PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Rickson Caceres (ranked 328 p4p, 774 weight class) and Ernesto Romero (ranked 30 p4p, 71 weight class). Ernesto Romero has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Caceres
vs
Romero

180 cm
29
157
13 - 4 - 0

165 cm
28
150
9 - 3 - 1

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Good gas tank

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rickson Caceres!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ernesto Romero!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Romero fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Caceres, pushing him back against the cage.
Romero tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Romero gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Caceres.
Romero lands a nice uppercut.
Caceres blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Romero working some nice short punches in the clinch.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Romero creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Romero swings wildly with an uppercut but Caceres uses good head movement to avoid it.
Romero tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Romero lands a shoulder strike.
Caceres tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Romero has a couple of punches blocked by Caceres.
Caceres wants a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickson Caceres. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Caceres fails to pull guard.

Romero breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Caceres tries to keep at a distance but Romero has taken the fight into the clinch.
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!
Romero misses with some punches.
Romero misses with some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romero lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Romero as Caceres tries to tie him up.

Romero breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Romero gets caught flat footed, as Caceres shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Caceres trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Caceres will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Romero can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Caceres controls the pace.
Caceres with a flurry of punches that miss.
Caceres has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Caceres trying to control but Romero is working from the bottom.
Romero trying to keep a closed guard but Caceres is proving a slippery customer.

Caceres drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Caceres jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Caceres trying to control but Romero is working from the bottom.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Caceres is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Romero is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Caceres moves into the clinch successfully.
Romero lands a hook that snaps the head of Caceres backwards.

Romero escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Romero has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.

Romero closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Romero lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Romero scores with a shoulder strike.
Caceres changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Romero fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Caceres pushes Romero up against the cage in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Caceres jumps guard but Romero turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Caceres tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Romero just stands there and leans against the cage.
Caceres blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Romero lands a left hand.
Romero lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Caceres backwards.
Romero scores with a nice hook to the head.
Romero lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

Romero breaks from the clinch.

Caceres gets tackled into the cage by Romero. Romero maintains the clinch.
Romero scores with a nice hook to the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Caceres.
Romero misses with some punches.
Caceres jumps guard but Romero turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Romero breaks from the clinch.

Romero moves into the clinch successfully.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A short left from Romero.
Caceres tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Caceres fails to pull the fight into his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Romero misses with a punch on the inside.
Caceres tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Romero smiles and moves away.
Romero jabs Caceres right on the nose. Caceres blinks but takes it well.

Romero clinches up with Caceres and pushes him back against the cage.
Caceres wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Romero lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Caceres backwards.
Caceres fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Still in the clinch, Romero scores with a nice short uppercut.

Caceres is rocked!

Romero pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Oh Caceres is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Romero gets a clinch.
Caceres is trying to break the clinch but Romero is controlling him.

Romero breaks from the clinch.
Caceres fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Romero avoids it really well and circles away.
Caceres seems to have got his legs back now.

Romero gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Romero lands a hook that snaps the head of Caceres backwards.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ernesto Romero dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Caceres swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Romero tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Caceres fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Romero displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Caceres.
Caceres takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Romero defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Caceres.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickson Caceres. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Jab by Romero.

Romero gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Caceres tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Romero just stands there and leans against the cage.
Romero has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Romero lands with a right to the head.
Caceres blocking some punches.
Romero throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Caceress head.
Romero lands a big right hand that drops Caceres! The killer instinct kicks in and Romero finishes his opponent with a series of strikes from mount. A dominating finish by Romero!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:49 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ernesto Romero!
Ernesto Romero is the new featherweight champion!
A very excited looking Ernesto Romero made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.