PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Paulo Correia (ranked 2938 p4p, 1989 weight class) and Manja Sha (ranked 341 p4p, 239 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Correia
vs
Sha

178 cm
20
165
4 - 0 - 0

179 cm
20
158
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Brooklyn Apothecary
WARHORSE Fightwear

Urban Fighter
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Paulo Correia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Manja Sha!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Nard Betker and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sha pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Sha throws a shot from downtown. Correia moves away and avoids it.
Sha scores with a crisp jab that stopped Correia in his tracks.

It looks like Paulo Correia has been cut.
Correia throws a hook but Sha avoids it easily.
Paulo Correia seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Correia throws a right hand that Sha ducks under and follows up with a left that Sha also avoids with ease.

Sha takes the fight into the clinch.
Sha makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
I was talking to Correia's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
A short body shot lands from Sha as the two fighters clinch.
Correia fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Correia misses with the head strike.
Correia lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Sha misses with a punch on the inside.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Sha fails to land.
Correia stalling against the cage.
Sha misses with the head strike.
Correia blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A right hook to the body lands for Sha.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Sha.
Correia is trying to pull guard but Sha turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Sha tries a body shot but Correia blocks it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sha.
Sha has a couple of punches blocked by Correia.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Correia lands with a left to the head.
Correia gets through Sha's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Correia.
Correia misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Sha misses with the head strike.
Correia tries to work over Sha's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Sha presses Correia against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Sha throws a head punch that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Sha fails to land.
Sha goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Sha swings wildly with an uppercut but Correia uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sha has a couple of punches blocked by Correia.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Correia struggles to land a body shot inside as Sha controls his hands.
Correia misses with some punches.
A head punch on the inside from Sha fails to land.
Correia gets through Sha's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sha can't find room to land a body shot as Correia controls the action.
Sha lands a shot to the body.
Sha misses with a punch on the inside.
Correia misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Correia doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Correia lands a left hand.
Sha struggles to land a body shot inside as Correia controls his hands.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Sha lands a shoulder strike.
Sha works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Sha doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sha misses with a punch on the inside.
Correia lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Sha misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Correia struggles to land a body shot inside as Sha controls his hands.
Sha prevents a body shot from Correia.
Correia controlling the action here for a moment.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Correia blocks an uppercut.
Sha lands a shoulder strike.
Sha blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Correia has Sha pushed against the cage.
Correia lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Correia blocking some punches.
Sha working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Sha digs a right hand underneath Correia's ribcage. Correia let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Correia avoiding damage.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nice body punch from Sha.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sha makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Sha misses with some punches.
Correia is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Correia blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Correia lands with a left to the head.
Correia blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Correia.
Correia lands a left hand that snaps the head of Sha backwards.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Correia blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A nice left hand lands by Sha.
A left hand lands to the body for Correia.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Manja Sha dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Paulo Correia's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Correia missing with a left hand there. Sha was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A combination from Correia does no damage.
Sha throws a right hand that misses
and Correia counters with a two punch combo.
Sha throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Correia tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Correia misses with a wild combination.
Sha lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sha fails to land with a series of punches.
Correia tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Sha looks to score with a jab to the body but Correia is just out of range.
Sha throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Correia sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

A jab-cross combination lands for Correia and sends Sha crashing to the mat! Correia follows him down to the mat - Sha regains half guard but he's not out of trouble yet!

Sha is rocked!

It looks like Manja Sha has been cut.
Correia wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sha keeps working.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Correia trying to pass the guard but Sha defending well.
Correia stalling.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Sha can do anything to dispel that myth.
Correia trying to control the action but Sha is working from the bottom.

Sha is defending against the submission attempts here by Correia.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sha won't allow Correia to pass to mount.
Correia stalling.
Correia trying to control from half guard but Sha is working away.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Nice defenses there by Correia.
Correia misses with a hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sha keeps the fight on the outside.
Correia is looking to slow Sha down with leg kicks.
Sha dodges the punch combination from Correia.
Correia connects with a crisp jab.
Sha slips under a jab from Correia.
Sha walks into a straight right hand from Correia.
Correia throws a shot from downtown. Sha moves away and avoids it.
Correia ducks under a wild hook from Sha.
Correia throws a leg kick but Sha checks it.

Correia drops Sha with a left right combo! Correia follows him down to the ground into side control.
Sha is still in real trouble! Can Correia finish him?
This has been an exciting period of action!
Correia taking a breather here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sha seems to have recovered his senses.
Correia wants to control but Sha is keeping him busy.
Correia has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Correia sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Correia looking to control but Sha is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paulo Correia dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Sha lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Correia circles away quickly and effectively.
Correia appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Paulo Correia is winning the standup battle so far.
Sha misses the body punch
and Correia counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Sha throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
As Sha looks to move away, Correia throws a big counter combo but Sha just gets out of the way.
Correia looks to land a combination but Sha avoids it well.
A lazy left from Sha finds it's target.
Correia lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Sha at a distance.
Sha cracks Correia with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Sha slips a jab and a cross from Correia.
A little jabbing left from Sha on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Correia looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Correia is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sha can do to turn this around?
Correia lands with a nice combination. Sha backs away looking to recover.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sha pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Correia misses with a two punch combination.
Sha lands a slapping body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Correia pivots, looking for a leg kick but Sha is out of range and Correia settles back down.
Sha is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Correia needs to keep his hands up - Sha had a free shot at his head there.

Sha rushes Correia and presses him up against the cage.
Sha misses with a hook from the clinch.
Sha misses with some punches.
Sha lands with a left to the head.
Sha swings wildly with an uppercut but Correia uses good head movement to avoid it.
Correia lands a nice shot to the body.
Sha tries to throw a body punch but Correia avoids it by throwing Sha back against the cage.
Sha misses with a punch on the inside.
Correia pressing his opponent against the cage.
Sha working aggressively here.
Sha lands a hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Sha.
Sha tries a body shot but Correia blocks it.
Sha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Correia scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Correia is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Sha doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Correia misses with some punches.
A head punch on the inside from Sha fails to land.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sha swings wildly with an uppercut but Correia uses good head movement to avoid it.
Correia looking to slow down the pace here.
Sha misses with a short punch on the inside.

Correia decides to pull guard.
Correia pulls Sha in close to prevent any damage.
Correia looking to control.
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.
Correia has a closed guard, preventing Sha from standing up.
Correia is adopting a defensive guard.
Sha would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Sha preventing the sweep.
Correia pulls Sha in to control the position.
Sha tries to stand but Correia is controlling from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Sha throws a hook to the side of Correia's head but Correia sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Correia throws a big counter combination but Sha scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Sha throws a poor cross that misses
and Correia counters with a lovely straight right hand!

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.
Sha on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sha. Correia does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sha 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.
Sha misses the shot to the body.
Correia tried to score with a low kick but Sha checks it.
Correia jabs Sha to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Correia bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Sha circles away from the clinch attempt.
Correia throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Sha throws a hook to the side of Correia's head but Correia sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Sha moves into range and clinches up with Correia.
Correia misses with a short punch on the inside.
Correia blocks an uppercut.

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 Paulo Correia.
I think Correia has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Albert Achterberg scores the fight 29:28
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paulo Correia!
After the fight, Paulo Correia was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.