PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between River Castaneda (ranked 3624 p4p, 5294 weight class) and Claudio Henriquez (ranked 271 p4p, 0 weight class). Claudio Henriquez is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Castaneda
vs
Henriquez

173 cm
25
144
1 - 1 - 0

170 cm
19
140
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Can Moonwalk

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, River Castaneda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Claudio Henriquez!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Michael Johnstone and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Castaneda tries to close the distance and clinch but Henriquez swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Castaneda feints a jab promting Henriquez to slip. Castaneda then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Henriquez slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Henriquez takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Castaneda throws a right and a left that Henriquez avoids nicely.
Castaneda throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Castaneda throws a left and a right that both miss

and Henriquez moves into the clinch.
Castaneda struggles to land a body shot inside as Henriquez controls his hands.
Henriquez goes for a takedown in the clinch but Castaneda prevents it.
Castaneda utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Castaneda prevents the takedown attempt.
Henriquez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Henriquez avoiding damage as Castaneda throws knees to the body.

Henriquez jumps guard and drags Castaneda to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henriquez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Castaneda's guard.

Henriquez passes Castaneda's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Henriquez takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Castaneda has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Henriquez is working away from the top position though.

Henriquez decides to return to a standing position.
Henriquez sizes up Castaneda with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Castaneda looks to land a body kick but Henriquez moved away.
Castaneda lands a nice hook to Henriquez's body. Henriquez takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Henriquez throws a sloppy head kick and Castaneda moves out of range easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henriquez shoots in looking for a takedown. Castaneda tries to sprawl out of it but Henriquez keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Castaneda manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
River Castaneda has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Claudio Henriquez.
Henriquez tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Castaneda is looking to slow Henriquez down with leg kicks.
Henriquez tries to clinch there but Castaneda circles away.
Castaneda scoring well with a low kick there.
Henriquez is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Castaneda lands a jab-cross combination.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Castaneda tries to bum rush Henriquez with a series of wild strikes but Henriquez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Henriquez moves into the clinch successfully.
Castaneda misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Henriquez.
Castaneda working Henriquez over with knees to the body.

Henriquez breaks from the clinch.
Henriquez looks winded!
Henriquez looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Castaneda scores with a head kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Castaneda.
Castaneda looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Castaneda connects with a high kick.
Castaneda keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Castaneda appears to be looking for a big counter.
Henriquez fails to land the takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda connects with a leg kick.
River Castaneda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Castaneda tries a head kick but it misses.
Henriquez drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Castaneda defends it well.
Castaneda connects with a solid leg kick.
Castaneda throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Henriquez stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Castaneda wants to clinch.
Castaneda misses with a body kick.
Castaneda tries to work over Henriquez's front leg with a kick but Henriquez checks it.
Henriquez has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Castaneda.
Castaneda throws a leg kick which misses Henriquez's front leg but catches the back leg as Henriquez tries to avoid it.
Castaneda misses with a leg kick

and Henriquez counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Castaneda trying to control here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

River Castaneda dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Henriquez has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Castaneda finds it's way round the side to connect with Henriquez's head.
Castaneda scores with a jab to the head.
Castaneda darts in trying to clinch
enabling Henriquez to counter with a crisp jab.
Henriquez blocks a leg kick.
Henriquez has a takedown stuffed.

Henriquez rushes Castaneda and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

Henriquez manages to break the clinch.
Castaneda tries a head kick but it misses.
Castaneda throws a head kick that Henriquez semi-blocks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Castaneda lands with a thumping leg kick.

Henriquez gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Henriquez managing to block the knees to the body from Castaneda.
Henriquez avoiding damage as Castaneda throws knees to the body.
Castaneda throws a punch but it's blocked by Henriquez.

Henriquez escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Castaneda swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Henriquez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Castaneda. Henriquez shrugs it off though.
Castaneda scores with a nice body kick.

Henriquez has managed to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda working Henriquez over with knees to the body.
Henriquez is breathing heavily.
Henriquez controlling the action here for a moment.

