PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Matt Manuel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Aldo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Manuel might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Lay Low. Jose Aldo has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Matt Manuel's chin.

Manuel
vs
Aldo

172 cm
24
155 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

172 cm
23
157 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Good knees
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Malicious Intent Fight Gear - The Pit Inc

Crippler's Corner

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Matt Manuel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jose Aldo!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, George Francis and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Manuel staying out of range there.

Manuel takes the fight into the clinch.
Manuel with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Manuel tries a knee to the head but Aldo blocks it.
Manuel keeps control of Aldo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Aldo is trying to break the clinch but Manuel is controlling him.
Aldo on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Manuel keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Aldo's efforts to push away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aldo wants to break the clinch but can't.
Manuel with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Manuel is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Aldo is defending well for now.
Aldo avoiding damage as Manuel throws knees to the body.
Manuel misses with a knee strike.
Aldo wants to get back to striking at distance but Manuel won't allow it.
Aldo wants to get back to striking at distance but Manuel won't allow it.
Manuel tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Aldo avoiding damage as Manuel throws knees to the body.
Aldo is trying to break the clinch but Manuel has him pressed against the cage.
Manuel keeps control of Aldo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Aldo has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

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.
Aldo wants to get back to striking at distance but Manuel won't allow it.
Manuel lands with a short shot to the head.
Aldo wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Manuel has him pressed against the cage.
Manuel throws a knee to the head but misses.
Aldo wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Manuel has him pressed against the cage.
Manuel keeps control of Aldo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Aldo wants to break free but Manuel has control.
Manuel works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Manuel tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Aldo avoids it.
Manuel tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo wants to get back to striking at distance but Manuel won't allow it.
Aldo is trying to break the clinch but Manuel has him pressed against the cage.
Manuel's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Manuel obliges.
Aldo is trying to force a seperation but Manuel has the dominant position.
Manuel stalls.
Aldo wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Manuel with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Aldo wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Manuel wants a takedown but no success here.
Aldo working hard to break the clinch.
Aldo is looking to break free of the clinch but Manuel has double underhooks.
Aldo tries to break the clinch but Manuel is controlling the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Aldo wants to break the clinch but can't.
Manuel stalls.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Manuel 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.

Manuel motions for Aldo to come forward. Manuel throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Aldo doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Aldo swats away the attempt to clinch by Manuel.
Aldo misses with a body shot
and Manuel counters with a nice body shot.
Aldo throws the left hand but Manuel avoids the punch easily.
Aldo jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Aldo looks to land a left hand but Manuel moved out of range nicely.
Aldo ducks under a wild hook from Manuel.
Manuel tries to close the distance and clinch but Aldo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Manuel throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Aldo lands an overhand right.
Manuel throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Manuel lands with a thumping leg kick.
Aldo swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Aldo missing with a left hand there. Manuel was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Manuel misses with a head kick.
Manuel ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Manuel lands with a thumping leg kick.
Aldo throws a hook but Manuel blocks it.
Jose Aldo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Aldo lands a right hook to the body.
Manuel lands a head kick. Aldo smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Aldo sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Aldo thows a body shot but no joy.
Manuel ducks under a wild hook from Aldo.
Manuel throws a nice outside leg kick.
Aldo is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Manuel connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Aldo's hands.
Manuel lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Manuel misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A chopping leg kick lands by Manuel.
Aldo throws a hook but Manuel avoids it easily.
Manuel looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Manuel scoring well with a low kick there.
Aldo thows a left - swing and a miss!
The fight stays on the outside here - Manuel looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
No joy there for Aldo, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Manuel lands a jab to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo takes a swing at Manuel's ribcage but misses.
Manuel shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Aldo defends it nicely.

Manuel instigates a clinch.
Manuel is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Aldo is defending well for now.
Aldo can't break the clinch.
Manuel tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Aldo is trying to force a seperation but Manuel has the dominant position.
Manuel connects with a knee to the head.
Aldo working hard to break the clinch.

That's four 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.
Manuel tries a body shot but Aldo blocks it.
Manuel tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Manuel misses with a knee strike.
Manuel misses with a punch on the inside.
Manuel tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Aldo is trying to break the clinch but Manuel is controlling him.
Manuel is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Aldo looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Aldo has had enough of the clinch but Manuel keeps him there for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Manuel dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Manuel misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Aldo.
Manuel fails with an attempt to clinch.
Manuel moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Manuel connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Aldo momentarily.
Manuel thumps Aldo with a low kick.
Aldo throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Manuel slips a straight right by Aldo.
Aldo throws a shot to the body.
Aldo throws an overhand right that lands on Manuel's shoulder, as Manuel tries to avoid the shot.
Aldo throws a jab when Manuel was well out of range.
The fighters circling - Aldo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Manuel slips under a jab.
Manuel staying out of range there.
Aldo's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Manuel staying out of range there.
Aldo throws a hook to the side of Manuel's head but Manuel sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Manuel with a hook.
Manuel on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Manuel walks into a stiff left hand from Aldo.
Aldo throws a predictable looking body shot
and Manuel counters with a nice leg kick.
Aldo looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Aldo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Aldo stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Manuel.
Manuel throws a series of strikes that have Aldo backpedaling.
A slow jab from Aldo misses its intended target.
Manuel scores with a jab.
Aldo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Manuel avoids the body shot from Aldo.
Matt Manuel is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Manuel moves into the clinch successfully.
Manuel utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Manuel has Aldo pressed against the cage, preventing Aldo from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Manuel is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Aldo is defending well for now.
Manuel landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Manuel trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manuel keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Aldo's efforts to push away.
Manuel misses with the head strike.
Aldo wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Aldo wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Jose Aldo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A bit of stalling here from Manuel.
Aldo is trying to force a seperation but Manuel has the dominant position.

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.
Manuel is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Aldo is defending well for now.
Manuel looking to throw knees to the head but Aldo is blocking nicely.
Manuel throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Aldo blocks it with crossed arms.
Aldo has had enough of the clinch but Manuel keeps him there for the moment.
Aldo misses with a punch on the inside.
A knee to the head by Manuel.
Aldo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Manuel with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Manuel misses with a knee to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matt Manuel showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Manuel 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matt Manuel!