offense from Soto, at least for the moment.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Soto postures up in Shaw's guard and throws a big left but Shaw blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Soto with a flurry of punches that miss.
Soto might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Soto throwing strikes but missing.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Shaw shoots and misses
and Soto counters with a body kick that stops Shaw in his tracks momentarily.
Shaw shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Soto but Soto pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Soto tries to counter by clinching up but Shaw breaks away and moves out of range.
Shaw is breathing heavily.

Shaw gets the takedown into side control.
Shaw working away.
Soto manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Shaw is thwarting Soto's attempts to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soto is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Shaw with the ground and pound but Soto uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Soto lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Shaw has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Soto has passed into side control.

Soto tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Soto has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Rashad Soto overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Shaw can't do much from the bottom here.
Soto is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Shaw can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaw is looking for a sweep.
Soto landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Shaw is looking for a sweep.
Soto lands some shots froms side control.
Shaw is looking to regain half guard here but Soto keeps moving and retains side control.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Shaw wants to control but Soto postures up.

Soto is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Shaw has escaped the position, nice work there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rashad Soto dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Shaw shoots in looking for a takedown. Soto tries to sprawl out of it but Shaw keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Soto manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Shaw misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Shaw throws a combination that misses
and Soto counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Soto shoots in and bounces Shaw off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Shaw takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Shaw controlling Soto's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soto preventing the sweep.
Soto throwing strikes but missing.
Shaw pulls Soto in close to prevent any damage.

Soto thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Soto drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Soto jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Soto throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two 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.
Shaw lands with a heel strike from the guard.

Shaw had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Soto defends it easily.

Shaw has an active guard here but Soto has managed to pass into half guard.

Soto is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Shaw defends it well.
The fighters are battling for position here. Shaw manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soto wants to control from the top but Shaw keeps moving.

Soto thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Shaw keeping moving, preventing Soto from controlling successfully.
Shaw wants to control the position but Soto says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Shaw blocking the ground and pound attempt from Soto.
Shaw wants to get back to full guard.
Soto not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Shaw taking some punishment here, with Soto in his half guard.
Shaw moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soto trying to control but Shaw is working from the bottom.
Shaw is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Soto preventing the sweep.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Shaw misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Soto is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Shaw.
Soto stuffs the takedown.
Rashad Soto has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lamont Shaw.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Soto tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Lamont Shaw has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rashad Soto is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Shaw misses with a combination

and Soto counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rashad Soto showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Soto, 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 30:28
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rashad Soto!