PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mawute Vudaga (ranked 4525 p4p, 4552 weight class) and Davidson Franco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Vudaga
vs
Franco

180 cm
25
165
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
18
163
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mawute Vudaga!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Davidson Franco!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Leandro Rodrigues and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No luck for Franco with that takedown attempt.
Vudaga throws a counter high kick but Franco was just alert enough to avoid it.
Franco moves in looking to clinch but Vudaga pushes him off.

Franco gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Vudaga to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Vudaga tries to free his leg and advance position but Franco is retaining full guard.
Vudaga has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Franco looking for a guillotine here but Vudaga defends easily.
Vudaga postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Vudaga avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Franco working a defensive guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vudaga looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Franco throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Vudaga escapes and throws Franco's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Franco is trying to get back to half guard.

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.

Vudaga decides to stand up, so the ref orders Franco to his feet.

Vudaga drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Franco looking to control but Vudaga passes into half guard.
Vudaga sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Franco trying to control from the bottom.
Vudaga missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Franco is looking to improve his position.
Vudaga trying to control the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco tries to get to full guard but Vudaga has control of the leg.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Franco is trying to stand up here but Vudaga is controlling him well.
Franco wants to control but Vudaga is keeping busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Franco looking for submissions off his back.
Vudaga controlling the action here.
Vudaga prevents Franco from improving his position.

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.
Vudaga works his way into full mount!
Vudaga controlling the position easily from mount.
Vudaga looking to ground and pound but Franco is blocking nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Vudaga content just to control the position here.
Franco is in all sorts of trouble here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mawute Vudaga 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.

Vudaga throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Vudaga scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

It looks like Davidson Franco has been cut.

Vudaga looking to score a takedown here. Franco is defending well but Vudaga drives through and ends up in Franco's guard.
Franco is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Vudaga stands and steps away. Franco gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Vudaga fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Franco to the ground. Vudaga is now in Franco's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Vudaga is in close to Franco's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Vudaga postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Franco working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Vudaga has passed into half guard!
Vudaga knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Franco on the ground.
Franco won't allow Vudaga to pass to mount.
Franco is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Vudaga content to control rather than advance.
Franco has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Vudaga is working away from the top position though.
Franco is looking for a sweep. Vudaga is wise to his cunning plan and keeps 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.
Vudaga wants to lay and pray for a moment but Franco keeps working.
Mawute Vudaga overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Franco wants to control but Vudaga is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Franco is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Vudaga content to control rather than advance.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Vudaga is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Franco is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Vudaga throws a head kick that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Vudaga has managed to clinch.
Franco tries to pull guard but Vudaga won't allow it.
Vudaga wants to get back to striking at distance but Franco won't allow it.

Vudaga pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Vudaga manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Franco on his heels. He'll look to pass Franco's guard now, I'm sure.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Franco holds on and takes a little breather.
Vudaga wants to stand but Franco is controlling his posture from full guard.
Franco is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Franco might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Vudaga haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vudaga connects with a couple of short punches.
Vudaga controls from within his opponent's guard.

Franco is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Vudaga is aware though and is defending well.

Franco is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Vudaga defends well.
Franco punching from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Franco is trying to control the position from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mawute Vudaga dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Davidson Franco's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Vudaga looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Franco wants to control but Vudaga is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Vudaga thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Franco's head.
Vudaga is thwarting Franco's attempts to control the position.
Franco wants to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Franco wants to control but Vudaga is keeping busy.

Franco looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Franco wants to control but Vudaga is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Franco is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Vudaga pulls his head out easily.

Vudaga wants to work for an arm triangle but Franco is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Franco is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Vudaga stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Franco to get to his feet.

Vudaga clinches up with Franco and pushes him back against the cage.

Vudaga breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vudaga scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Franco has his takedown stuffed
and Vudaga counters with a left and a right that stings Franco.
Vudaga scores with a one two! Franco had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Vudaga keeps Franco at a distance using the push kick.
Vudaga lands a nice hook to Franco's body. Franco takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Vudaga is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Franco's half guard.
Vudaga not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Franco wants to get back to full guard.

Franco looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Vudaga is working away from the top position though.
Vudaga controlling the action here.
Franco is looking to control Vudaga's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Franco avoid being mounted?
Vudaga wants to control but Franco is keeping him busy.
Vudaga is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

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.
Vudaga trying to mount his opponent but Franco defends it.
Franco is trying to maintain the position but Vudaga is very close to passing his half guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Horrible takedown attempt by Franco or perhaps it was just good defense by Vudaga, which made it look bad.

Vudaga gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Franco is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Vudaga to keep the fight standing.
Mawute Vudaga is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Mawute Vudaga has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Davidson Franco.

Vudaga is trying to trip Franco. He has hold of a leg but Franco is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Vudaga persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Vudaga postures up.
Davidson Franco has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Franco throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mawute Vudaga showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Vudaga has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mawute Vudaga!
Our winner, Mawute Vudaga, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.