PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Samuel Rodrigues (ranked 2672 p4p, 1614 weight class) and Rebel Smith (ranked 323 p4p, 214 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Rodrigues
vs
Smith

187 cm
31
170
18 - 9 - 0

175 cm
30
162
11 - 7 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Powerful

CHURCH OF ZOIDBERG - FEEBLE FIGHTWEAR
Voodoo Nutrition

CHURCH OF ZOIDBERG - FEEBLE FIGHTWEAR
Brooklyn Apothecary

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 18 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Samuel Rodrigues!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rebel Smith!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, James Ackerman and Phil Schofield.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rodrigues gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Smith tries to work over Rodrigues's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rodrigues blocking some punches.
Smith lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Smith.
Smith lands with a left to the head.
Smith misses with a punch to the body.
Rodrigues jumps guard but Smith stands there with Rodrigues around his waist. Rodrigues gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Rodrigues is trying to pull guard but Smith turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Rodrigues jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Smith walks away with a smile on his face. Rodrigues gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Samuel Rodrigues. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rodrigues tries to close the distance and clinch but Smith swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A little jabbing left from Smith on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Smith scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Rodrigues doesn't seem bothered though.
Jab from Smith.

It looks like Samuel Rodrigues has been cut.
Rodrigues wants to clinch up but Smith keeps it at a distance.
Smith throws out a counter right but Rodrigues avoids it with no problem.

Rodrigues closes the distance and clinches.
Smith gets through Rodrigues's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rodrigues tries to pull guard but Smith holds him up against the cage and eventually Rodrigues drops back down to his feet.
Rodrigues takes a shot to the head.
Rodrigues fails to pull guard.
Rodrigues tries to pull guard but Smith holds him up against the cage and eventually Rodrigues drops back down to his feet.
Smith misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Smith misses with a punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rodrigues manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Rodrigues throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Rodrigues working for a triangle but Smith defends it easily.

Rodrigues is looking for a triangle but Smith pushes his legs off easily.
Smith controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rodrigues bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Smith's guard.

Rodrigues preventing the sweep.
Rodrigues slips nicely into half guard.
Smith controlling the position well.
Smith 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.

Rodrigues is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Smith defends it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues wants to pass the guard but Smith is defending well.

Rodrigues is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Smith is looking to improve his position.

Rodrigues is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Rodrigues is trying to work for a kimura but Smith is defending well.

Rodrigues seems to be working for a kimura but Smith defends the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith won't allow Rodrigues to pass to mount.
Smith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rodrigues. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Smith desperately trying to maintain half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Smith works his way to full guard. Good work.
Smith wants to get back to his feet but Rodrigues is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Smith pulls Rodrigues in to control the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Smith can do anything to dispel that myth.
Rodrigues stopping the sweep attempt from Smith.

Rodrigues drops back looking for a leg! Smith is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Smith manages to kick Rodrigues off! Rodrigues jumps back into Smith's guard.
Rodrigues will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rodrigues looking to pass the 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.
Rodrigues prevents Smith from getting back to his feet.
Rodrigues stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Smith swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Smith has control of Rodrigues's left arm, preventing Rodrigues from doing any damage.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Smith is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Rodrigues stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Smith swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Rodrigues 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.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Rodrigues drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Rodrigues jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Smith pushes Rodrigues off and scrambles back to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rebel Smith dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Samuel Rodrigues's cut.
That's time! Rodrigues's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Smith cracks a nice hook into Rodrigues's ribs.
Rodrigues tries to close the distance and clinch up but Smith swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Rodrigues closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Rodrigues takes a shot to the head.
Smith scores with a hook to the body.
Smith tries to throw a body punch but Rodrigues avoids it by throwing Smith back against the cage.
Smith lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Smith has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Smith working aggressively here.
A right hook to the body lands for Smith.
Rodrigues jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Smith walks away with a smile on his face. Rodrigues gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Rodrigues tries to clinch but Smith is having none of it.
Smith wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Jab by Smith.
Smith ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Rodrigues tries to clinch up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The fight stays on the outside here - Rodrigues looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rodrigues wants to clinch up but Smith keeps it at a distance.
Rodrigues takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Rodrigues takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
A combination from Smith does no damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Rodrigues doesn't seem bothered though.
Smith is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Rodrigues rather than just go for the knockout.
Smith throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Rodrigues on the side of the head.
Smith digs a good body shot into Rodrigues's ribs.
Rodrigues ducks under a wild hook from Smith.
Smith scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Rodrigues tries to close the distance and clinch up but Smith swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Rebel Smith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rodrigues takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Rodrigues takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.

Rodrigues clinches up with Smith and pushes him back against the cage.
Smith tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Rodrigues's elbow.
A short right from Smith.
Rodrigues tries to pull guard but Smith forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Smith lands a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rodrigues is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Smith to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Samuel Rodrigues. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rodrigues is trying to pull guard but Smith turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Rodrigues is trying to pull guard but Smith has him pressed against the cage.
Rodrigues tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Smith smiles and moves away.
Smith bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Rodrigues's head.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith lands a body shot.
Smith throws a shot from downtown. Rodrigues moves away and avoids it.
Rodrigues changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Smith cracks Rodrigues with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Rodrigues shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Smith defends it nicely.
We've been told by Rodrigues's head coaches at Shut Up & Train! {$1000} that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Rodrigues tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Smith manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Smith slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Rodrigues tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Smith paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Rodrigues is looking to clinch but Smith is avoiding it.
Smith appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Rodrigues takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

Rodrigues is rocked!
Smith steps in with a hook that catches Rodrigues right on the chin and knocks him to the floor! Smith follows him down with more strikes and that's all she wrote! Rodrigues looks absolutely devastated.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:40 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rebel Smith!
Rebel Smith gave a mention to CHURCH OF ZOIDBERG - FEEBLE FIGHTWEAR in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).