PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bruce Babcock (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricky Ho (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ricky Ho has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Babcock
vs
Ho

180 cm
26
170 lbs
11 - 5 - 0

180 cm
21
184 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Balco Boys - Hilo
Balco Boys Battle Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Bruce Babcock!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ricky Ho!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Shirou Masuda and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Babcock misses with a shot to the body
enabling Ho to counter with a crisp jab.
Babcock tries to bum rush Ho with a series of wild strikes but Ho uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Babcock throws a lazy right hand but Ho sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Babcock looks to score with a jab to the body but Ho is just out of range.

Ho moves into the clinch.
Babcock effectively controlling the action here.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Babcock.
Babcock is trying to maintain a safe position but Ho gets an underhook and turns Babcock into the ropes.
Ho lands a body punch in the clinch.
Babcock swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Babcock breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Babcock throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Ho counters with a straight right hand.
Babcock avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ho on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Ho tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Babcock shoots in and bounces Ho off the ropes to secure the takedown into guard.
Babcock throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ho wants to sweep here but Babcock controlling him for the moment.
Babcock throwing strikes from guard but Ho blocks nicely.
Babcock sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Ho's guard.
Babcock tries to pass the half guard into mount. Ho knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ho is looking to improve his position.
Babcock trying to control from Ho's half guard. Ho has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Babcock preventing the sweep.
Babcock passes Ho's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Ho avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Babcock.
Babcock wants to free his trapped foot but Ho is holding on for dear life with his legs.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Babcock moves nicely into side control.
Ho prevents Babcock from improving position.
Babcock misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Ho prevents Babcock from improving position.
Ho tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Babcock wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

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.
Babcock tries to move to full mount but Ho actually manages to regain half guard.
Babcock missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Babcock 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.
Babcock tries to pass the half guard into mount. Ho knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Babcock throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Ho looks like he's trying to stand up.

Babcock is working for a submission of some sort.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ricky Ho will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Babcock thows a body shot but no joy.
Babcock throws an overhand right that lands on Ho's shoulder, as Ho tries to avoid the shot.
Babcock throws a combination that misses

and Ho holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Ho.
Ho can't break the clinch.
Ho trying to control the position but instead, Babcock has worked for underhooks and has pushed Ho into the ropes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Babcock blocks an uppercut.
Babcock looking for a takedown.
Ho blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Babcock struggles to land a body shot inside as Ho controls his hands.
Babcock looking for a takedown.

Ho escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babcock dodges the punch combination from Ho.
A combination from Ho does no damage.
Babcock avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ho doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Babcock misses with a hook.
No luck for Babcock with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bruce Babcock. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Babcock throws a body punch but Ho moves out of range.
Babcock misses with a wild body shot.
Babcock throws a hook but Ho blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
A combination from Babcock does no damage.
Babcock works over Ho's head and body with a nice combination.
Babcock throws a jab but it's blocked by Ho.
Babcock misses with an uppercut

and Ho counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
A head punch on the inside from Ho fails to land.
Babcock looking to slow down the pace here.
Maybe Babcock would be better served going for some more strikes rather than trying to control so much.
Babcock wants a takedown but no success here.
Ho swings wildly with an uppercut but Babcock uses good head movement to avoid it.
Babcock blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Babcock looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Babcock leaning against his opponent.
Ho misses with a punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ho.
Ho misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ho is trying to push Babcock away but Babcock has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.

Ho's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Babcock throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ho bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A combination from Babcock does no damage.
Babcock moves in looking to clinch but Ho pushes him off.
Babcock ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ho moves away.
Babcock is looking to wear down Ho with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Babcock's corner calls for a 1-2. Babcock obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Babcock swings away with a body shot that misses
and Ho counters with a two punch combo.
Babcock misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ho.
Ho connects with a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ho uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Babcock.
Ho misses with a few strikes there.
Ho looks to land a combination but Babcock avoids it well.
Babcock swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ho will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Babcock jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ho fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Ho gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Babcock to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Babcock trying to control the position from guard on top but Ho is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricky Ho 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! This is the final round!

Ho avoids the body shot from Babcock.
Ho is looking to clinch.
Babcock tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ho was well out of range. Poor timing from Babcock.
Ho wants to clinch but Babcock slips to the side
and Babcock counters with a nice uppercut.
Left hook, right uppercut from Ho.
Babcock tries to clinch but Ho moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Babcock throws a right hand that Ho ducks under and follows up with a left that Ho also avoids with ease.
Ho misses with a series of wild punches.
Babcock just misses with a punch to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ho throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Babcock counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Babcock looks to land a combination but Ho avoids it well.
Babcock shoots for a double leg takedown but Ho sprawls well. He's pushed Babcock's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Babcock lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Babcock.
Babcock misses with a wild body shot.
Ricky Ho is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Babcock just misses with a punch to the body.
Babcock lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ho circles away quickly and effectively.
Babcock keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Nice body punch from Babcock.
Babcock looks to score with a jab to the body but Ho is just out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Babcock throws a right hand that misses
and Ho counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Ho throws a right and a left that Babcock avoids nicely.
Babcock ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ho moves away.
Babcock dodges the punch combination from Ho.
Babcock jabs Ho to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Ho defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Babcock.
Ho looks to land a combination but Babcock avoids it well.
Babcock dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Ho attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Babcock throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ho swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Babcock counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Ho takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Good shot there by Babcock.

Ho tries to sprawl but Babcock drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Babcock trying to control the pace.

Babcock is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Ricky Ho is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Babcock is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Babcock stops Ho from getting back to his feet.
Babcock tries to pass to full mount but Ho defends it.
Babcock sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ho defending well though.
Bruce Babcock has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ho looks like he's trying to stand up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bruce Babcock showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Ho 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 29:29
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!