PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Albert Desalvo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Curtis Lind (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Desalvo
vs
Lind

168 cm
26
160 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

176 cm
24
159 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

5th Round

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 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Albert Desalvo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Curtis Lind!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Lombardi, Chad Campbell and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lind connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Lind swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Desalvo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Lind.
Desalvo with a body punch. A glancing blow.
A looping hook to the body misses from Lind. Desalvo does a little dance to reset his feet.
Desalvo moves away from the strike by Lind.
Nice defenses there by Lind.
Lind attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Lind with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Lind defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Desalvo.
Lind doesn't manage to clinch there - Desalvo circles away.
Desalvo staying out of range there.
Good exchange - Lind coming out on top.
Desalvo shoots in for a double leg but Lind sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Lind misses with a body shot.
Lind lands with a thumping leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Desalvo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Lind gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Lind stalling the fight.
Desalvo drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Lind gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Albert Desalvo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lind is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Desalvo is defending well for now.
Lind throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Desalvos head.
Lind lands a nice elbow.
Desalvo tries to pull guard but Lind holds him up against the cage and eventually Desalvo drops back down to his feet.
Desalvo jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Lind walks away with a smile on his face. Desalvo gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Desalvo throws a series of punches but Lind moves out of range.
Lind throws out a loose jab but Desalvo uses good head movement to avoid it.
An inside leg kick lands from Lind.
Lind ducks under a wild hook from Desalvo.
Lind lands with a cross.
Desalvo walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Lind keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Desalvo takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lind defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Desalvo.
The fighters circling - Lind throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Lind lands a jab to the nose.
Nice uppercut there from Lind.
Curtis Lind seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A shot to the liver by Lind. Beautiful body shot.
Lind moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

Lind shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Desalvo napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lind is looking to take a break and control but Desalvo is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Desalvo manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Desalvo is trying to control the action in half guard but Lind is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lind is looking for a sweep. Desalvo is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Lind wants to control but Desalvo is keeping busy.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Lind comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

Lind gets the takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lind lands a nice forearm strike.
Desalvo tries to bench press Lind off him but Lind keeps the position.
Lind working the strikes but Desalvo uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Lind is trying to control. Desalvo wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Lind looks to land a strike but Desalvo avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Desalvo is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Desalvo missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Nice strikes from Desalvo there.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Desalvo trying to control the pace.
Lind tries to get to full guard but Desalvo has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Curtis Lind dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Lind lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Lind connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Lind misses with a hook.
Lind punishes Desalvo's body with a nice straight punch.
Lind slips under a jab.
Lind throws a left and a right that both miss
and Desalvo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
A big left from Lind misses.
Lind misses with a body shot.
Desalvo with a poor takedown

and Lind counters with a shoot takedown. Desalvo fights it but they end up in guard.
Lind trying to control the position from guard on top but Desalvo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Desalvo looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Lind puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Desalvo is not content to let Lind control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Desalvo trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Lind manages to pass to mount!
Lind landing punches.
Lind looking to control but Desalvo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Lind throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Lind raining down shots from the mount!
Desalvo is desperately trying to improve his position but Lind has a good base and remains in mount.
Lind lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Lind working the ground and pound effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Desalvo is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Lind is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Desalvo can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Lind landing strikes, looking to finish!
Lind tries to control but Desalvo wriggling away.
Lind lands with some strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lind trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Lind looking to secure an arm triangle but Desalvo defends it well.
Desalvo tries to hold on but Lind postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lind working Desalvo over with strikes here.
Lind looking to control and managing it successfully.
Lind lands a big elbow.
Desalvo is looking to get to half guard.
Lind landing strikes, looking to finish!
Lind lands a heavy elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lind throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lind trying to control but Desalvo is having none of it.
Curtis Lind has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lind is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Desalvo can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Desalvo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Poor strikes thrown by Lind there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Lind can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Desalvo is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Curtis Lind showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - 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.

Desalvo with a lazy takedown attempt
and Lind counters with a straight right hand.

Lind looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Desalvo!
Lind lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Desalvo is looking to improve his position but Lind isn't that keen on the idea.
Desalvo is working hard here to advance position.
Lind trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Desalvo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Lind controlling the pace for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Desalvo sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Lind is just content to waste time from the top position. Desalvo takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Desalvo is on top in guard.
Desalvo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Lind is keeping the position for now.

Lind throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Lind wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Desalvo is now in half guard.
Albert Desalvo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Desalvo is stalling here. Lind is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Desalvo seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Lind has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

Lind tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Desalvo parries the strikes from Lind easily there. Lind is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Desalvo to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lind scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Desalvo to see if he's OK.
Lind wants to control but Desalvo is keeping him busy.
Desalvo wants to control but Lind postures up.
Lind trying to control the position but Desalvo is working away.

Lind looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Lind works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Curtis Lind is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Desalvo tries to bench press Lind off him but Lind keeps the position.

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.
Lind trying to control the position but Desalvo is working away.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Lind fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Desalvo looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Desalvo throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
letting Lind counter with a right hand.

Desalvo gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Lind to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Lind trying to control but Desalvo is working from the bottom.

Lind is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Desalvo is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Desalvo has escaped and now he's on top!
Desalvo landing some decent shots from guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Curtis Lind comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Lind 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 Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 26:30
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight 26:30
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Curtis Lind!