PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Norberto Rivera (ranked 6015 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Franks (ranked 4404 p4p, 0 weight class). Thomas Franks has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Norberto Rivera's chin.

Rivera
vs
Franks

199 cm
26
178 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Norberto Rivera!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Thomas Franks!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Ian Loll and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Franks closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Rivera's guard.
Franks postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Rivera controlling the position.
Franks trying to control the position from guard on top but Rivera is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Franks must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Franks preventing the sweep.
Franks postures up and lands a big shot to Rivera's brow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Franks trying to control but Rivera is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivera 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.

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

Franks scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Franks working his ground and pound in the gym.
Rivera is refusing to be controlled, as Franks sits in half guard.
Franks looks winded!
Rivera regains full guard. Nicely done.
Rivera wants to sweep here but Franks controlling him for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franks 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.
Franks trying to move into half guard but instead Rivera has managed to sweep!

Franks has momentary wrist control but Rivera slips an elbow through the middle.
Rivera scoring with some ground and pound.
Franks preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Rivera postures up.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rivera's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivera lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Rivera keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Franks's head.
Rivera is working Franks over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Rivera lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rivera in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Rivera working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Rivera 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.
Rivera stands up over Franks, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Rivera working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Franks's head.
Franks has control of Rivera's left arm, preventing Rivera from doing any damage.
Rivera lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Franks really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rivera. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivera postures up.
Rivera is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Franks is trying to control the position but Rivera postures up.
Rivera trying to stand up but can't free himself from Franks's guard.
Rivera postures up and lands a big shot to Franks's brow.
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!
Rivera makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Rivera with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Rivera makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Norberto Rivera dominated that round.
That's time! Rivera's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Franks tries to clinch but Rivera is having none of it.
Rivera is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Franks can do to turn this around?

Rivera moves into the clinch successfully.

Rivera tightens his grip and picks Franks up, before dumping him to the ground. Franks manages to land in guard.

Franks has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Rivera is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.

Franks jumps guard.
Rivera will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rivera is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Rivera postures up.
Rivera wants to stand but Franks is controlling his posture from full guard.
Norberto Rivera overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rivera postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Franks is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivera scoring with some ground and pound.
Rivera is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Rivera trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Rivera landing with the ground and pound.
Rivera scoring with some ground and pound.
Rivera throwing strikes but missing.
Rivera works over Franks with some ground and pound from guard.
Rivera is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Franks is looking for a triangle but Rivera pushes his legs off easily.
Rivera is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Franks can do anything to dispel that myth.
Rivera distracts Franks with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Rivera cracks Franks with a solid left hand.
Rivera wanted to stand there but Franks had control of the position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rivera's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rivera working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Rivera keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Franks's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franks has his feet on Rivera's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

Franks looking to score a takedown here. Rivera is defending well but Franks drives through and ends up in Rivera's guard.

Rivera is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Rivera has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Franks is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Rivera ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Rivera no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Rivera really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Rivera lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Rivera decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franks looks for the body kick but Rivera saw that one coming.

Franks feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Franks stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rivera swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Franks throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Rivera works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Franks looking to sit in guard and control but Rivera gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Rivera chips away with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Norberto Rivera dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Rivera blocks a head kick by Franks.
Rivera tries to counter by clinching up but Franks breaks away and moves out of range.
Rivera misses with a combination

and Franks counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Franks.

Franks breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Franks drives through with a takedown into guard.

Rivera wriggles free and stands up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Franks drives through with a takedown into Rivera's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Rivera manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivera misses with a head kick.
Norberto Rivera is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Franks closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Rivera is trying to improve his position.
You can see the frustration on Rivera's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Rivera regains half guard.
Rivera moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Rivera trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franks trying to control the position from guard on top but Rivera is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Franks slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Rivera pulls Franks in close to his closed guard and prevents Franks from doing any damage or advancing position.

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

Rivera has Franks up against the cage in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franks has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Rivera uses from the top position.
Rivera landing some decent shots from guard.

Rivera stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Rivera blocks a head kick by Franks.
Rivera drops down looking for a counter takedown but Franks sprawls and moves away.

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

Franks is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivera is doing well to control the position and prevent Franks from advancing to side control.
Franks is just content to waste time from the top position. Rivera takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Rivera pulls Franks in close to prevent any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Norberto Rivera.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rivera, 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Norberto Rivera!