PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ryszard Wojcik (ranked 1986 p4p, 242 weight class) and Sam Rinaldi (ranked 1475 p4p, 175 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Wojcik
vs
Rinaldi

177 cm
26
197 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

187 cm
27
195 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ryszard Wojcik!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Sam Rinaldi!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Sergei Dronov and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wojcik pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Rinaldi back to the cage. Wojcik follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Wojcik cracks Rinaldi with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Wojcik jabs Rinaldi to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Rinaldi has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.

Wojcik closes the distance and clinches.
Rinaldi tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Wojcik smiles and moves away.
Wojcik looks to clinch
and Rinaldi counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

It looks like Ryszard Wojcik has been cut.
Wojcik on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Wojcik throws a lazy uppercut
enabling Rinaldi to counter with a crisp jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Wojcik throws a right and a left that Rinaldi avoids nicely.

Wojcik moves into the clinch.
Wojcik misses with a punch to the body.
Wojcik tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Rinaldi's elbow.
Rinaldi is stalling here.
Wojcik digs a right hand into Rinaldi's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Rinaldi's gas tank.
Rinaldi prevents a body shot from Wojcik.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wojcik tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Rinaldi.
Rinaldi blocks a body shot from Wojcik.
Wojcik lands a nice uppercut.
Rinaldi tries a body shot but Wojcik blocks it.
Wojcik tries to throw a body punch but Rinaldi avoids it by throwing Wojcik back against the cage.
Rinaldi tries to work over Wojcik's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Wojcik gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Rinaldi.
Wojcik working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Rinaldi breaks from the clinch.
A jab from Wojcik does it's job there.

Rinaldi feints and as Wojcik raises his hands in defense, Rinaldi changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Wojcik is trying to keep Rinaldi in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rinaldi controlling from the top position.
Wojcik on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Wojcik tries to get out of the position.
Wojcik wants to improve his position but instead Rinaldi has moved into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wojcik is looking to improve his position.
Rinaldi perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Wojcik is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rinaldi scores with a couple of nice shots.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Rinaldi is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Wojcik controlling the position for now.
Rinaldi controlling the action here.
Rinaldi lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Well, if Rinaldi is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wojcik taking some punishment here, with Rinaldi in his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rinaldi controlling the action here.
Rinaldi has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Wojcik on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rinaldi controlling the action here.
Rinaldi is thwarting Wojcik's attempts to control the position.
Wojcik is positioning himself well to prevent Rinaldi advancing to mount.
Rinaldi is nestled in close to Wojcik, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Rinaldi lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Wojcik is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Rinaldi jumps into side control!
Wojcik tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Rinaldi wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wojcik wants to control but Rinaldi postures up.
Wojcik is being controlled here.
Rinaldi scoring with punches from side control.
Wojcik is working to avoid the ground and pound but Rinaldi connects with a decent elbow.
Wojcik tries to buck Rinaldi off but Rinaldi is having none of it.
Wojcik is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Rinaldi in side control lands a decent elbow.
Rinaldi has knee on belly and moves into mount.
BOOM! Rinaldi connects with a massive shot to the dome!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rinaldi content just to control the position here.
A nice elbow there by Rinaldi.
Oooooh, big shot lands for Rinaldi! Wojcik is hurt baaadly! Rinaldi is firing away with more strikes - Wojcik is covering up... the ref is warning him to do something. He's just covering up though still and the ref has to step in to end the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Sam Rinaldi! Sam Rinaldi retains his middleweight title!
Sam Rinaldi tried to hype himself up post fight but didn't word it too well and it ended up with him sounding like a bit of a tool.