PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Saul Rojas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sam Hitz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rojas comes to the cage accompanied by We Keep It Gangsta - Mac Dre. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Rojas
vs
Hitz

190 cm
22
186 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

182 cm
18
190 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Saul Rojas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sam Hitz!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Alexandre Firmino and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hitz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Hitz fails to land with a series of punches.
Rojas connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Rojas tries to clinch there but Hitz circles away.
Hitz will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hitz throws the left hand but Rojas avoids the punch easily.
Hitz closes the distance but Rojas moves to the side
and Rojas counters with a flying knee. Nice.
A head kick by Hitz misses

and Rojas counters with a left and a right that hurts Hitz! He wobbles and falls to the floor - he's in big trouble! Rojas jumps into full mount!

Hitz is rocked!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rojas tries to control but Hitz wriggling away.
Hitz is still in real trouble! Can Rojas finish him?
Hitz is looking to improve his position but Rojas isn't that keen on the idea.
Hitz seems to have recovered his senses.
Rojas pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rojas landing strikes from the mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rojas with the ground and pound from mount.
Rojas trying to control but Hitz is having none of it.
Rojas is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Hitz is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hitz is in all sorts of trouble here.
Poor strikes thrown by Rojas there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Rojas misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Rojas misses with a head shot.

Rojas has hold of Hitz's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Hitz manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Hitz tries to hold on but Rojas postures up.
Rojas looking to control but Hitz is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Hitz tries to hold on but Rojas postures up.
Hitz working to try and regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Hitz tries to hold on but Rojas pushes him away.
Rojas looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Rojas prevents Hitz from getting the reversal.

Rojas looking to secure an arm triangle but Hitz defends it well.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rojas is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Hitz has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Rojas is breathing heavily.
Hitz tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Hitz avoids a series of strikes thrown by Rojas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hitz is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Hitz is looking to improve his position but Rojas isn't that keen on the idea.
Rojas misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Hitz wants to control but Rojas is having none of it.
Rojas looking to control but Hitz is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Rojas controlling from mount.
Hitz is looking to get to half guard.
Hitz slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.

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.
Hitz wants to get back to full guard.
Hitz wants to control but Rojas is keeping busy.
Hitz is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Rojas is staying active.
Hitz makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Hitz.

Hitz pushes Rojas off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
A telegraphed right hand from Hitz misses the target.
Rojas buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
A nice combination there by Rojas.
Hitz throws a combination that misses
and Rojas counters with a head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Saul Rojas dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Hitz darts in and clinches Rojas up against the cage.
Rojas taking a breather.
Hitz has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Rojas avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Rojas is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Hitz takes an elbow to the temple.
Rojas tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hitz just stands there and leans against the cage.

Rojas lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Hitz tries to get to full guard but Rojas has control of the leg.
Rojas tries to stand and escape but Hitz is controlling the position.
Hitz manages to get to full guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Hitz controls Rojas momentarily but Rojas frees himself.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hitz working for a triangle but Rojas defends it easily.

Hitz throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Rojas trying to control but Hitz is working from the bottom.
Hitz working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rojas.
Hitz bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Rojas's guard.
Hitz 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rojas wants to get back to his feet but Hitz is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Rojas working a defensive guard here.
Hitz passes into half guard.
Rojas wants to control but Hitz is keeping busy.

Hitz postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Rojas to stand up.
Hitz throws a shot from downtown. Rojas moves away and avoids it.
Rojas throws a lazy head kick

and Hitz counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hitz drops an elbow to the side of Rojas's head.
Rojas wants to get back to full guard.
Rojas is trying to stand back up but Hitz is controlling him
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hitz connects with a nice short shot to Rojas's temple.
Hitz prevents Rojas from improving his position.
Hitz working over Rojas with some ground and pound. Rojas looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Hitz prevents Rojas from standing back up.
Hitz landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Rojas throws a series of punches but Hitz avoids them all with ease.
Nice uppercut lands for Hitz. That snapped Rojas's head back.
Hitz throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Rojas's waist but Rojas gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Hitz off to one side.
Hitz shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Saul Rojas has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sam Hitz.

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.
Hitz scores with a jab to the jaw.
Rojas scores with a head kick.

Hitz instigates a clinch.
Rojas drops down looking for an ankle pick but Hitz pulls his leg out and moves away.
No joy there for Hitz, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Hitz throws a head kick that misses
and Rojas counters with a one-two to the body.
A combination from Rojas does no damage.
Hitz takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Hitz falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rojas counters with a big head kick but Hitz shrugs it off.
Hitz takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Hitz scores with a sloppy right hand. Rojas should have avoided that one.
Rojas blocks a head kick by Hitz.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Hitz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Rojas moves out of range as Hitz strikes.
Rojas bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Rojas ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hitz moves away.
Hitz throws a left that rocks Rojas and follows with a right that sends him tumbling to the canvas! Hitz dives into side control, looking to finish! Can Rojas regain composure!

It looks like Saul Rojas has been cut.
Hitz scoring with punches and elbows.
Hitz taking a breather here.
Rojas is trying to buck Hitz off.
Rojas wants to control but Hitz postures up.
Hitz controls the position from side control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Hitz decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hitz drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Hitz is in close to Rojas's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rojas 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.

Hitz stands up and waves to Rojas to follow him.
Hitz chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Rojas can pounce on him.
Hitz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Hitz shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Rojas pinned against the cage. Rojas gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rojas keeps the fight on the outside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rojas goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Hitz throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Rojas on the side of the head.

Rojas gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Hitz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Hitz trying to control the position but instead, Rojas has worked for underhooks and has pushed Hitz into the cage.

Hitz successfully pulls guard.
Rojas wants to control from the top but Hitz keeps moving.

Rojas gets to his feet - Hitz follows without any prompting.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Rojas.
Hitz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Rojas shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Hitz pinned against the cage. Hitz gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hitz is looking to clinch but Rojas is avoiding it.
Hitz throws a left and a right that both miss
and Hitz takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Saul Rojas is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A punch combination from Hitz misses.
A combination from Hitz does no damage.
Hitz throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rojas counters with a thumping low kick.
Hitz throws a right hand that Rojas ducks under and follows up with a left that Rojas also avoids with ease.
Rojas looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Hitz throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rojas counters with a head kick.
Rojas moves out of range as Hitz strikes.
Rojas moves into range and connects with a jab.
Hitz shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Rojas but Rojas pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Hitz misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Rojas counters with a slapping leg kick.
Hitz might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's four 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.
Nice sprawl there from Rojas as Hitz shoots in.
Saul Rojas has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sam Hitz.
Rojas will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Rojas throws a sloppy head kick and Hitz moves out of range easily.
Hitz tries for a takedown but Rojas sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Hitz defending well as Rojas loads up on a big left hand.
Rojas fails with an attempt to clinch.
Hitz closes the distance looking to clinch
and Rojas counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Hitz tries to bum rush Rojas with a series of wild strikes but Rojas uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Rojas with a lazy takedown attempt
and Hitz counters with a nice uppercut.
Rojas avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hitz throws a series of punches but Rojas avoids them all with ease.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sam Hitz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Hitz 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 28:29
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sam Hitz!