PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rob Rosario (ranked 5205 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rick Balboa (ranked 6589 p4p, 0 weight class). Rick Balboa looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Rosario
vs
Balboa

224 cm
19
278 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

200 cm
20
250 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rob Rosario!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rick Balboa!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Gwen Towbar and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Balboa rushes Rosario and presses him up against the cage.
Balboa looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!

Rosario breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Balboa fails with a takedown attempt.
Rosario is trying hard to land a takedown here. Balboa sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Balboa shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Rosario as he avoids it easily.

Balboa gets caught flat footed, as Rosario shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Rosario trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rosario distracts Balboa with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Rosario throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Balboa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rosario lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rosario working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Balboa's head.
Rosario with a flurry of punches that miss.
Rosario lands a couple of decent looking shots.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rosario postures up in Balboa's guard and throws a big left but Balboa blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rosario throws a big right hand that misses.
Rosario with a flurry of punches that miss.
Rosario working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Balboa's head.
Rosario will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rosario with a nice head shot there.
Rosario postures up and lands a big shot to Balboa's brow.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
Rosario lands a couple of elbows.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
Rosario with a flurry of punches that miss.
Rosario with a flurry of punches that miss.
Rosario in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Rosario is looking to work some ground and pound but Balboa has wrist control.
Rosario stands up over Balboa, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rosario content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
Rosario working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rosario really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Rosario postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Rosario throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Rosario postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rosario's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rosario postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Rosario postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Rosario cracks Balboa with a solid left hand.
Rosario working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rosario cracks Balboa with a solid left hand.
Balboa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rosario with a nice head shot there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Balboa is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Rosario landing with the ground and pound.
Rosario postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Rosario lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
Rosario lands a couple of elbows.
Rosario postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Balboa wants to sweep but no luck.
Rosario content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Rosario missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Rosario chips away with some ground and pound.
Rosario postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rosario distracts Balboa with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Balboa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rosario is looking to work some ground and pound but Balboa has wrist control.
Rosario scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Balboa is looking for a triangle but Rosario pushes his legs off easily.
Rosario throwing strikes from guard but Balboa blocks nicely.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Rosario with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rosario throws a big right hand that misses.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Rosario - that will leave a mark!
Rosario dives in for a single leg takedown but Balboa sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Balboa was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rob Rosario dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Balboa moves into the clinch.
Balboa tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Rosario just stands there and leans against the cage.
Rosario lands a knee to the head.

Rosario ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Rosario no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Rosario lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Rosario throwing strikes but missing.
Rosario cracks Balboa with a solid left hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balboa has momentary wrist control but Rosario slips an elbow through the middle.
Rosario scoring with punches to the head and body.
Rosario trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Rosario postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Balboa is trying to control the position but Rosario postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rosario connects with a couple of short punches.
Balboa is breathing heavily.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Rosario accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Rosario loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Rosario stands up over Balboa, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Rosario cracks Balboa with a solid left hand.
Rosario keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Balboa's head.
Rosario lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rosario chips away with some ground and pound.
Rosario trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Rosario throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Balboa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Balboa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rosario works over Balboa with some ground and pound from guard.
Rosario postures up in Balboa's guard and throws a big left but Balboa blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rosario throwing strikes but missing.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Rosario is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Balboa can do to turn this around?

Balboa pushes Rosario up against the cage in a clinch.

Rosario breaks from the clinch.

Rosario shoots in and bounces Balboa off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Rosario got a little sloppy there for a moment and Balboa has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Rosario has managed to get both his arms back between Balboa's legs - danger averted.
Balboa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rosario.
Rosario postures up and lands a big shot to Balboa's brow.
Rosario lands a couple of elbows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rosario's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rosario lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Rosario throwing strikes but missing.
Balboa preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Rosario working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rosario is looking to work some ground and pound but Balboa has wrist control.
Rosario is in close to Balboa's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rosario throwing strikes but missing.
Rosario postures up in Balboa's guard and throws a big left but Balboa blocks it.
Rosario distracts Balboa with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Rosario loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

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.
Rosario stopping the sweep attempt from Balboa.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Balboa has closed the distance and engaged Rosario in a clinch.
Balboa is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Rosario gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Rosario looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Rosario breaks the clinch.
Rosario fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Balboa avoids it really well and circles away.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Balboa.
Rob Rosario has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Balboa.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Balboa drives through and clinches with Rosario against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rob Rosario dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Rosario fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Balboa sprawls well initially but Rosario persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Rosario lands with a punch from half guard.

Rosario is working for a submission of some sort.

Rosario is looking for a kimura here.

Rosario is working for a kimura but Balboa is defending it quite comfortably.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rosario seems to be working for a kimura but Balboa defends the submission attempt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rosario looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Rosario is looking for a kimura here.
Balboa is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Rosario is working for a kimura but Balboa is defending it quite comfortably.
Rosario scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Rosario has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Rosario working over Balboa with some ground and pound. Balboa looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

Rosario is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Balboa doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Rosario.
Balboa is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rosario scores with a couple of nice shots.
Rick Balboa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balboa is looking to improve his position.

Rosario is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Balboa has managed to free his arm - good work.

Rosario is working for a kimura but Balboa is defending it quite comfortably.

Rosario wants to work for an arm triangle but Balboa is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Rosario looking for a submission but Balboa manages to get full guard, putting an end to that submission attempt.
Rosario stands up over Balboa, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Rosario is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rosario working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Balboa's head.
Rosario throwing strikes from guard but Balboa blocks nicely.
Rob Rosario is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Balboa is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rob Rosario showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rosario, 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rob Rosario!