PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Koa Bouddi (ranked 405 p4p, 604 weight class) and Frank Rizzo (ranked 31 p4p, 43 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Bouddi
vs
Rizzo

175 cm
25
145
18 - 6 - 1

150 cm
27
140
11 - 6 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 6 - 1, fighting out of New York, Koa Bouddi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Frank Rizzo!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Donald Grub and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rizzo forces Bouddi back against the cage and clinches.
Rizzo blocks an uppercut.
Bouddi tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

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

Rizzo has closed the distance and engaged Bouddi in a clinch.
Rizzo creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Bouddi misses with some punches.
Bouddi lands a left hand.
Bouddi blocks an elbow strike.
Rizzo misses with the head strike.
Rizzo drops down looking for an ankle pick but Bouddi pulls his leg out and moves away.
Bouddi scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rizzo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Bouddi sizes up Rizzo with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Bouddi looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bouddi misses with a low kick as Rizzo jumps back.
Koa Bouddi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bouddi thuds a left hand into Rizzo's body.
Rizzo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Bouddi.
Rizzo pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Bouddi appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Bouddi throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Rizzo sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Rizzo closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Bouddi did well to prevent Rizzo getting side control.
Rizzo wants to advance to full mount but Bouddi doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Bouddi will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rizzo works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Bouddi tries to roll over but Rizzo keeps him under control.
Bouddi avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rizzo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rizzo missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Bouddi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Rizzo thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rizzo takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Bouddi is looking to improve his position.
Bouddi avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rizzo.
Rizzo has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at ubergym. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Rizzo lands strikes from half guard.
Bouddi definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rizzo not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rizzo missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rizzo not doing much here.
Rizzo not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Rizzo has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rizzo wants to take a breather but Bouddi is having none of it.
Rizzo is just content to waste time from the top position. Bouddi takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Bouddi 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.
Rizzo stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Bouddi swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Rizzo sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Rizzo gets a takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rizzo takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Bouddi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Rizzo.
Rizzo trying to pass the guard but Bouddi defending well.
Rizzo is controlling the pace.
Rizzo takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Frank Rizzo will probably get the nod.
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.

Bouddi thows a leg kick but Rizzo checks it

and Rizzo decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Bouddi's guard.
Bouddi can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Rizzo controls the pace.
Rizzo is continuing to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rizzo working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bouddi trying to control the position here.
Rizzo trying to control but Bouddi is working from the bottom.
Rizzo is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Koa Bouddi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Bouddi misses with a low kick.
Rizzo tries to clinch but Bouddi moves out of range.
Rizzo ducks right into an uppercut from Bouddi.
Rizzo wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Rizzo ducks right into an uppercut from Bouddi.
Bouddi lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Rizzo at a distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rizzo blocks a low kick nicely.
Rizzo has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Bouddi throws a leg kick that is checked

and Rizzo holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Rizzo tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Bouddi's elbow.
Rizzo on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Bouddi gets through Rizzo's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Rizzo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Rizzo does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Rizzo checks a leg kick.
Rizzo uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Bouddi.
Rizzo looks to land a combination. Bouddi sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Bouddi scores with a jab to the body.
Bouddi fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Rizzo is out of range.
Koa Bouddi is winning the standup battle so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bouddi looks to score with a jab to the body but Rizzo is just out of range.
Rizzo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bouddi paws at him with a jab and circles away.
It looked like Bouddi was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Rizzo.
Bouddi thows a leg kick but Rizzo checks it
and Rizzo counters with a left to the body.
Rizzo fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Bouddi looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Bouddi fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Rizzo.
Bouddi throws a low kick but it's checked well by Rizzo.
Bouddi is looking to wear down Rizzo with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Bouddi fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Rizzo checks it well.
Bouddi lands a leg kick that knocks Rizzo off balance momentarily.
Bouddi throws a leg kick
and Rizzo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Bouddi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bouddi misses with a low kick.
Rizzo doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Bouddi avoids the body shot from Rizzo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bouddi thows a leg kick but Rizzo checks it

and Rizzo counters with a nice double leg into side control. Bouddi won't be happy with that.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Rizzo working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Bouddi is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Rizzo tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Rizzo working the ground and pound but Bouddi is defending the strikes.
Rizzo creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Bouddi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Rizzo in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Rizzo scoring with punches and elbows.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Frank Rizzo will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

A leg kick checked by Rizzo.
Bouddi bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Rizzo drops his hands momentarily and Bouddi takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Bouddi scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Bouddi scores with a kick to the midsection.
Bouddi thows a leg kick but Rizzo checks it

and Rizzo counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Rizzo postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Rizzo controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rizzo looking to sit in guard and control but Bouddi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Rizzo seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rizzo is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Bouddi is aware though and is defending well.
Bouddi wants to stand but Rizzo has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Rizzo has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

Bouddi got a little sloppy there for a moment and Rizzo has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Bouddi has managed to get both his arms back between Rizzo's legs - danger averted.

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.
Rizzo is trying to control the position but Bouddi postures up.
Rizzo is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Rizzo wants to take a breather but Bouddi is having none of it.
Nice strikes from Rizzo there.
Rizzo thows a huge punch but Bouddi dodges it nicely.
Koa Bouddi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rizzo throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rizzo trying to control from half guard but Bouddi is working away.
Rizzo throws a strike but Bouddi avoids it easily and moves to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bouddi keeping moving, preventing Rizzo from controlling successfully.
Bouddi is controlling Rizzo's posture.
Rizzo controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rizzo wants to pass the guard but Bouddi is keeping the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Nice shot by Rizzo.

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.
Bouddi scores with a decent looking hook.
Bouddi is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Bouddi throws out a loose jab but Rizzo uses good head movement to avoid it.
Bouddi gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Frank Rizzo is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Rizzo lands with a good body shot.
Rizzo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Bouddi throws a leg kick that is checked
and Rizzo counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Bouddi thinking.
Bouddi lets loose with a powerful body kick. Rizzo will feel that in the morning.
Bouddi is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Bouddi swings away with a body shot that misses
and Bouddi takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Bouddi misses with a looping right.
It seemed like Rizzo was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bouddi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bouddi looks to land a right hand but Rizzo moved out of range.
A countering left hand to the body from Rizzo misses.
Rizzo takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Koa Bouddi.
I think Rizzo 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 Richard Clark scores the fight 28:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Glass scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Rizzo!
Frank Rizzo tried to hype himself up post fight but didn't word it too well and it ended up with him sounding like a bit of a tool.