PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ante Blazevic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rui Rodrigues (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Blazevic
vs
Rodrigues

200 cm
18
260 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
23
250 lbs
2 - 4 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ante Blazevic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Rui Rodrigues!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Nard Betker and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Blazevic tries for a takedown but Rodrigues sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Rodrigues closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Blazevic to the mat! Blazevic manages to get full guard.
Rodrigues tries to stand but Blazevic is controlling from the bottom.
Blazevic utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Blazevic keeping moving, preventing Rodrigues from controlling successfully.
Rodrigues preventing the sweep.
Rodrigues trying to control the position from guard on top but Blazevic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Blazevic misses with a takedown

and Rodrigues counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Blazevic missing with punches from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Rodrigues.
Blazevic gets full guard.
Rodrigues wants to control from the top but Blazevic keeps moving.
Rodrigues must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Blazevic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Rodrigues is one step ahead there.
Blazevic thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Blazevic is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Blazevic is looking for a triangle here but Rodrigues uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Blazevic is breathing heavily.
Blazevic is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Rodrigues off and has taken his back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues breaks Blazevic's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Blazevic striking off his back but it's not causing Rodrigues any problems.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Blazevic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Rodrigues is one step ahead there.
Rodrigues wants to pass the guard but Blazevic is keeping the position.
Blazevic throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Blazevic has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Rodrigues not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Blazevic has a closed guard, preventing Rodrigues from standing up.
Blazevic thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Blazevic gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Rodrigues counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ante Blazevic. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rodrigues wants to take a breather but Blazevic is having none of it.
Rodrigues should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Blazevic missing with punches from the bottom.

Blazevic looking for submissions off his back.
Blazevic is looking to get back to full guard here but Rodrigues has managed to pass to side control instead.
Blazevic is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Blazevic is trying to escape the mount.
Rodrigues scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Blazevic is looking to escape.
Rodrigues with shots to the head and body - Blazevic looks very uncomfortable down there.
Rodrigues tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Blazevic bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

Blazevic avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Blazevic missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rui Rodrigues dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Blazevic shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Rodrigues trying to control but Blazevic postures up.
Blazevic looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rodrigues with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Blazevic looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Blazevic throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Rodrigues is defending against the submission attempts here by Blazevic.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodrigues wants to get back to his feet.
Blazevic working Rodrigues over with strikes.
Blazevic seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.

Rodrigues looking for submissions off his back.
Rodrigues wants to control but Blazevic is keeping busy.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Blazevic shoots and misses
and Rodrigues counters with a solid body kick.
Blazevic fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two 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.
Blazevic misses with a takedown
and Rodrigues counters with a leg kick.
Blazevic fails with the takedown

and Rodrigues counters with a single leg into guard. Blazevic didn't expect that.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ante Blazevic. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Blazevic trying to strike off his back.
Rodrigues trying to control the position from guard on top but Blazevic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Rodrigues stands up and waves to Blazevic to follow him.
Rodrigues lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Rodrigues.
Rodrigues fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Rodrigues fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Rodrigues escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Blazevic gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Rodrigues looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rui Rodrigues has got the better of the ground game so far.

Rodrigues working for a triangle but Blazevic defends it easily.
Rodrigues has momentary wrist control but Blazevic slips an elbow through the middle.
Blazevic wants to control from the top but Rodrigues keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rodrigues looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Blazevic lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rodrigues can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Blazevic controls the pace.
Rodrigues seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Blazevic controlling from the top position.
Blazevic is working Rodrigues over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ante Blazevic will probably get the nod.
That's time! 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.

Blazevic avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nice sprawl there from Rodrigues as Blazevic shoots in.

Rodrigues closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Blazevic to the mat! Blazevic manages to get full guard.
Blazevic lands some strikes from the bottom.
Blazevic throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Rodrigues lands a couple of elbows.
Rodrigues tries to free his leg and advance position but Blazevic is retaining full guard.
Blazevic wants to sweep but no luck.
Blazevic striking off his back.
Rodrigues trying to control the position from guard on top but Blazevic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Blazevic shoots and misses
and Rodrigues counters with an inside leg kick.

Rodrigues shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Blazevic's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Blazevic escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Rodrigues gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Rodrigues decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Blazevic, up you get!
Rodrigues shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Blazevic defends it nicely.

Blazevic shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Blazevic was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Blazevic lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Rodrigues hang on?
Rodrigues can't escape the position.
Blazevic working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Rodrigues tries to reverse the position but Blazevic maintains control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blazevic connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Blazevic scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Rodrigues is wriggling around trying to escape.
BOOM! Blazevic connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Rodrigues bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Blazevic keeping full guard, as Rodrigues tries to pass.

Blazevic looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Rodrigues passes into half guard.
Rodrigues not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues wants to pass to mount but Blazevic is defending the position.
Rodrigues is trying to control the action in half guard but Blazevic is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Blazevic makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Blazevic.

Rodrigues got a little sloppy there for a moment and Blazevic has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Rodrigues has managed to get both his arms back between Blazevic's legs - danger averted.
Rodrigues forces his way into half guard.
Blazevic is trying to get back to full guard.
Rodrigues trying to control the action but Blazevic is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rodrigues is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Blazevic regains full guard. Nicely done.

Rodrigues gets to his feet. Blazevic looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

Rodrigues shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Blazevic manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Blazevic tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Rodrigues passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Rodrigues advances nicely into full mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Rodrigues is going olschool here, as he tries to force Blazevic to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Blazevic shrugs it off.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rui Rodrigues comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Rodrigues has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 28:29
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 28:29
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rui Rodrigues!