PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dash Hercules (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pablo Caceres (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dash Hercules has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Hercules
vs
Caceres

179 cm
19
187 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

187 cm
22
180 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Dangerous GnP
Good kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dash Hercules!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Pablo Caceres!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Leandro Rodrigues and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Caceres misses with a two punch combination.
Caceres waving his hands out infront of him, looking to distract Hercules.
A chopping leg kick lands by Hercules.
Hercules stuffs the takedown.
Caceres shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Hercules as he avoids it easily.
Caceres changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hercules tries to avoid it but Caceres manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hercules to the ground. Hercules escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Dash Hercules has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Pablo Caceres.
Caceres throws a sloppy head kick and Hercules moves out of range easily.
Hercules tries to clinch up.

Caceres drives through with a takedown into guard.
Caceres looks gassed!

Hercules is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Caceres controlling from the top position.
Caceres won't allow Hercules to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hercules wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Hercules wants to sweep but no luck.
Hercules is looking to stand up but Caceres isn't so interested in that idea.
Hercules throwing rabbit punches from the bottom - showing the judges that he's keeping busy.
Caceres wants to control from the top but Hercules keeps moving.
Caceres stopping the sweep attempt from Hercules.

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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Caceres throws a series of punches but Hercules moves out of range.
Hercules dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Caceres. That did some damage!
Caceres closes the distance and clinches up with Hercules, looking for a takedown. Caceres pushes Hercules against the cage but Hercules circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Hercules closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Hercules lands in his opponent's guard.
Caceres tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hercules has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Caceres controls Hercules momentarily but Hercules frees himself.
Caceres 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Caceres not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Caceres has a closed guard, preventing Hercules from standing up.
Caceres is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Hercules stopping the sweep attempt from Caceres.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hercules wants to get up but he can't break Caceres's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Hercules moves into the clinch.
Hercules stops a takedown attempt from Caceres.

Hercules escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hercules fails with the takedown

and Caceres counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Caceres.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Caceres trying to control the position from guard on top but Hercules is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hercules controls Caceres momentarily but Caceres frees himself.
Caceres stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hercules swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Dash Hercules will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A jab lands there for Caceres.
Caceres lands a jab-cross combination.
Dash Hercules is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Caceres looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Caceres shoots in and drives through. Hercules sprawls well.
Hercules fails with an attempt to clinch.
Hercules with a lazy takedown attempt

and Caceres counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Caceres is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Hercules on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Hercules tries to get out of the position.
Hercules is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Caceres is controlling him.
Caceres not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Caceres passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hercules is looking for a sweep.
Hercules is trying to work for a sweep but Caceres has mounted him!
Caceres lands a big elbow.
Hercules is squirming around, avoiding Caceres's attempts to control the action.
Caceres lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Hercules taking shots to the head.
Caceres cracks Hercules with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Caceres dominating with strikes here.
Caceres looking to control but Hercules is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Hercules looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
Hercules tries to break free.
Hercules is trying to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Caceres throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Hercules!
Caceres has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Hercules.
Caceres lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Hercules hold on?!
Hercules wants to control his opponent's hands but Caceres gets his hands free.
Hercules is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Caceres is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Caceres keeps control of the position as Hercules tries to break free.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Caceres lands an elbow to the side of the head.

Caceres looking for the choke but no joy.
Hercules trying to control the action but Caceres just sinks the hooks in.
Caceres lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pablo Caceres showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Caceres swats away the attempt to clinch by Hercules.
Caceres looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Hercules is fending him off so far but Caceres persists. Nope, Hercules circles away and we're back to standing.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Hercules.
Hercules tries to clinch up

and Caceres counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

Hercules is defending against the submission attempts here by Caceres.
Caceres stops Hercules from getting back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hercules trying to control from the bottom.
Caceres is looking to take a break and control but Hercules is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Caceres is thwarting Hercules's attempts to control the position.
Hercules is looking to improve his position.
Caceres is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Caceres controlling from the full mount.
Pablo Caceres has got the better of the ground game so far.

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.
Caceres fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Caceres thowing shots but they're missing.
Caceres working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Caceres working the ground and pound effectively.
Caceres tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hercules reaches up to try and control the position but Caceres seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Hercules rolls and tries to escape and now Caceres has his back!
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Caceres's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Hercules just trying to survive but Caceres is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Hercules knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Caceres on the ground.
Caceres looking to soften up his opponent with punches.

Caceres is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Hercules trying to control the hands but Caceres won't let him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hercules showing good submission defense here.
Hercules can't escape the position.
Caceres softening up his opponent with strikes here.
Hercules staying busy and making it hard for Caceres to control.
Caceres scores with punches to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Pablo Caceres comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Caceres has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 28:29
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Pablo Caceres!