PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Don Barnes (ranked 806 p4p, 2617 weight class) and Alex Gutierrez (ranked 127 p4p, 357 weight class). Alex Gutierrez acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Barnes
vs
Gutierrez

180 cm
22
176
10 - 5 - 0

191 cm
28
184
15 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid Muay Thai
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Voodoo Nutrition

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 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Don Barnes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Alex Gutierrez!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Paulsen Ambrosius and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gutierrez misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Barnes cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gutierrez dips to his left and cracks Barnes with an uppercut!
Gutierrez looks to score with a jab to the body but Barnes is just out of range.
Barnes is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Gutierrez slips a jab and a cross from Barnes.
The fighters circling - Gutierrez throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Gutierrez tries to score a power double leg takedown but Barnes sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Gutierrez somewhat.
Barnes misses the shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A looping hook to the body misses from Barnes. Gutierrez does a little dance to reset his feet.
Barnes throws a body shot but no joy.
Barnes throws a right hand that Gutierrez ducks under and follows up with a left that Gutierrez also avoids with ease.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes is trying to maintain a safe position but Gutierrez gets an underhook and turns Barnes into the cage.
Gutierrez throws an elbow but it misses.
Gutierrez blocking some punches.
Gutierrez lands a left hand that snaps the head of Barnes backwards.
Gutierrez scores with a nice hook to the head.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Gutierrez jumps guard and drags Barnes to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Barnes distracts Gutierrez with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Barnes stays in close to Gutierrez's body and controls the position.
Barnes trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Barnes with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Barnes looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez trying to keep a closed guard but Barnes is proving a slippery customer.
Barnes is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Gutierrez looking to control.
Barnes wants to control from the top but Gutierrez keeps moving.

Gutierrez is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Barnes defends well.
Barnes postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Barnes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Gutierrez utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Barnes controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Barnes is one step ahead there.
Barnes is working Gutierrez over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Gutierrez avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Barnes controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Barnes sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Gutierrez's guard.

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.
Barnes missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Barnes looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gutierrez with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Barnes has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Barnes throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Gutierrez to regain full guard.
Barnes throws a big right hand that misses.
Barnes stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gutierrez swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gutierrez looking to control.
Barnes throws a big right hand that misses.
Barnes content to stall in guard here.
Barnes forces his way into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barnes controlling the pace.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Don Barnes dominated that round.
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.

Barnes slips a jab from Gutierrez.
Barnes misses with a telegraphed body shot
enabling Gutierrez to counter with a crisp jab.
Barnes ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gutierrez moves away.
Gutierrez stuns Barnes with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Barnes scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
The crowd cheers as Gutierrez lands an impressive looking overhand right. Barnes doesn't seem phased though.

Gutierrez is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Barnes's half guard.
Barnes makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Barnes.
Barnes tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Barnes bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gutierrez's guard.

The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Gutierrez escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Barnes gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Gutierrez is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Barnes wants to control from the top but Gutierrez keeps moving.
Gutierrez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Barnes throws a strike but Gutierrez rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Don Barnes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gutierrez won't allow Barnes to get back to his feet.

Barnes looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Gutierrez passes into half guard.
Gutierrez working the head and body with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Gutierrez's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Gutierrez's back!
Barnes tries to get the hooks in deep but Gutierrez pushed the leg off.
Barnes trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Gutierrez doesn't escape.
Barnes is hanging on to Gutierrez's back as he tries to escape.
Barnes lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Gutierrez just trying to survive but Barnes is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Barnes punches Gutierrez on the ear.
I really don't envy Gutierrez right now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barnes tries to get the hooks in deep but Gutierrez pushed the leg off.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gutierrez trying to control but not successfully.
Gutierrez is in bad spot here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Gutierrez trying to control the action but Barnes just sinks the hooks in.
I would not like to be Gutierrez right now.
Gutierrez tries to break free.
I would not like to be Gutierrez right now.
Barnes looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Barnes throwing damaging strikes from the back! Gutierrez could be in trouble here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Barnes throwing damaging strikes from the back! Gutierrez could be in trouble here!
Barnes softening up his opponent with strikes here.
Barnes is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
Barnes trying to control momentarily.
Good control from Barnes.
Barnes is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Gutierrez. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Gutierrez manages to reverse the position and now he's in Barnes's guard. Nice work there by Gutierrez.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Barnes manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gutierrez manages to get himself to full guard.

And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Don Barnes 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!

Barnes throws a leg kick
and Gutierrez counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Good work by Barnes as he checks the leg kick.
Barnes shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Gutierrez eats them both and turns towards Barnes to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Barnes misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
We've been told by Barnes's head coaches at Mentor Gym that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Barnes moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Gutierrez shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Barnes but Barnes pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Barnes fires out a quick counter leg kick but Gutierrez just manages to avoid it.
Barnes tries to bum rush Gutierrez with a series of wild strikes but Gutierrez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Barnes throws a front kick aimed at Gutierrez's knee but Gutierrez avoids it well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes misses with a wild body shot.
Gutierrez throws out a counter right but Barnes avoids it with no problem.
Barnes misses the shot to the body.
Barnes lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Barnes is looking to wear down Gutierrez with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
A looping hook to the body misses from Gutierrez. Barnes does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Gutierrez. Barnes does a little dance to reset his feet.
Barnes was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
A left lands for Gutierrez.
Barnes stuffs the takedown attempt from Gutierrez. Gutierrez gets slowly back to his feet.
Gutierrez just misses with a punch to the body.
Barnes is looking to counter punch.
Barnes ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
A left lands for Barnes.
Barnes keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Barnes is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gutierrez can do to turn this around?
Gutierrez swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Barnes looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Gutierrez is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez trying to control from the bottom.
Gutierrez has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Gutierrez wants to get back to full guard but Barnes has mounted him!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barnes working Gutierrez over with strikes here.
Barnes controlling the pace for now.
Barnes landing strikes from the mount.
Barnes lands with some strikes.
Barnes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gutierrez tries to reverse the position but Barnes maintains control.
Barnes working away from the top, dropping strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes looking to control but Gutierrez is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Barnes controlling the pace for now.
Barnes dominating with strikes here.
Barnes scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barnes lands a big elbow.
Barnes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Barnes connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Barnes avoids the attempt from Gutierrez to control.
Barnes controlling from mount.
Gutierrez is squirming around, avoiding Barnes's attempts to control the action.
Alex Gutierrez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes unloading with bombs!
Barnes is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Barnes lands a big shot there that rocks Gutierrez but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Barnes working away from the top, dropping strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barnes avoids the attempt from Gutierrez to control.
Barnes tries to control but Gutierrez wriggling away.
Barnes scoring with strikes but Gutierrez is staying in there.
Gutierrez is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
Barnes putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

Gutierrez is rocked!

And that's the end of the fight!
Don Barnes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Barnes, 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 30:27
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Don Barnes!
Don Barnes decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.