PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Arnold Regal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mario Bigola (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Regal
vs
Bigola

180 cm
20
142 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

171 cm
22
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Arnold Regal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mario Bigola!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Luis Engracia and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Regal leaves Bigola with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Regal throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Regal smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Bigola tries a head kick but it misses.

Bigola darts in and clinches Regal up against the cage.
Bigola has Regal pressed against the cage, preventing Regal from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Bigola landing knees to the body.
Bigola stalling.

Bigola breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Bigola tries to clinch but Regal moves out of range.
Bigola tries to clinch up but Regal circles away and keeps his distance.
Bigola scores with a push kick.
Bigola is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Bigola dives in and grabs Regal's left leg, looking for a takedown. Regal pushes down on Bigola's head and hops out.
Bigola fails with a takedown attempt.
Arnold Regal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mario Bigola.
Regal is breathing heavily.
Regal stuffs the takedown attempt from Bigola. Bigola gets slowly back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Regal scores with a hook.
Bigola wants to clinch.
Bigola looks for the body kick but Regal saw that one coming.
Regal throws a sloppy head kick
and Bigola makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Bigola tries to score a power double leg takedown but Regal sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Bigola somewhat.
Regal lands a jab-cross combination.
Regal throws a series of punches but Bigola moves out of range.
Regal really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Bigola changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Regal tries to avoid it but Bigola manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Regal to the ground. Regal escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bigola circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bigola takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Bigola tries a head kick but it misses.
Regal fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Bigola avoids it really well and circles away.
Bigola shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Regal counters by clinching up.
Bigola changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Regal fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Bigola misses with a body shot.
Regal connects with a nice looking jab.
Arnold Regal seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Regal avoids the head kick by Bigola.
Regal is looking to clinch.
Bigola fails with the takedown

and Regal counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Regal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Regal throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Bigola works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Bigola looking for a sweep. Not yet Bigola, not yet.
Bigola keeping moving, preventing Regal from controlling successfully.
Bigola trying to control the position.
Bigola looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Regal prevents Bigola from getting back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Bigola controls Regal momentarily but Regal frees himself.
Regal content to stall in guard here.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Regal stuffs the takedown.
Bigola gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Regal counters with a shoot takedown. Bigola fights it but they end up in guard.
Bigola wants to stand and escape but Regal is having none of it.
Regal is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Bigola is looking for a triangle but Regal pushes his legs off easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Arnold Regal dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Regal fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bigola uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Regal.
Nice straight punches there by Bigola. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Bigola.
Bigola shoots and misses
and Regal counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Bigola misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Regal stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Regal wants it to stay on the feet.
Arnold Regal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mario Bigola.
Bigola takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Arnold Regal is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Regal falls off balance throwing a combination

and Bigola counters with a nice double leg into side control. Regal won't be happy with that.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Bigola is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Regal has escaped the position, nice work there.
Bigola has knee on belly and moves into mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bigola trying to control but Regal is having none of it.
A nice elbow there by Bigola.
Bigola wants to control the pace but Regal is squirming around nicely.
Regal is looking to get to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two 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.
Bigola trying to control but Regal is having none of it.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Bigola cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Regal wants to hold on but Bigola pushes him away.
Bigola lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Bigola cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Regal is squirming around, avoiding Bigola's attempts to control the action.
Regal on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Regal tries to get out of the position.
Bigola working Regal over with strikes here.
Bigola tries to control but Regal wriggling away.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Bigola cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

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.
Regal is squirming around, avoiding Bigola's attempts to control the action.
Bigola is in the full mount, landing strikes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Regal is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mario Bigola showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Regal's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Regal ducks right into an uppercut from Bigola.
Regal wants to clinch up but Bigola keeps it at a distance.
Bigola tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Regal swivels and escapes.
Bigola shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Regal as he avoids it easily.

Bigola gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Regal to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Bigola 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.
Bigola thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Bigola is trying to keep Regal in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bigola is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Bigola not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Regal gets full guard.
Bigola wants to get up but he can't break Regal's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Regal is looking for a triangle but Bigola pushes his legs off easily.
Bigola keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Regal's head.

That's two 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.
Bigola wants to control from the top but Regal keeps moving.
Regal keeping full guard, as Bigola tries to pass.
Bigola advances position into side control!
Bigola 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.
Bigola throws a strike aimed at the side of Regal's head but Regal avoids it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bigola has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Regal!
Bigola has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Bigola throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Bigola trying to control but Regal is having none of it.
Bigola throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Regal is working to get back to half guard.
Regal is squirming around, avoiding Bigola's attempts to control the action.

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.
Bigola fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Regal is trying to stand.
Regal is desperately trying to improve his position but Bigola has a good base and remains in mount.
Bigola trying to control but Regal is having none of it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Arnold Regal.
I think Regal has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 28:29
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Mario Bigola!