PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Paolo Cipriano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Farooq Abdul Muhammad (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Paolo Cipriano has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Cipriano
vs
Abdul Muhammad

225 cm
19
300 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

195 cm
21
290 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Dangerous GnP
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Paolo Cipriano!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Farooq Abdul Muhammad!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Skip Squint and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cipriano looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Abdul Muhammad is fending him off so far but Cipriano persists. Nope, Abdul Muhammad circles away and we're back to standing.
Cipriano uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Abdul Muhammad.

Cipriano is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Abdul Muhammad's half guard.
Cipriano wants to control but Abdul Muhammad is keeping him busy.
Abdul Muhammad keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cipriano not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Cipriano not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Cipriano keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Cipriano misses with a head shot. Abdul Muhammad uses the momentum to regain guard.
Abdul Muhammad wants to stand up but Cipriano is controlling him.

Abdul Muhammad scrambles and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jab by Abdul Muhammad.
The fight stays on the outside here - Abdul Muhammad looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Abdul Muhammad lands a left and a right that send Cipriano crashing to the mat, dazed. Abdul Muhammad thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

It looks like Paolo Cipriano has been cut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Cipriano darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Abdul Muhammad avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Cipriano.
Cipriano thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Abdul Muhammad's head.
Cipriano knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Abdul Muhammad on the ground.
Cipriano perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Abdul Muhammad avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Cipriano.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cipriano is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cipriano wants to control from the top but Abdul Muhammad keeps moving.
Cipriano is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Abdul Muhammad is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Abdul Muhammad 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.
Cipriano pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Abdul Muhammad is keeping the position for now.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Abdul Muhammad throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Cipriano.
Abdul Muhammad dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Cipriano. That did some damage!
Abdul Muhammad misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Abdul Muhammad wants to clinch up but Cipriano keeps it at a distance.

Cipriano bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Abdul Muhammad is trying to buck Cipriano off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cipriano lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Abdul Muhammad down.
You can see the frustration on Abdul Muhammad's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Cipriano misses with the ground and pound.
Abdul Muhammad tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Cipriano wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Cipriano creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Cipriano is chipping away with strikes.
Abdul Muhammad looks gassed!
Cipriano landing a few strikes.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Abdul Muhammad is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cipriano is controlling him well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abdul Muhammad takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Cipriano lands a few punches from side control.
Cipriano trying to control the action but Abdul Muhammad is working from the bottom.
Cipriano controls the position.
Abdul Muhammad is working to avoid the ground and pound but Cipriano connects with a decent elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cipriano in side control lands a decent elbow.
Cipriano landing a few strikes.
Cipriano wants to lay and pray for a moment but Abdul Muhammad keeps working.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paolo Cipriano dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Paolo Cipriano's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Cipriano shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Abdul Muhammad manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Abdul Muhammad being controlled here, momentarily.
Abdul Muhammad keeping moving, preventing Cipriano from controlling successfully.
Cipriano lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Cipriano trying to control but Abdul Muhammad is working from the bottom.
Cipriano slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cipriano has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Cipriano is working Abdul Muhammad over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Cipriano throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Abdul Muhammad works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cipriano trying to control the position from guard on top but Abdul Muhammad is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cipriano 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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Paolo Cipriano just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Abdul Muhammad misses with a double jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abdul Muhammad looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Abdul Muhammad throws a head kick that misses.
Abdul Muhammad is breathing heavily.
Cipriano fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Cipriano shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Cipriano wants to pass to mount but Abdul Muhammad is defending the position.
Cipriano is stalling here. Abdul Muhammad is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Cipriano seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Abdul Muhammad has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Abdul Muhammad wants to control but Cipriano is keeping him busy.
Cipriano misses with a strike from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Who's going to make the next move?
Cipriano is looking for a sweep.
Cipriano managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Abdul Muhammad.

Abdul Muhammad is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cipriano knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Cipriano is trying to get back to half guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cipriano shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Abdul Muhammad defends it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Cipriano closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Cipriano working Abdul Muhammad over with strikes.
Cipriano tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Cipriano wants to take a breather but Abdul Muhammad is having none of it.
Cipriano thows a huge punch but Abdul Muhammad dodges it nicely.
Abdul Muhammad keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cipriano wants to take a breather but Abdul Muhammad is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paolo Cipriano dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Paolo Cipriano's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Cipriano feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Cipriano looking to sit in guard and control but Abdul Muhammad gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Abdul Muhammad stands up and waves to Cipriano to follow him.
Cipriano fails to land the takedown.
Cipriano swats away the attempt to clinch by Abdul Muhammad.
Abdul Muhammad fails with the takedown

and Cipriano counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Abdul Muhammad!
Abdul Muhammad takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Cipriano lands a big elbow.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Cipriano can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Abdul Muhammad is looking to escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cipriano looking to control and managing it successfully.
Abdul Muhammad is bucking up trying to escape but Cipriano cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Cipriano postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Abdul Muhammad looks a forlorn figure.
Cipriano with shots to the head and body - Abdul Muhammad looks very uncomfortable down there.

Abdul Muhammad defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Cipriano.
Paolo Cipriano is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abdul Muhammad is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Abdul Muhammad is trying to escape the mount.
Cipriano landing strikes from the mount.
Cipriano sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Cipriano lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cipriano controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cipriano seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Abdul Muhammad for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Paolo Cipriano just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Abdul Muhammad wants to clinch but Cipriano slips to the side

and Cipriano counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Abdul Muhammad's guard now.
Cipriano controls from within his opponent's guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cipriano working some strikes from top position.
Farooq Abdul Muhammad has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cipriano looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paolo Cipriano showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cipriano, 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paolo Cipriano!