PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alexandros Stamatis (ranked 937 p4p, 495 weight class) and Juju Baraka (ranked 139 p4p, 89 weight class). Stamatis comes into the arena with Sabaton - Sparta blaring out of the sound system. Baraka is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Burning Spear. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Stamatis
vs
Baraka

207 cm
37
265
36 - 18 - 0

203 cm
30
220
15 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Bondi MMA
Warrior Fight Store

Brooklyn Apothecary

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 36 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Alexandros Stamatis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Juju Baraka!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Felipe Paraventi and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Baraka avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Stamatis lands with a good body shot.
Stamatis connects with a crisp jab.

It looks like Juju Baraka has been cut.
Stamatis rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Baraka moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A decent looking cross lands there for Baraka.
Stamatis throws a body punch but Baraka moves out of range.
Baraka connects with a high kick.
Baraka connects with a leg kick.
Stamatis misses with a hook. Baraka ducked under it nicely.
Stamatis throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Stamatis keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Baraka.
A head kick misses from Baraka.
Baraka tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Stamatis counters with a lovely shot to the body.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Stamatis cracks Baraka with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stamatis misses with a two punch combination.
Stamatis slips a straight right by Baraka.
Stamatis swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Stamatis scores with a crisp jab that stopped Baraka in his tracks.
Stamatis throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Baraka misses with an uppercut
and Stamatis connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Baraka looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Stamatis connects with a body shot that sends Baraka's belly button to the back.
Stamatis throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Baraka counters with a nice body kick.
Stamatis throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Stamatis misses with an uppercut.
Sloppy strikes from Stamatis. Those never looked like landing.
A punch combination from Stamatis misses.
Stamatis waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Baraka.
Stamatis uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Baraka.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baraka avoids the body shot from Stamatis.
Baraka keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stamatis swings for the body but Baraka moves out of range.
A telegraphed right hand from Baraka misses the target.
Baraka dodges the punch combination from Stamatis.
Baraka lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Baraka displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Stamatis throws out the jab.
Stamatis lunges at Baraka with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Baraka's hand.
Stamatis throws a hook to the side of Baraka's head but Baraka sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Baraka keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Baraka swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.

Stamatis gets tackled into the cage by Baraka. Baraka maintains the clinch.
Baraka misses with an elbow strike.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Stamatis has a couple of punches blocked by Baraka.
Baraka lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Stamatis backwards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baraka throws a punch but it's blocked by Stamatis.
Stamatis misses with some punches.
Baraka misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Stamatis working aggressively here.
Baraka throws a head punch that misses.
Stamatis swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Stamatis tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Stamatis lands a good knee to the midsection. Baraka won't want to take too many of those.
Baraka blocking some punches.
Baraka throws a head punch that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Stamatis fails to land.
A short right from Baraka on the inside.

Stamatis manages to break the clinch.
Stamatis misses with an uppercut. Baraka saw that one coming.
Stamatis tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Baraka was well out of range. Poor timing from Stamatis.
Stamatis throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Stamatis pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Baraka clinches with his opponent.
Baraka misses with a body punch.
Baraka working aggressively here.
Baraka lands with a left to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stamatis is trying to stall.
Baraka lands with a short shot to the head.
A short uppercut from Baraka.
Stamatis lands an uppercut.
Baraka lands an uppercut.
Baraka has a couple of punches blocked by Stamatis.
Stamatis lands with a short shot to the head.

That has opened up Juju Baraka's cut even more.
A short right from Stamatis.
Stamatis lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Stamatis blocks a punch to the side of the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Stamatis lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Stamatis.
Stamatis misses with a short punch on the inside.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alexandros Stamatis dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Juju Baraka's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Baraka throws a jab but it's blocked by Stamatis.
Stamatis fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Baraka lands a jab to the head.
Baraka throws a head kick that misses.
Baraka blocks a jab.
Baraka throws a hook but Stamatis blocks it.
Stamatis on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Baraka might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

Baraka fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Stamatis, pushing him back against the cage.

Baraka breaks the clinch.
Stamatis blocks a head kick by Baraka.
A little feinted left hand from Stamatis on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stamatis misses with an uppercut.
Stamatis swinging wildly here.
Baraka displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Stamatis throws out the jab.
Stamatis throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Baraka sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Stamatis is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Baraka can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stamatis misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Baraka.
Stamatis slips under a jab.
An attempted straight right counter from Stamatis misses the target.
Stamatis ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Baraka moves away.
Stamatis swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Baraka ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Stamatis scores with a jab to the head.
A lazy left from Baraka finds it's target.
Stamatis takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Baraka ducks under a wild hook from Stamatis.
Baraka connects with a body shot.
Stamatis throws a body punch but Baraka moves out of range.
Baraka feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Stamatiss jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Stamatis.
A jab from Stamatis misses.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Stamatis throws out a loose jab but Baraka uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baraka fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
A slow jab from Baraka misses its intended target.
A counter left hand to the body from Stamatis misses its target.
Baraka moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Stamatis throws a lazy uppercut
enabling Baraka to counter with a crisp jab.
Baraka connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Baraka fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Stamatis.
Stamatis misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Stamatis takes a swing at Baraka's ribcage but misses.
Stamatis closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Stamatis throws a body punch but Baraka moves out of range.
Stamatis looks to land a right hand but Baraka moved out of range.
Baraka lands a head shot.
Stamatis fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Baraka manages to avoid it.
Baraka swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Baraka connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Stamatis's hands.
Baraka connects with a good right hand that stumbles Stamatis. Stamatis circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Stamatis is rocked!
Baraka drops Stamatis with a naaaaasty hook - Stamatis is in real trouble here! Baraka dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:15 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Juju Baraka!
An out of breath Juju Baraka thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.