PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Rodrigo Noriega (ranked 6661 p4p, 6276 weight class) and Dmitry Badaz (ranked 477 p4p, 460 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Noriega
vs
Badaz

169 cm
25
145
0 - 1 - 0

178 cm
25
151
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Powerful

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Rodrigo Noriega!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Dmitry Badaz!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Peter Branson and Michael Johnstone.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Noriega closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Noriega lands in his opponent's guard.
Badaz manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Noriega manages to get himself to full guard.

Badaz controls from within his opponent's guard.
Badaz slips nicely into half guard.
Noriega is looking for a sweep. Badaz is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Badaz performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Badaz scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

It looks like Rodrigo Noriega has been cut.
Noriega tries to get to full guard but Badaz has control of the leg.
Badaz seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Let's hope that Badaz has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Noriega works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Badaz is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Badaz wants to control from the top but Noriega keeps moving.
Badaz pushing down on Noriega's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Badaz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Noriega keeps working.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Badaz connects with a nice short shot to Noriega's temple.
Badaz seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Badaz with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Badaz wants to free his trapped foot but Noriega is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Badaz takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Noriega trying to hold on to Badaz's head to control him but Badaz postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Noriega looking for submissions off his back.
Badaz lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Badaz controlling the action here.

Noriega looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Noriega on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Badaz trying to control from half guard but Noriega is working away.
Nice strikes from Badaz there.

Badaz looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Noriega looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Noriega is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Badaz pulls his head out easily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dmitry Badaz dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rodrigo Noriega'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.

Noriega scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Badaz actively working from the bottom here.

Noriega is working for a submission of some sort.

Noriega is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Noriega wants to pass to mount but Badaz is defending the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Noriega wants to take a breather but Badaz is having none of it.
Badaz is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Badaz is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Noriega wants to work for an arm triangle but Badaz is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Badaz is defending against the submission attempts here by Noriega.
Badaz wants to get back to full guard.
Badaz is trying to control but can't.
Badaz is looking to improve his position.
Badaz is breathing heavily.

Noriega is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Badaz doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Noriega.
Noriega looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Badaz is staying active underneath Noriega, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Noriega is trying to work for a kimura but Badaz is defending well.
Dmitry Badaz has got the better of the ground game so far.
Badaz tries to get to full guard but Noriega has control of the leg.

Badaz is defending against the submission attempts here by Noriega.
Badaz slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Badaz bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Noriega's guard.

Noriega looking for a sweep. Not yet Noriega, not yet.
Badaz lands a couple of digs.
Badaz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Badaz is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Noriega working for a triangle but Badaz defends it easily.

Noriega working for a triangle but Badaz defends it easily.
Badaz is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Noriega throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

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.
Noriega not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Badaz throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Badaz 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.

Noriega has his foot on Badaz's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Badaz works his way back into a safe position though.
Noriega utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Noriega looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Badaz passes into side control.
Badaz cracks Noriega with a big right hand but Noriega just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rodrigo Noriega dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Rodrigo Noriega's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Noriega shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Noriega was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Noriega tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Noriega has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Badaz can't do much from the bottom here.
Badaz manages to get back to half guard.
Badaz moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Badaz has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Noriega can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Badaz keeping moving, preventing Noriega from controlling successfully.
Noriega won't allow Badaz to sweep him here.
Badaz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Badaz keeping moving, preventing Noriega from controlling successfully.
Noriega looking to pass the guard.
Noriega trying to control the position from guard on top but Badaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Noriega is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Our spies down at at Walter J Abramowitz Center for Bigness inform us that Badaz has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Badaz is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Badaz is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Badaz in particular looking to stall.
Noriega trying to control from the bottom.
Noriega tries to get to full guard but Badaz has control of the leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Badaz controlling the action here.

Noriega looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Noriega looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Badaz perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Badaz is trying to control the action in half guard but Noriega is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Badaz might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Noriega haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Noriega is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Badaz scores with a couple of nice shots.
Badaz is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Badaz slows the pace down in half guard.

Noriega actively working from the bottom here.
Badaz trying to control the action but Noriega is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Badaz working the head and body with strikes.
Noriega is trying to maintain the position but Badaz is very close to passing his half guard.
Badaz lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Badaz controlling the action here.
Noriega looks like he's trying to stand up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nice strikes from Badaz there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dmitry Badaz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Badaz has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 David Hoff scores the fight 28:29
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dmitry Badaz!