PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Elvin Ruez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nathan Barden (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Ruez might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Face Breaker - Poison Pen. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Ruez
vs
Barden

178 cm
19
163 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
20
155 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Syndicate Drugs
Alpha-Omega

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Elvin Ruez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Nathan Barden!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice uppercut there from Ruez.
Barden misses with a takedown attempt - Ruez sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Ruez has Barden up against the cage in a clinch.
Ruez will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Barden up against the cage.

Ruez breaks the clinch.
Barden takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

It looks like Nathan Barden has been cut.
Barden throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Ruez's waist but Ruez gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Barden off to one side.
Barden fails with a takedown attempt.
Elvin Ruez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nathan Barden.
Ruez feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends Barden sprawling to the canvas! Barden rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Ruez finish him?!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Ruez shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Barden's guard.

Barden looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Barden working for a triangle but Ruez defends it easily.
Barden looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruez would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Ruez wants to control from the top but Barden keeps moving.
Ruez wants to get up but he can't break Barden's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Barden can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Ruez controls the pace.
Ruez postures up and lands a big shot to Barden's brow.
Ruez wants to control from the top but Barden keeps moving.

Barden has his foot on Ruez's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ruez works his way back into a safe position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Ruez with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ruez working some strikes from top position.

Ruez stands up and waves to Barden to follow him.
A head kick lands from Ruez that sends Barden to the canvas. Barden tries to scramble back to his feet but Ruez brings him back down into side control.

Barden is rocked!
Ruez in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ruez cracks Barden with a big right hand but Barden just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Ruez moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Ruez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Barden keeps working.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruez remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Ruez working the ground and pound.

Ruez decides to stand back up.

Ruez closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Barden to the mat! Barden manages to get full guard.
Barden keeping full guard, as Ruez tries to pass.

Ruez stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Ruez lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Ruez connects with a high kick.
Barden is still on wobbly legs! Can Ruez finish him?

That has opened up Nathan Barden's cut even more.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Barden shoots and misses

and Ruez counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Barden working for submissions but it's allowed Ruez to get to half guard.
Barden seems to have recovered his senses.
Ruez controlling the action here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ruez scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Ruez stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Barden to get to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elvin Ruez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Nathan Barden's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ruez scores with a body shot.
Barden doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Ruez counters with a single leg into guard. Barden didn't expect that.
Ruez slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Ruez knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Barden on the ground.
Ruez wants to control from the top but Barden keeps moving.

Barden isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Ruez stacks Barden on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Ruez!
Barden is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruez creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
The referee asks Ruez politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Ruez prefers to stall for the moment though.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Elvin Ruez just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Barden has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Barden there as he acknowledges the shot.
Ruez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Barden can do to turn this around?

Ruez shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Barden napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Barden takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Ruez working the body and head with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ruez decides to stand back up.
Ruez misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barden avoids the head kick by Ruez.
Barden walks into a left hand.
Nathan Barden seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Barden takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Barden shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Ruez tries to close the distance and clinch up but Barden swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ruez fails with an attempt to clinch.
Ruez lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.

Ruez shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Barden is trying to defend but Ruez finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Barden is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Ruez scores with a couple of nice shots.

Barden is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Ruez pulls his head out easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruez is looking to take a break and control but Barden is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ruez working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ruez controlling the action here.
Ruez looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Barden with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Barden is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Ruez pulls his head out easily.
Ruez looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Ruez passes to full mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Barden taking shots to the head.
Ruez controlling from mount.
Ruez landing strikes from the mount and Barden is in trouble!
Ruez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Ruez wants to control the pace but Barden is squirming around nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ruez controlling the pace for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elvin Ruez dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Nathan Barden's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Ruez lands a body shot in the clinch.

Ruez's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Ruez changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Barden looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Ruez content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

Ruez decides to stand back up. Ruez steps back and let's Barden get back to his feet.
Ruez misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barden takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ruez lands a glancing blow to the side of Barden's head.

Ruez closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruez is putting a hurting on Barden here, landing some big shots from side control.
Ruez landing strikes.

Ruez decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Barden takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

Ruez darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Barden looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Elvin Ruez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ruez wants to pass the guard but Barden is defending well.
Ruez not doing much here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Barden looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Barden looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Ruez is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Ruez tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruez trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Ruez closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Ruez lands in his opponent's guard.

Barden has an active guard here but Ruez has managed to pass into half guard.

Ruez gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Ruez feints and as Barden raises his hands in defense, Ruez changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Nathan Barden has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ruez is pushing down on Barden's leg trying to pass to half guard. Barden is fighting to maintain full guard but Ruez has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Barden has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Ruez escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Ruez!
Ruez is chipping away with strikes.
Ruez moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Elvin Ruez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Barden takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Barden tries to improve position but can't.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
Elvin Ruez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Ruez 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:24
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:24
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:24

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Elvin Ruez!