PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between KJ Aldo (ranked 3511 p4p, 337 weight class) and Ricky Ramathorn (ranked 2750 p4p, 285 weight class). KJ Aldo has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Aldo
vs
Ramathorn

171 cm
19
157 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

172 cm
26
150 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Tends to cut

Hardcore Nutrition 160Q ($150)
Urban Fighter

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, KJ Aldo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ricky Ramathorn!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Wesley Smith and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Aldo has closed the distance and engaged Ramathorn in a clinch.
Aldo swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Ramathorn blocking some punches.
Aldo lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Ramathorn tries to circle away but Aldo has him pinned against the cage.
Aldo misses with a punch to the body.
Aldo throws a head punch that misses.
Stalling in the clinch from Ramathorn.
Ramathorn misses with a hook from the clinch.
Aldo working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Aldo throws a head punch that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A bit of stalling here from Aldo.

Ramathorn pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Aldo throws a series of punches but Ramathorn moves out of range.
Aldo rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Ramathorn counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo looks to land a right hand but Ramathorn moved out of range.
Ramathorn is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.
Aldo tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Ramathorn counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Aldo moves into the clinch.
Ramathorn blocks an uppercut.
Ramathorn blocking some punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ramathorn blocks an elbow strike.
Ramathorn working aggressively here.
Ramathorn just leaning against Aldo, taking a breather.
Aldo keeps control of Ramathorn as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Aldo manages to break the clinch.
Ramathorn swats away the attempt to clinch by Aldo.
Ramathorn is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Ramathorn takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Aldo rushes Ramathorn and presses him up against the cage.
Aldo slowing the pace effectively.
Ramathorn lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Aldo tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Aldo lands a left hand that snaps the head of Ramathorn backwards.
Aldo swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Aldo tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ramathorn blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ramathorn lands a body shot in the clinch.
Aldo being controlled against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo throws a punch but it's blocked by Ramathorn.
Aldo tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Ramathorn fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Aldo misses with the head strike.
Aldo displaying some good clinch control by pressing Ramathorn up against the cage.
Aldo is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ramathorn.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Ramathorn as Aldo tries to tie him up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Aldo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ramathorn paws at him with a jab and circles away.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Ramathorn! But no joy.
Aldo tries to clinch but Ramathorn moves away
and Ramathorn counters with a stiff right hand.
Aldo thuds a left hand into Ramathorn's body.

Aldo gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Ramathorn avoiding damage as Aldo throws knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aldo misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A short uppercut from Aldo.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ramathorn.
A head punch on the inside from Ramathorn fails to land.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo lands with a short shot to the head.
Aldo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ramathorn can do to turn this around?
Ramathorn blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Ramathorn on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Aldo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Ramathorn escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Aldo clinches up with Ramathorn and pushes him back against the cage.
Ramathorn tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ramathorn letting Aldo take a breather here.
Aldo pushes Ramathorn back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Ramathorn blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Ramathorn.
Ramathorn throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
The referee calls for Aldo to work.
Ramathorn avoiding damage as Aldo throws knees to the body.
Aldo with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Aldo manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Aldo misses with a hook from the clinch.
Aldo tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Aldo misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo misses with a knee strike.
A frustrated look appears on Ramathorn's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ramathorn blocks an uppercut.
Ramathorn misses with the head strike.
Ramathorn blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Aldo throws a punch but it's blocked by Ramathorn.
Aldo trying to land knees to the body.
Aldo misses with a hook from the clinch.

Aldo breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Aldo clinches up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Aldo trying to land knees to the body.
Ramathorn avoiding damage as Aldo throws knees to the body.
Aldo is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Aldo throws a head punch that misses.
A bit of stalling here from Ramathorn.
Ramathorn slows down the pace here.
Aldo stalls.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A head punch on the inside from Aldo fails to land.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

KJ Aldo dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Aldo looks to clinch
and Ramathorn cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Aldo tries to clinch up.
Ramathorn throws out a counter right but Aldo avoids it with no problem.
KJ Aldo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Aldo wants to clinch.
Ramathorn swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Aldo rushes Ramathorn and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ramathorn blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Come on Aldo - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
The referee is keeping an eye on Ramathorn - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Aldo's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A bit of stalling here from Aldo.
Aldo stalls.
KJ Aldo has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Aldo throws a punch but it's blocked by Ramathorn.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ramathorn.
Ramathorn has a couple of punches blocked by Aldo.
Aldo has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Ramathorn blocking some punches.
Aldo swings wildly with an uppercut but Ramathorn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Aldo wants a takedown but no success here.
A head punch on the inside from Aldo fails to land.
Aldo misses with a short punch on the inside.
Aldo is looking to control Ramathorn's arms but Ramathorn gets an underhook and turns him. Now Aldo has his back to the cage.
Aldo has a couple of punches blocked by Ramathorn.
Ramathorn scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Aldo blocking some punches.
Aldo lands a left hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ramathorn looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Aldo tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Ramathorn avoids it.

Ramathorn's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Aldo clinches with his opponent.
With the fighters up against the cage, Aldo throws an elbow but misses.
Aldo misses with some punches.

Ramathorn pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Aldo wants to clinch
and Ramathorn counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ramathorn swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ramathorn now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Ramathorn takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Aldo tries to clinch up but Ramathorn circles away and keeps his distance.
Ramathorn throws out a counter right but Aldo avoids it with no problem.
Aldo tries to clinch but Ramathorn moves out of range.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Aldo clinches up with Ramathorn and pushes him back against the cage.
Ricky Ramathorn has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
KJ Aldo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Aldo.

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 KJ Aldo.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Aldo, 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 Alan Glass scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... KJ Aldo!