PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dave Semenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mauricio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rua is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Shogun. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Semenko
vs
Rua

183 cm
19
213 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

186 cm
22
212 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Pure Juice
Syndicate Drugs

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dave Semenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Rua!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Matheus Silva and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Semenko avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Semenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Rua pinned against the cage. Rua gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rua lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Semenko on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Rua. Rua obviously looking to wear him down.
Semenko fails to land the takedown.
Semenko throws a head kick that misses.
Rua throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Rua lands with a kick to the ribs.
Semenko throws a half hearted mid kick.
Rua thows a body shot but no joy.
Rua tries to land a body kick
and Semenko counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Semenko takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Nice uppercut there from Rua.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua throws a leg kick but Semenko checks it.
Semenko blocks a jab.
Rua turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Semenko moves out of range as Rua strikes.
Semenko keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Rua.
Rua closes the distance looking to clinch

and Semenko holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Semenko blocking some punches.
Semenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Rua throws a punch but it's blocked by Semenko.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Semenko lands a body shot in the clinch.
Rua gets underhooks to prevent Semenko's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dave Semenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from Semenko.
Rua softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Semenko blocks an uppercut.
A short right from Rua.

It looks like Dave Semenko has been cut.
A short right from Semenko on the inside.
Rua takes an elbow to the temple.
Semenko has Rua pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Rua manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Rua gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Semenko takes a knee right on the jaw!
Semenko tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Semenko landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Semenko fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Rua misses with the head strike.
Semenko takes an elbow to the temple.
Rua with a knee to the head.
Rua scores with a knee to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Semenko using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rua has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Semenko dodges an elbow strike from Rua.
Rua lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Rua working aggressively here.
Semenko misses with a knee strike.
Semenko is breathing heavily.
Nice elbow from Semenko.
Semenko landing knees to the head.
Semenko drops down looking for an ankle pick but Rua pulls his leg out and moves away.
Rua is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Semenko.
Rua avoids the head kick by Semenko.
Rua chopping away at his opponent's legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Semenko fails in his attempt to clinch.
Rua swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Rua bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Semenko's head.
Rua is looking to clinch.
Rua tries to clinch up but Semenko circles away and keeps his distance.
A jab from Rua finds it's way through Semenko's defenses.
Nice defenses there by Rua.
Semenko avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Rua connects with a nice looking jab.
Semenko staying out of range there.
Mauricio Rua is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Good work by Rua as he checks the leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua misses with a body kick.
Rua explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Semenko changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Rua tries to avoid it but Semenko manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Rua to the ground. Rua escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Rua thuds his shin into the meat of Semenko's side.
Semenko tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
The fighters circling - Rua throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Rua lands a nice looking body kick.
Semenko takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Rua throws a quick inside leg kick.
Rua cracks Semenko with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rua tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Semenko was well out of range. Poor timing from Rua.
Semenko shoots in looking for a takedown. Rua tries to sprawl out of it but Semenko keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Rua manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Semenko. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
Rua tries to clinch but Semenko moves away
and Semenko counters with a nice body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mauricio Rua dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Dave Semenko's cut.
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.

