PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Burl Morales (ranked 24078 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jack Lourdez (ranked 3359 p4p, 0 weight class). Burl Morales has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Morales
vs
Lourdez

205 cm
25
279 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

179 cm
20
219 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Burl Morales!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jack Lourdez!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Sosuke Kotani and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Lourdez moves into range and clinches up with Morales.
Morales wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Lourdez has him pressed against the cage.
Lourdez avoiding damage as Morales throws knees to the body.
Lourdez gets underhooks to prevent Morales's takedown attempt.

Lourdez escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Morales throws a front kick that sends Lourdez stumbling back into the cage.

Lourdez pushes Morales up against the cage in a clinch.
Lourdez stalling.
Morales has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Morales breaks from the clinch.

Lourdez gets in close and instigates a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lourdez jumps guard but Morales turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Morales wants a takedown.
Morales taking a breather.
Lourdez missing with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morales drags the fight down to the ground.
Lourdez trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Lourdez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Morales is keeping the position for now.
Morales wants to get back to his feet but Lourdez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Lourdez seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Morales is looking to stand up but Lourdez isn't so interested in that idea.
Morales is pulling down on Lourdez's head. It's preventing any offense from Lourdez, at least for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Lourdez looking to pass the guard.
Lourdez showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Lourdez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Morales is fending him off so far but Lourdez persists. Nope, Morales circles away and we're back to standing.

Morales tries to keep at a distance but Lourdez has taken the fight into the clinch.
Lourdez misses with a punch on the inside.
Lourdez tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Morales smiles and moves away.
Burl Morales has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jack Lourdez.

Lourdez closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lourdez tries to pull guard but Morales holds him up against the cage and eventually Lourdez drops back down to his feet.
Morales is trying to pull guard but Lourdez has him pressed against the cage.

Morales jumps into guard, dragging Lourdez to the mat.
Morales tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morales is working hard here to advance position.
Lourdez wants to control from the top but Morales keeps moving.

Morales is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Lourdez presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Lourdez breaks the clinch.
Lourdez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Lourdez rushes Morales and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Lourdez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Lourdez ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Lourdez no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Morales sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morales's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Further stalling from Morales.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jack Lourdez 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.

Lourdez scores with a kick to the body.

Morales tries to sprawl but Lourdez drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Morales has his hands clasped together around Lourdez's back. He's all about the action.
Lourdez looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morales is controlling Lourdez's trapped leg to prevent Lourdez from advancing to side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lourdez wants to take a breather but Morales is having none of it.
Lourdez is looking to stand up but he'll have to free his leg first. Instead, Morales manages to get to full guard.
Morales pulls Lourdez in close to his closed guard and prevents Lourdez from doing any damage or advancing position.
Morales keeping moving, preventing Lourdez from controlling successfully.
Morales is pulling down on Lourdez's head to control his posture.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Lourdez scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lourdez is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Morales makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Morales.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Morales manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Morales fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Lourdez's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Burl Morales is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lourdez shoots in looking for a takedown. Morales tries to sprawl out of it but Lourdez keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Morales manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lourdez moves into the clinch.
Morales goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Lourdez looking to throw knees to the head but Morales is blocking nicely.

Morales pulls Lourdez into guard.
Morales tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morales is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morales has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Lourdez must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Lourdez stops Morales from standing up.
Morales seems keen to control Lourdez's posture.
Morales wants to sweep here but Lourdez controlling him for the moment.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Morales pushes Lourdez off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
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 Burl Morales will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Lourdez shoots in looking for a takedown but Morales manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Lourdez's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Lourdez clinches with his opponent.

Morales ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Morales no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Morales is controlling Lourdez's posture.
Lourdez postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Lourdez drops back, looking for a kneebar! Morales looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Morales looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Morales!

Morales is staying tight to Lourdez's torso, preventing him from escaping.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lourdez wants to control but Morales postures up.
Burl Morales overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morales moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morales seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Lourdez for as long as he can get away with.
Morales working away.
Morales controlling from side mount.
Morales in side control lands a decent elbow.

Morales stands up and beckons Lourdez to his feet.
Nice sprawl there from Morales as Lourdez shoots in.
Lourdez takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Lourdez clinches with his opponent.
Lourdez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Morales breaks the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Lourdez. Morales does a little dance to reset his feet.

Lourdez gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Morales lands a takedown into guard.
Morales sitting in guard, not really doing much.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Morales.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Morales is stinking the place up with his stalling.
Lourdez is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morales controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Morales drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Morales jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Lourdez is looking for a triangle but Morales pushes his legs off easily.
Lourdez is looking to stand up but Morales isn't so interested in that idea.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

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

Morales has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Lourdez is on him like a limpet, forcing Morales back against the cage.
Morales tries to pull guard but Lourdez won't allow it.

Morales ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Morales no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Lourdez trying to control but Morales is working from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lourdez trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Lourdez wants to stand but Morales is controlling his posture from full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Burl Morales showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Morales has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Burl Morales!