PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Sylvain Lievremont (ranked 792 p4p, 93 weight class) and Pablo Rodriguez (ranked 571 p4p, 67 weight class). Lievremont kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Stromae - Papaoutai. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Lievremont
vs
Rodriguez

167 cm
30
156 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

180 cm
22
150 lbs
11 - 4 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Good kicks
Good gas tank

UnderGround Supplements

Top Gun Nutrition
UnderGround Supplements

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Sylvain Lievremont!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Pablo Rodriguez!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Blasius, Albert Achterberg and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lievremont misses with a jab, cross combination.
A big left from Lievremont misses.
Rodriguez lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Rodriguez lands a leg kick that knocks Lievremont off balance momentarily.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Rodriguez stuffs the takedown attempt from Lievremont. Lievremont gets slowly back to his feet.
Lievremont has been working on his boxing with his coaches at UnderGround Training Facility in the buildup to the fight.
Rodriguez throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Rodriguez throws an overhand right that lands on Lievremont's shoulder, as Lievremont tries to avoid the shot.
Rodriguez dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nice straight punches there by Rodriguez. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Rodriguez.
Lievremont takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Lievremont moves out of range as Rodriguez strikes.
Rodriguez tries to close the distance and clinch but Lievremont swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
It looked like Lievremont was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
A decent looking cross lands there for Rodriguez.
Rodriguez throws a good cross that connects.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lievremont misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Lievremont looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Rodriguez dodges the punch combination from Lievremont.
Rodriguez misses with an uppercut. Lievremont saw that one coming.
Lievremont walks into a left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez slips a jab and a cross from Lievremont.
No luck for Lievremont with that takedown attempt.
Rodriguez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Lievremont throws a looping overhand right but Rodriguez ducks down to avoid it.
Rodriguez throws out a powerful jab.
Lievremont lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Lievremont misses with a two punch combination.
Rodriguez connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Lievremont momentarily.
Lievremont throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Lievremont fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rodriguez manages to avoid it.
Rodriguez has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Lievremont will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Rodriguez lands a glancing blow to the side of Lievremont's head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lievremont throws a nice looking combination but Rodriguez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Lievremont throws a right hand that Rodriguez ducks under and follows up with a left that Rodriguez also avoids with ease.
Lievremont moves out of range as Rodriguez strikes.
Rodriguez is looking to clinch but Lievremont is avoiding it.
Lievremont went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Rodriguez is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Lievremont had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Lievremont tries to move into range but Rodriguez moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Lievremont takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Lievremont swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Lievremont looks for a takedown but Rodriguez sprawls well.
Rodriguez looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sylvain Lievremont. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lievremont stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Rodriguez.
Lievremont rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rodriguez moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A punch combination from Lievremont misses.

Rodriguez darts in and clinches Lievremont up against the cage.
Lievremont has had enough of the clinch but Rodriguez keeps him there for the moment.
Rodriguez is working Lievremont over against the cage.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Rodriguez takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Rodriguez working aggressively here.
Lievremont prevents a body shot from Rodriguez.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lievremont blocks an uppercut.
Lievremont jumps guard but Rodriguez turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
A head punch on the inside from Rodriguez fails to land.
Rodriguez misses with a short punch on the inside.
Lievremont manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

Lievremont has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Rodriguez regains guard immediately.
Rodriguez can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Lievremont controls the pace.
Rodriguez is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Lievremont controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lievremont passes Rodriguez's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Lievremont prevents Rodriguez from improving his position.
Rodriguez trying to control from the bottom.
Lievremont is looking to take a break and control but Rodriguez is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rodriguez felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Rodriguez is trying to control but can't.

Rodriguez is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Lievremont pulls his head out easily.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rodriguez trying to control but Lievremont postures up.
Rodriguez might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Lievremont haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Pablo Rodriguez will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Sloppy strikes from Lievremont. Those never looked like landing.
Rodriguez pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Rodriguez scores with a crisp jab that stopped Lievremont in his tracks.
Lievremont throws a series of punches but Rodriguez avoids them all with ease.
That kick from Rodriguez tenderised Lievremont's leg. Lievremont is trying to keep his angry face on.
Lievremont takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Rodriguez looks to land a left hand but Lievremont moved out of range nicely.
Some wild striking there from Lievremont.
Lievremont has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Rodriguez cracks Lievremont with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Lievremont scores with a three punch combo!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rodriguez fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Lievremont has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
A punch lands to the side of Lievremont 's head but he takes it in his stride.

