PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Semba Rua (ranked 3234 p4p, 6717 weight class) and Jimmy Navarro (ranked 136 p4p, 642 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Rua
vs
Navarro

184 cm
19
183
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
19
180
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Redemption ink

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Semba Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jimmy Navarro!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Marco Blurström and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Navarro slips under a jab.
Navarro looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Navarro ducks under a wild hook from Rua.
Rua ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Rua seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Navarro is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Rua.

Rua shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Navarro is trying to defend but Rua finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Rua slows the pace down in half guard.
Navarro wants to get back to his feet.
Rua trying to pass the guard but Navarro defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Navarro wants to get back to full guard.
Navarro trying to hold on to Rua's head to control him but Rua postures up.
Rua stalling.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Navarro tries to roll over but Rua keeps him under control.
Rua seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Navarro slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Rua is stalling in the full guard.
Navarro wants to sweep here but Rua controlling him for the moment.
Rua controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Rua has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Navarro just misses with a punch to the body.
Rua shoots in for a takedown but Navarro shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
A big right from Navarro misses.
Rua throws a big shot that misses.
Navarro throws a hook but Rua blocks it.
Rua misses with a looping left.
Navarro keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Rua.
Rua slips a jab from Navarro.
Rua fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Navarro misses with an uppercut. Rua saw that one coming.
Rua appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
A telegraphed right hand from Rua misses the target.
Navarro fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Navarro fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Rua with a hook.
Navarro connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Rua momentarily.

Rua shoots in and bounces Navarro off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Rua sitting in guard here, content to control.
Rua passes Navarro's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Rua in particular looking to stall.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rua seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Navarro for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Navarro moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Navarro wants to stand and escape but Rua is having none of it.
Rua is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Rua's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Navarro is looking to stand up but Rua isn't so interested in that idea.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rua 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.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Semba Rua will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Navarro lands a nice hook to Rua's body. Rua takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Semba Rua seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rua thows a left - swing and a miss!
Rua tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Navarro defends well and Rua ends up having to push Navarro into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Rua is looking to take this one to the mat.

Navarro manages to break the clinch.
Rua uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Navarro.
Navarro has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Navarro misses with an uppercut. Rua saw that one coming.
A big left from Rua misses.
Navarro pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Navarro ducks under a wild hook from Rua.
Navarro swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Nice straight punches there by Navarro. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Navarro.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rua looks to land a left hand but Navarro moved out of range nicely.
Rua takes a swing at Navarro's ribcage but misses.
Rua misses with a looping right.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Navarro! But no joy.
Navarro keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Rua.
Navarro fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rua manages to avoid it.
Rua showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Navarro.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Navarro misses with a jab, cross combination.
Jimmy Navarro seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Navarro cracks Rua with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
A telegraphed right hand from Rua misses the target.
Rua rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Rua takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Rua misses with an uppercut. Navarro saw that one coming.
A big right from Rua misses.
A little jabbing left from Navarro on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Rua moves out of range of the strikes.
Navarro avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Rua throws a jab when Navarro was well out of range.
Navarro slips under a jab.
Rua bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Rua looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Navarro!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Navarro wants to get back to his feet.
Rua controls the position from side control.
Navarro is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Rua asserts his dominance and retains side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Navarro will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Navarro is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Rua takes a little break here. Navarro wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Navarro tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua advances to full mount.
Rua takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Rua.
Navarro is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Rua sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Semba Rua overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua prevents Navarro from getting the reversal.
Rua looking to control but Navarro is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Navarro's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Rua content just to control the position here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jimmy Navarro will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Navarro tries to move into range but Rua moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Rua looks to land a right hand but Navarro moved out of range.
Rua slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Rua blocks a jab.
A slow jab from Rua misses its intended target.

Rua closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Navarro is looking for a sweep. Rua is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Rua tries to pass to full mount but Navarro defends it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Navarro wants to get back to full guard.
Rua sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Rua looking to control and managing it successfully.
Rua continues to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Further stalling from Rua.
Navarro working to try and regain half guard.
Rua takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Navarro is trying desperately to improve position.
Rua looking to control and managing it successfully.
Navarro is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Navarro really wants to buck Rua off and get back to his feet.
Rua controlling the position easily from mount.
Navarro is looking to get to half guard.
Rua controlling from the full mount.
Rua continues to hold on tight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Navarro is desperately trying to improve his position but Rua has a good base and remains in mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Semba Rua showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Rua 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:29
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 29:28
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Semba Rua!
In his post fight interview, Semba Rua started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.