PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Manny Tavares (ranked 236 p4p, 254 weight class) and Juanito Escobar (ranked 34 p4p, 37 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Tavares
vs
Escobar

183 cm
30
185
19 - 8 - 0

190 cm
30
185
18 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

NARCOS
Brooklyn Apothecary

Shadow Realm Apparel

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 19 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Manny Tavares!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Juanito Escobar!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Escobar misses with the body kick
and Tavares cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Tavares misses with a body shot.
Escobar slips under a jab from Tavares.
Tavares looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Tavares takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Escobar with a poor takedown
and Tavares counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Escobar changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Tavares takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Tavares lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Escobar shoots in but Tavares avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Escobar lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Escobar uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tavares.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tavares has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Escobar.
Tavares misses with a wild body shot.
Escobar takes one to the side of the head.
Nice shot lands for Escobar.
Tavares lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Tavares throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Escobar ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Tavares moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobar keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Tavares.
Tavares takes a swing at Escobar's ribcage but misses.
Escobar cracks Tavares with an open hand slap.
Escobar uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tavares.
Manny Tavares is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Escobar chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Escobar jabs Tavares right on the nose. Tavares blinks but takes it well.
A slow jab from Tavares misses its intended target.
Escobar tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Tavares moves out of range as Escobar strikes.
Escobar wants to clinch but Tavares slips to the side
and Tavares counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Tavares looks to land a left hand but Escobar moved out of range nicely.
Escobar slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Escobar tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Tavares swivels and escapes.
Manny Tavares has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Juanito Escobar.
Tavares moves out of range of the body kick from Escobar.
Escobar throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A slow jab from Tavares misses its intended target.
Tavares lands an overhand right.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nice defenses there by Escobar.
Escobar changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Escobar misses with a body kick.
Tavares misses with a straight right.
And Escobar tries to counter it with a takedown but Tavares pushes his down on his head and steps out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavares stuffs the takedown.
Tavares takes a swing at Escobar's ribcage but misses.
Escobar scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Escobar displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Tavares throws out the jab.
Tavares throws the left hand but Escobar avoids the punch easily.
Escobar cracks Tavares with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Escobar has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Tavares takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Tavares waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Escobar.
Tavares blocks a head kick by Escobar.
Escobar darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Nice body punch from Escobar.
Escobar slips a straight right by Tavares.
Tavares slaps away a takedown attempt from Escobar, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Tavares looks to throw the jab but Escobar is out of range.
Tavares looks to land a combination but Escobar avoids it well.
A lazy left from Escobar finds it's target.
Escobar fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Tavares misses with an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar shoots in and drives through. Tavares sprawls well.
Tavares misses with a hook. Escobar ducked under it nicely.
Escobar swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Tavares counters with a stiff right hand.
Tavares ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Escobar moves away.
Tavares throws a lazy right hand but Escobar sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Tavares walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
A big right from Tavares misses.
Tavares is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

Escobar changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Tavares looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Tavares tries to bench press Escobar off him but Escobar keeps the position.

Escobar is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Tavares is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tavares is not content to let Escobar control the position.
Escobar might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Tavares haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Escobar is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Tavares has escaped the position, nice work there.
Escobar tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Tavares knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Escobar on the ground.
Tavares gets back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tavares is trying to control but can't.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Manny Tavares will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Escobar fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Tavares misses with a series of wild punches.
Tavares jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Tavares rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Escobar moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Escobar's corner calls for a 1-2. Escobar obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

Escobar changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Tavares looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Tavares is not content to let Escobar control the position.
Tavares tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Escobar is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Tavares is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Tavares is trying to escape the position but Escobar is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavares is not content to let Escobar control the position.

Escobar tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

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.
Tavares keeps Escobar under control for a moment.
Tavares tries to improve position but can't.

Escobar is in a dominant position here, looking for a kimura. Tavares looks calm but he's in trouble here. Escobar gets his leg over his opponent's head and yanks on the arm. Tavares is tapping like a morse code operator on the titanic! SOS! SOS! Escobar lets go of the hold and Tavares can pop his arm back in it's socket.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Juanito Escobar!
After winning the bout, Juanito Escobar thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.