Rodriguez darts in and clinches Lievremont up against the cage.
Lievremont changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Rodriguez fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Lievremont will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Pablo Rodriguez is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rodriguez lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Lievremont takes a jab right on the kisser.
Rodriguez is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Lievremont rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Rodriguez connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Rodriguez misses with an uppercut. Lievremont saw that one coming.
Lievremont throwing a counter right hand but Rodriguez manages to avoid it.
Lievremont is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Lievremont misses with the combination.
Lievremont looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Lievremont takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Rodriguez lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Lievremont throws a right hand that Rodriguez ducks under and follows up with a left that Rodriguez also avoids with ease.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rodriguez connects with a leg kick. Lievremont looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Lievremont closes this distance looking for a takedown but Rodriguez circles away.
Rodriguez bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Lievremont's head backwards.
Lievremont with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Rodriguez to score with a decent uppercut.
Rodriguez misses with a looping left.
Rodriguez misses with a hook. Lievremont ducked under it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez lands a jab to the head.
Rodriguez throws a hook but Lievremont avoids it easily.
Lievremont moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Lievremont thows a left - swing and a miss!
Rodriguez uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Lievremont.
Rodriguez fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Lievremont drops down looking for a counter takedown but Rodriguez sprawls and moves away.
Lievremont drops his hands momentarily and Rodriguez takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Sylvain Lievremont is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lievremont misses with an uppercut.
Rodriguez scores with a jab. Lievremont acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Lievremont misses with a double jab.

Lievremont throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Rodriguez tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Lievremont is in Rodriguez's guard.
Rodriguez looking to control.
Lievremont tries to free his leg and advance position but Rodriguez is retaining full guard.
Lievremont is fighting to break Rodriguez's control of his arms but Rodriguez is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Lievremont avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lievremont stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rodriguez swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lievremont passes into half guard.
Lievremont looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Rodriguez wants to get back to full guard.
Lievremont is trying to control the action in half guard but Rodriguez is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Rodriguez has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Lievremont is working away from the top position though.
Lievremont trying to control from half guard but Rodriguez is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Rodriguez keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

Rodriguez looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Rodriguez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Lievremont seems to be looking for submissions.
Rodriguez is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Lievremont's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Lievremont's back!

Lievremont is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Rodriguez gets his way!
Lievremont is in bad spot here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pablo Rodriguez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Lievremont misses with a hook
and Rodriguez connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Rodriguez jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Lievremont is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Lievremont looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Lievremont swats away the attempt to clinch by Rodriguez.
Rodriguez attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Rodriguez scores with a jab. Lievremont acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Rodriguez lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Rodriguez connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Lievremont throws a hook but Rodriguez avoids it easily.
Rodriguez misses with a hook.
Lievremont is looking for a counter combo.
Rodriguez throws a nice looking combination but Lievremont bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Lievremont swinging wildly here.
Lievremont slips a straight right by Rodriguez.
Jab by Rodriguez.
Rodriguez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rodriguez throws a jab when Lievremont was well out of range.
Lievremont looks to land a combination but Rodriguez avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lievremont looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Lievremont looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Lievremont throws a series of punches but Rodriguez moves out of range.
Rodriguez lands a jab to the nose.
A jab from Rodriguez finds it's way through Lievremont's defenses.
Rodriguez leaves Lievremont with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rodriguez scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Nice straight punches there by Rodriguez. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez defending well as Lievremont loads up on a big left hand.
Jab from Rodriguez.
Lievremont is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Rodriguez's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Lievremont takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
No joy there for Rodriguez, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lievremont tries for a takedown but Rodriguez sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Rodriguez lands with a hook. Lievremont tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Rodriguez fails to land with a series of punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez throws a hook but Lievremont blocks it.
Lievremont on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Lievremont misses with the combination.
Lievremont misses with a lunging right hand
and Rodriguez counters with a nice body kick.
Nice shot by Rodriguez.
A punch lands to the side of Lievremont 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Lievremont throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Rodriguez.
Rodriguez wants to clinch up but Lievremont keeps it at a distance.
Pablo Rodriguez seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Lievremont swinging wildly here.
Good leg kick by Rodriguez there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Rodriguez throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Lievremont will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Rodriguez displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Lievremont throws out the jab.
Rodriguez cracks Lievremont with a good jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lievremont rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rodriguez moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Rodriguez tries to clinch but Lievremont moves out of range.
Rodriguez dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Lievremont. That did some damage!
Lievremont scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Rodriguez with a hook.
Lievremont throws a right and a left that both miss.
Lievremont is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Nice jab there from Rodriguez.
Lievremont throws a hook but Rodriguez blocks it.
Rodriguez misses the shot to the body.
Rodriguez with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Lievremont to score with a decent uppercut.
Rodriguez stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Rodriguez wants it to stay on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sylvain Lievremont. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lievremont throws a series of punches but Rodriguez moves out of range.
Lievremont has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Lievremont there as he acknowledges the shot.
Lievremont keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Rodriguez.
Lievremont just misses with a punch to the body.
It seemed like Rodriguez was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Jab by Rodriguez.
Lievremont tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lievremont is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Lievremont fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Lievremont fails to land with a series of punches.
Lievremont takes a kick to the side of the head.
Lievremont shoots for a takedown but Rodriguez saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Rodriguez feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Lievremont's calf.

Lievremont drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Rodriguez is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Rodriguez pulls Lievremont in close to his closed guard and prevents Lievremont from doing any damage or advancing position.
Rodriguez is trying to control the position but Lievremont postures up.
Sylvain Lievremont has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Pablo Rodriguez is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Lievremont throws a strike but Rodriguez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Pablo Rodriguez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Rodriguez winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Daniel Blasius scores the fight 27:30
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Pablo Rodriguez!
Pablo Rodriguez made sure to mention his sponsor, Top Gun Nutrition in his post fight interview.