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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Samuel Nkothjo (ranked 4421 p4p, 0 weight class) and Craig Top Man (ranked 2856 p4p, 334 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.
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| 185 cm
25
193 lbs
0 - 0 - 0 |
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189 cm
20
184 lbs
0 - 0 - 0 |
BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced |
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BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin |
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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
0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Samuel Nkothjo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Craig Top Man!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Edson Gomes and Mauricio Rocha.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Top Man clinches up with Nkothjo and pushes him back against the cage.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike from Top Man.
Top Man with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Nkothjo digs a right hand underneath Top Man's ribcage. Top Man let out a lung full of air as it connected.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Top Man.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike.
Top Man throws an elbow but it misses.
Nkothjo lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
It looks like Craig Top Man has been cut.
A knee to the head by Nkothjo.
Top Man is looking to take this one to the mat.
Top Man is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Nkothjo is keeping busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nkothjo lands a knee to the body.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike from Top Man.
Nice body punch from Nkothjo.
Top Man can't find room to land a body shot as Nkothjo controls the action.
Nkothjo jumps guard.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Top Man being controlled here momentarily.
Nkothjo is working an open guard so Top Man takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Nkothjo's corner calls for a 1-2. Nkothjo obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Nkothjo pushes Top Man up against the cage in a clinch.
Nkothjo lands an uppercut.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Top Man just misses with a elbow thrown towards Nkothjo's brow.
Top Man misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Nkothjo.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Top Man throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Nkothjo landing knees to the body.
Top Man creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Top Man misses with a punch on the inside.
Nkothjo prevents a body shot from Top Man.
Top Man throws an elbow but it misses.
Nkothjo pushes Top Man back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Nice body punch from Nkothjo - that landed with a thud.
Top Man looks winded!
With the fighters up against the cage, Top Man throws an elbow but misses.
Top Man takes an elbow to the temple.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nkothjo working Top Man over with knees to the body.
Top Man working aggressively here.
Top Man has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Nkothjo is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Nkothjo turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Nkothjo manages to end up in side control.
Top Man tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nkothjo lands a shot to the body.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nkothjo is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Top Man wants to get back to his feet.
Nkothjo throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Top Man!
What can Top Man do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Nkothjo is remaining active here, looking for the choke. The more discerning members of the crowd will appreciate his efforts.
Top Man is covering up but some of the strikes from Nkothjo are getting through and doing damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Samuel Nkothjo dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Craig Top Man's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.
Top Man rushes Nkothjo and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Nkothjo working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Top Man misses with an elbow strike.
Nkothjo connects with a nasty looking knee right to Top Man's face.
Nkothjo lands a damaging elbow.
Top Man misses with a knee to the head.
Top Man tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Nkothjo displaying some good clinch control by pressing Top Man up against the cage.
Nkothjo breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nkothjo lands with a nice combination. Top Man backs away looking to recover.
Top Man throws a sloppy head kick and Nkothjo moves out of range easily.
Nkothjo appears to be looking for a big counter.
Nkothjo scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Nkothjo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Top Man can do to turn this around?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Top Man throws a sloppy head kick
and Nkothjo counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Nkothjo.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Nkothjo avoids a wild elbow strike from Top Man.
Nkothjo blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Top Man with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Top Man misses with an elbow strike.
Nkothjo lands a knee to the body.
Top Man is breathing heavily.
Top Man takes a knee to the side of the body.
Nkothjo unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Nkothjo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nkothjo shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Top Man manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Nkothjo sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Nkothjo has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Nkothjo stands up and waves to Top Man to follow him.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head kick by Top Man misses
and Nkothjo counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Nkothjo.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nkothjo is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Nkothjo lands a body shot.
Nkothjo jumps into guard, dragging Top Man to the mat.
Nkothjo has his hands on Top Man's head, controlling the position.
Nkothjo keeping moving, preventing Top Man from controlling successfully.
Nkothjo pushes Top Man off and gets back to his feet.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nkothjo avoids the head kick by Top Man.
Nkothjo throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Top Man on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Top Man gets tackled into the cage by Nkothjo. Nkothjo maintains the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Top Man throws an elbow but misses.
Nkothjo manages to break the clinch.
Nkothjo scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Nkothjo scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Top Man to see if he's OK.
A lull in the action here as Nkothjo stalls from top position.
Samuel Nkothjo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nkothjo looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nkothjo decides to stand up, so the ref orders Top Man to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Samuel Nkothjo dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Craig Top Man's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!
Nkothjo closes the distance and pushes Top Man back into the cage.
Nkothjo dodges an elbow strike from Top Man.
Top Man misses with an elbow over the top.
Top Man throws a head punch that misses.
Nkothjo throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Top Mans head.
Top Man tries to pull guard but Nkothjo holds him up against the cage and eventually Top Man drops back down to his feet.
Top Man looking to stall.
Nkothjo will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Top Man up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nkothjo lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Top Man throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Samuel Nkothjo has scored more points in the clinch so far.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Good body shot from Nkothjo.
A knee to the head by Nkothjo.
Top Man misses with some punches.
Nkothjo has Top Man pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Nkothjo pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Top Man tumbling to the mat - Nkothjo dives into Top Man's guard.
Top Man pushes Nkothjo off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Craig Top Man seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Top Man takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nkothjo checks a leg kick.
Top Man misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Top Man tries a head kick but it misses.
Nkothjo rushes Top Man and presses him up against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nkothjo lands a nice elbow.
Samuel Nkothjo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Top Man throws an elbow but it's blocked.
A knee to the head by Nkothjo.
With the fighters up against the cage, Top Man throws an elbow but misses.
Top Man is trying to maintain a safe position but Nkothjo gets an underhook and turns Top Man into the cage.
Nkothjo blocking some punches.
Nkothjo gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Nkothjo blocks the elbow strike.
Nkothjo leaning against his opponent.
A bit of stalling here from Nkothjo.
Nkothjo blocks an elbow strike.
Nkothjo lands an elbow inside that Top Man shrugs off.
That has opened up Craig Top Man's cut even more.
Top Man creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Nkothjo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Samuel Nkothjo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick by Top Man misses
and Nkothjo holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Nkothjo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Nkothjo connects with a looping right hand.
Nkothjo tries to land a front kick but Top Man steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Top Man looks like he wanted to counter with a high kick but didn't throw it.
Nkothjo closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Top Man quickly recovers to half guard.
Nkothjo trying to pass the guard but Top Man defending well.
Nkothjo perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Top Man is trying to stand.
Nkothjo uses his free foot to push down on Top Man's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Top Man.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Nkothjo connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Nkothjo sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Craig Top Man has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Nkothjo has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
And that's the end of the fight!
Samuel Nkothjo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Nkothjo has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Samuel Nkothjo!
A relieved looking Samuel Nkothjo thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
52% |
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