Henriquez pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Henriquez's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Castaneda throws a leg kick but Henriquez checks it.

Henriquez forces Castaneda back against the cage and clinches.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henriquez can't get the takedown.
River Castaneda has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Claudio Henriquez.
Henriquez avoiding damage as Castaneda throws knees to the body.
Castaneda tries to land a knee to the head but Henriquez blocks with his arms.
Henriquez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
River Castaneda has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Henriquez has Castaneda pressed against the cage, preventing Castaneda from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Castaneda wants to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda working Henriquez over with knees to the body.
Henriquez lands a damaging elbow.

Henriquez breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Castaneda digs a good body shot into Henriquez's ribs.
River Castaneda is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Castaneda looks to land a body kick but Henriquez moved away.
Castaneda walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Henriquez checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Henriquez moves out of range of the body kick from Castaneda.
Henriquez shoots in and drives through. Castaneda sprawls well.

Henriquez takes the fight into the clinch.
Castaneda is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Henriquez can do to turn this around?
Henriquez looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Castaneda is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Henriquez fails to pull guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Henriquez jumps guard but Castaneda turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Castaneda misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Henriquez.
Castaneda unloads a knee to the mid-section. Henriquez lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Castaneda tries a knee to the head but Henriquez blocks it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Henriquez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Henriquez avoiding damage as Castaneda throws knees to the body.
Castaneda lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Castaneda trying to control the position but instead, Henriquez has worked for underhooks and has pushed Castaneda into the cage.
Henriquez tries to pull guard but Castaneda won't allow it.
Good body shot from Castaneda.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

River Castaneda dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Castaneda throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Henriquez blocks a leg kick.
Henriquez is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Castaneda.
Castaneda fails with an attempt to clinch.
Henriquez blocks a low kick nicely.
Henriquez fails with a takedown attempt.
Castaneda fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Henriquez takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Castaneda takes a swing at Henriquez's ribcage but misses.
Henriquez is looking for the big counter here.
Castaneda pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Henriquez looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Henriquez tries to move into range but Castaneda moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Henriquez takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
That kick from Castaneda tenderised Henriquez's leg. Henriquez is trying to keep his angry face on.
Henriquez wants to clinch up but Castaneda keeps it at a distance.
Castaneda throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Henriquez.
Castaneda lets loose with a powerful body kick. Henriquez will feel that in the morning.
Castaneda plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Henriquez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Castaneda is fending him off so far but Henriquez persists. Nope, Castaneda circles away and we're back to standing.
River Castaneda has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Claudio Henriquez.
Henriquez fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Castaneda lands a nice hook to Henriquez's body. Henriquez takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda connects with an inside leg kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Castaneda.
Castaneda throws a nice outside leg kick.
Henriquez fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Henriquez showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Castaneda.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Castaneda lands with a slapping head kick.
Castaneda lands a leg kick that knocks Henriquez off balance momentarily.
Henriquez fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Castaneda avoids it really well and circles away.
Castaneda works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda throws a head kick but Henriquez moves out of range.
Castaneda looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
A nice side step and Henriquez releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
River Castaneda is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Castaneda throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Henriquez.
Castaneda throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Henriquez stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Castaneda is looking to chop away at Henriquez's legs.
Castaneda lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Henriquez circles away quickly and effectively.
Castaneda is looking to wear down Henriquez with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Henriquez fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Castaneda avoids it really well and circles away.
Castaneda fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Henriquez.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castaneda wants to clinch.
Castaneda lands a nice looking kick to the body. Henriquez takes a step back to recover.
Henriquez fails with a takedown attempt.
Castaneda lands with an uppercut that bounces Henriquez off the cage and back into range.
Claudio Henriquez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
River Castaneda is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Castaneda throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

And that's the end of the fight!
River Castaneda showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Castaneda, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:26
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 30:26
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... River Castaneda!
After winning the bout, River Castaneda thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.