PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cicero Jabbour (ranked 3929 p4p, 4772 weight class) and Michael Don (ranked 428 p4p, 0 weight class). Jabbour comes into the arena with POWER blaring out of the sound system. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Jabbour
vs
Don

190 cm
25
205
0 - 0 - 0

186 cm
25
200
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Cicero Jabbour!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Michael Don!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Alan Glass and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Don has taken the fight to the clinch.
Don is looking to take this one to the mat.
Don has had enough of the clinch but Jabbour keeps him there for the moment.
Don tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Jabbour smiles and moves away.
Jabbour cracks a nice hook into Don's ribs.
Jabbour tries to clinch there but Don circles away.
Don unleashes a big counter combination but Jabbour bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Jabbour shoots for a double leg takedown but Don sprawls well. He's pushed Jabbour's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Don is looking to clinch but Jabbour is avoiding it.

Jabbour rushes Don and presses him up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Don is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Don has Jabbour pressed against the cage, preventing Jabbour from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Don breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Jabbour shoots for a takedown but Don saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cicero Jabbour. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jabbour keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Jabbour seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Jabbour tries to close the distance and clinch up but Don swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Don will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Jabbour fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Nice sprawl there from Don as Jabbour shoots in.
Jabbour tries for a takedown but Don circles away easily
and Don counters with a nice leg kick.

Jabbour pushes Don up against the cage in a clinch.
Don has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Jabbour after a bit of a struggle.
Stalling in the clinch from Jabbour.
Don fails to pull guard.
Don is defending well against a takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Don can't get the takedown.
Jabbour jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Don walks away with a smile on his face. Jabbour gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Jabbour keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Don.

Jabbour pushes Don up against the cage in a clinch.
Don prevents a takedown attempt there.
Jabbour tries to land knees in the clinch but Don avoids the damage to the body.
Jabbour misses with a punch on the inside.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Don.

Don breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Jabbour shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Don defends it nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Don misses with a takedown attempt - Jabbour sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Don looks winded!

Jabbour moves into the clinch.
Don gets underhooks to prevent Jabbour's takedown attempt.
We've been informed that Don has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Don is pressed up against the cage. Jabbour has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Don down to the mat. Don avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Don throws a lazy head kick
and Jabbour counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.

Don scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Jabbour wants to get back to his feet.
Jabbour trying to control from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour is looking to escape.
Jabbour tries to get to full guard but Don has control of the leg.
Jabbour is trying to maintain the position but Don is very close to passing his half guard.
Jabbour tries to roll over but Don keeps him under control.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Jabbour gets caught napping as Don dives in and scores a takedown. Jabbour manages to retain guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Don trying to control the position from guard on top but Jabbour is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Jabbour is trying to control the position but Don postures up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Michael Don will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Jabbour shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Don sprawls well. Don wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Jabbour gets slowly back to his feet.
Jabbour shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Don eats them both and turns towards Jabbour to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.

Jabbour clinches with his opponent.
Jabbour drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Don gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Jabbour fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cicero Jabbour. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jabbour has had enough of the clinch but Don keeps him there for the moment.
Jabbour is looking to break free of the clinch but Don has double underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Don jumps guard and drags Jabbour to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Jabbour accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Don working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Jabbour doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Jabbour manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Don kicks Jabbour off and gets to his feet.
Don tries to clinch but Jabbour moves out of range.
Jabbour seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Don tries for a takedown but Jabbour sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Don is breathing heavily.
Jabbour closes the distance and clinches up with Don, looking for a takedown. Jabbour pushes Don against the cage but Don circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Jabbour tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Don defends well and Jabbour ends up having to push Don into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Jabbour looking for a takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Don walks away with a smile on his face. Jabbour gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Don takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Jabbour doesn't manage to clinch there - Don circles away.
Don fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Jabbour avoids it really well and circles away.
Don displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Jabbour.
Don looks for a takedown but Jabbour sprawls well.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The fight stays on the outside here - Jabbour looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour is looking to chop away at Don's legs.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Jabbour tries to pull guard but Don forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Don tries to pull guard but Jabbour forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Don tries to break free but Jabbour pushes him back against the cage.

Don pulls guard.
Jabbour trying to control but Don is working from the bottom.
Jabbour is looking to work some ground and pound but Don has wrist control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Don controlling Jabbour's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour wants to control from the top but Don keeps moving.

Don is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Jabbour defends well.
Don wants to sweep but no luck.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Don showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Jabbour looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Don shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Jabbour napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Don working away.
Jabbour is looking for a sweep.
Jabbour is working hard here to advance position.

Don stands up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jabbour scores with a one two! Don had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Don takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Jabbour misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jabbour tries to clinch but Don moves out of range.
Jabbour misses with a jab, cross combination.
Don avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Jabbour wants to clinch up but Don keeps it at a distance.
Don will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Jabbour shoots in and drives through. Don sprawls well.
Jabbour tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Don manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Jabbour looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Don tries to score a power double leg takedown but Jabbour sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Don somewhat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Don stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Jabbour shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Don as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cicero Jabbour. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Jabbour shoots in but no luck this time.
Don is looking for the big counter here.
Jabbour slaps away a takedown attempt from Don, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Jabbour bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Don leaves Jabbour with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jabbour tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Don manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Jabbour tries to score a power double leg takedown but Don sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Jabbour somewhat.
Jabbour fails to land the takedown.
Jabbour bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Don's head backwards.
Nice shot by Jabbour.
Cicero Jabbour is winning the standup battle so far.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Don.
As Don tries to get set, Jabbour tries to push him back and clinch up but Don manages to avoid the attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Don is trying hard to land a takedown here. Jabbour sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Jabbour tries to land a front kick but Don steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

Jabbour moves into the clinch successfully.
Jabbour using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Don has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Don jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Jabbour walks away with a smile on his face. Don gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Jabbour looks for a takedown but Don sprawls well.
Cicero Jabbour has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jabbour throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Don tries to clinch but Jabbour moves out of range.
Jabbour throws the kick towards the body but Don avoids it.
Michael Don is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Jabbour throws a low kick but it's checked well by Don.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cicero Jabbour showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Don 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 29:28
Judge George Francis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Michael Don!