Rua thows a left - swing and a miss!
Rua tries to clinch up.
Rua is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Rua ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Semenko drives through and clinches with Rua against the cage.
Semenko dodges an elbow strike from Rua.
Semenko with an attempt at a knee that misses.
A body shot lands from Rua.
Semenko blocks an uppercut.
Semenko taking a breather.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Semenko blocks it.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Semenko blocking some punches.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Rua lands a right hand that snaps the head of Semenko backwards.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Semenko tries for a takedown but Rua manages to get underhooks.
Rua pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Rua fails to land.
Rua lands with a left to the head.
Semenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Semenko trying to land knees to the body.
Rua stops a takedown attempt from Semenko.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Semenko goes for a takedown attempt but Rua pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dave Semenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rua misses with the combination.
Rua is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Rua lands with a kick to the temple. Semenko shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Semenko misses with a head kick.
Rua throws a combination that misses
and Semenko counters with a head kick. That will keep Rua thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Rua lands a nice shot to the body.
Rua fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Semenko.
Semenko bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Semenko shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rua as he jumps to the side.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Semenko misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Rua tries to bum rush Semenko with a series of wild strikes but Semenko uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
The fight stays on the outside here - Rua looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Semenko blocks the body kick.
Semenko throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Rua scores with a spinning back kick!
Rua looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Semenko tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Semenko sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Rua takes the fight into the clinch.
Semenko takes a knee right on the jaw!
Rua trying to land knees to the body.
Rua connects with a knee to the head.
Semenko tries for a takedown but Rua manages to get underhooks.
Rua misses with the head strike.
Semenko misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rua.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Semenko is blocking nicely.
A head punch on the inside from Semenko fails to land.
Rua misses with a knee strike.
Semenko throws a knee to the head but misses.
Rua fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Semenko with a knee to the head.
Semenko throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Semenko wants a takedown.
Semenko connects with a knee to the head.
Semenko tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Semenko.
A head punch on the inside from Semenko fails to land.
Rua landing knees to the head.
Rua throws a head punch that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua misses with a punch on the inside.
Semenko tries to land knees in the clinch but Rua avoids the damage to the body.
Rua lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Semenko looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Rua as Semenko tries to tie him up.
Semenko tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Semenko unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rua lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Semenko blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rua working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Semenko has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Semenko has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Semenko is blocking nicely.
Semenko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Rua's face.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Semenko throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rua blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua misses with a hook from the clinch.
Semenko scores with a shot to the side of Rua's head.
Semenko tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Semenko with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Mauricio Rua seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Semenko blocks it.
Semenko has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Rua is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. Semenko lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Semenko tries to score a body lock takedown but Rua shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mauricio Rua showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Dave Semenko's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Semenko throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Rua moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Mauricio Rua seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A head kick by Semenko misses

and Rua counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Rua.
Semenko misses with a knee strike.
Rua blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Semenko blocks it.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Semenko blocks with his arms.
Rua has a couple of punches blocked by Semenko.
Semenko throws an elbow but it misses.
Semenko lands a nice uppercut.
Rua throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Semenko stalling against the cage.
Semenko throws an elbow but it misses.
Rua doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Semenko with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Semenko avoids the elbow strike from Rua, against the cage.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Semenko is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Rua scores with a shot to the side of Semenko's head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rua misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Semenko.
Semenko has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Rua avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Rua lands a shot to the body.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Semenko just misses with a elbow thrown towards Rua's brow.
Rua tries a body shot but Semenko blocks it.
Semenko throws an elbow but it misses.
Rua working aggressively here.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Semenko is blocking nicely.
Semenko landing knees to the body.
Semenko looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua throws a head punch that misses.
Semenko tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Semenko misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rua.
Semenko blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Semenko creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Semenko stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Semenko creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Rua throws an elbow that misses.
Semenko stalling the fight.
Rua wants to stall.
Semenko tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Semenko.
Semenko tries to stall but Rua uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Semenko with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Semenko scores with a knee to the head.
Semenko doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Semenko lands a nice shot to the body.
Semenko tries to work over Rua's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Semenko gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Rua blocks the elbow strike.
Semenko using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rua has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from Semenko.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Semenko landing knees to the body.

Semenko has picked Rua up - he's going for a ride! Semenko dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Rua blocking the ground and pound attempt from Semenko.
Rua wants to get back to his feet.
Still in half guard, Semenko seems content to control.
Rua is trying to stand back up but Semenko is controlling him
Semenko sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rua defending well though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Semenko prevents Rua from standing back up.
Semenko 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.

Semenko seems to be looking for submissions.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Rua throws a good cross that connects.
Rua looks to land a body kick but Semenko moved away.
Rua stuffs the takedown attempt from Semenko. Semenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Rua bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Semenko's head.

Rua fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Semenko, pushing him back against the cage.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Semenko looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's four 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.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Rua takes a knee right on the jaw!
A bit of stalling here from Semenko.
Semenko looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Semenko.
Semenko using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rua has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Semenko blocks an uppercut.
Rua throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Semenko looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Semenko blocks it with crossed arms.
Semenko lands a nice knee to the body.
Semenko manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Semenko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Rua's face.
Semenko misses with some punches.
Dave Semenko has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rua lands a right hand.
Rua misses with a knee strike.
Semenko misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rua.
Semenko comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Rua blocks the elbow strike.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Semenko is blocking nicely.
Semenko lands with a short shot to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Semenko showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Rua 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mauricio Rua!