PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Justin Gabriel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Max Zero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gabriel comes to the cage accompanied by Get Out Of My Room. Zero has chosen José the Bronx Rican - Spittin' Narcicism as his entrance music. Max Zero has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gabriel
vs
Zero

185 cm
28
225 lbs
3 - 7 - 1

190 cm
29
221 lbs
8 - 14 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Good elbows
Powerful

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 3 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Justin Gabriel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Max Zero!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Donatello Bradman and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zero shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Gabriel as he jumps to the side.
Zero tries to close the distance and clinch up but Gabriel swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Gabriel is trying hard to land a takedown here. Zero sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Gabriel has closed the distance and engaged Zero in a clinch.
Gabriel could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Gabriel wants to break the clinch but can't.

Zero jumps guard.

Zero is looking for a triangle but Gabriel pushes his legs off easily.
Gabriel trying to control but Zero is working from the bottom.

Gabriel gets to his feet - Zero follows without any prompting.

Gabriel has taken the fight to the clinch.
Gabriel tries to break the clinch but Zero is controlling the position.
Gabriel prevents the takedown attempt.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Zero jumps guard.
Gabriel has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Zero looking for a guillotine here but Gabriel defends easily.
Gabriel postures up in Zero's guard and throws a big left but Zero blocks it.
Gabriel throwing strikes but missing.
Gabriel trying to control the position from guard on top but Zero is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zero working a defensive guard but Gabriel manages to pass into side control anyway.
Zero tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gabriel throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zero is looking to reverse the position.
Gabriel scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Zero to see if he's OK.
Zero is trying to improve his position.
Gabriel lands a few punches from side control.
Zero manages to work his way to half guard, despite Gabriel's best efforts.
Zero is looking to improve his position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Gabriel in particular looking to stall.
Gabriel works his way into side control.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Gabriel stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zero shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Gabriel defends it nicely.
Justin Gabriel has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Max Zero.
Gabriel turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Gabriel throws a head kick but Zero moves out of range.

Gabriel scores a takedown into full mount!
Zero swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Zero is desperately trying to improve his position but Gabriel has a good base and remains in mount.
Zero wants to hold on but Gabriel pushes him away.
Zero is trying desperately to improve position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gabriel tries to control but Zero wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zero's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Gabriel sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gabriel wants to control the pace but Zero is squirming around nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gabriel punching from mount but Zero doing a good job of avoiding damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Gabriel dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Gabriel fails to land the takedown.

Zero shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Gabriel manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Justin Gabriel overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gabriel controls Zero momentarily but Zero frees himself.
Zero tries to free his leg and advance position but Gabriel is retaining full guard.
Zero with a flurry of punches that miss.
Zero is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Zero gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Gabriel throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Zero's waist but Zero gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Gabriel off to one side.

Zero rushes Gabriel and presses him up against the cage.
Zero prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Justin Gabriel. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zero prevents Gabriel from breaking the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabriel fails to pull guard.
Zero digs a right hand into Gabriel's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Gabriel's gas tank.

Zero gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Gabriel regains guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Zero stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gabriel swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Zero is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Zero sitting in guard here, content to control.
Zero working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Gabriel working for a triangle but Zero defends it easily.

Zero gets to his feet - Gabriel follows without any prompting.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zero fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Gabriel to the ground. Zero is now in Gabriel's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zero throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Gabriel works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Zero scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Zero has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Zero slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Zero is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Gabriel is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Gabriel wants to control but Zero postures up.

Zero is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Gabriel knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Gabriel tries to improve position but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel is trying to buck Zero off.

Zero goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Gabriel rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Zero's guard! Nice work there by Gabriel!

Zero looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Zero working a defensive guard but Gabriel manages to pass into side control anyway.
Zero sneaks back into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zero looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Zero avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gabriel.
Gabriel is looking to take a break and control but Zero is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Zero trying to control but Gabriel postures up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Zero looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Zero wants to control but Gabriel passes into side.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Max Zero showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Gabriel's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Gabriel has closed the distance and engaged Zero in a clinch.
Gabriel jumps guard but Zero stands there with Gabriel around his waist. Gabriel gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Zero drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Zero wants the takedown. Gabriel is fighting it off but Zero persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Gabriel's guard against the cage.
Zero passes Gabriel's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Zero is working for a kimura but Gabriel is defending it quite comfortably.
Gabriel is not content to let Zero control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabriel is looking to control Zero's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Gabriel avoid being mounted?
Gabriel is looking to improve his position.
Gabriel regains full guard. Nicely done.
Zero not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Gabriel is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Zero sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gabriel is pulling down on Zero's head. It's preventing any offense from Zero, at least for the moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Max Zero was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Zero decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Zero is keen to just control but Gabriel is a slippery customer.
Zero prevents Gabriel from improving his position.
Gabriel trying to control from the bottom.
Zero prevents Gabriel from standing back up.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Zero 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.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gabriel is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gabriel is defending against the submission attempts here by Zero.

Gabriel looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Zero is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Gabriel is just riding it out for now. Zero eventually gives up the hold.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zero is trying to work for a kimura but Gabriel is defending well.
Zero passes to side control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Zero is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Gabriel has escaped the position, nice work there.
Zero scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Gabriel to see if he's OK.

And that's the end of the fight!
Max Zero comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Zero 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 28:29
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Max Zero!