PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ariobaldo Tavarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rubin Carter (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Carter's choice of entrance music: Bob Dylan - Hurricane. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Tavarez
vs
Carter

181 cm
20
200 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

185 cm
24
190 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Good knees
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ariobaldo Tavarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rubin Carter!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Emerson Jorge and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tavarez drops his hands momentarily and Carter takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Tavarez.
Tavarez is looking to clinch but Carter is avoiding it.
Carter throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Carter throws out a powerful jab.
Carter scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Tavarez wants to clinch.
Tavarez staying out of range there.
Carter pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carter throws a hook but Tavarez blocks it.
Tavarez takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Tavarez wants to clinch up but Carter keeps it at a distance.

Tavarez clinches up with Carter and pushes him back against the cage.
Carter trying to control the position but instead, Tavarez has worked for underhooks and has pushed Carter into the cage.
Carter takes a knee right on the jaw!
Tavarez pushes off an throws an elbow but Carter leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Carter looking to slow down the pace here.
Carter is pressed up against the cage. Tavarez has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Carter down to the mat. Carter avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Carter connects with a right hand. Tavarez shakes it off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carter scores with a jab to the head.
Tavarez defending well as Carter loads up on a big left hand.
Tavarez wants to clinch.
Tavarez uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Carter.
Carter connects with a good right hand that stumbles Tavarez. Tavarez circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

It looks like Ariobaldo Tavarez has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Carter throws a lazy right hand but Tavarez sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Carter throws a jab but it's blocked by Tavarez.

Tavarez has closed the distance and engaged Carter in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carter is trying to break the clinch but Tavarez has him pressed against the cage.
Carter tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Tavarez connects with a knee to the head.

It looks like Rubin Carter has been cut.
Carter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Carter wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Tavarez has him pressed against the cage.
Tavarez with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Carter manages to break the clinch.
Nice shot by Carter.
Carter might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Carter throws an overhand right that lands on Tavarez's shoulder, as Tavarez tries to avoid the shot.
A lazy left from Carter finds it's target.
Tavarez doesn't manage to clinch there - Carter circles away.
Tavarez wants to clinch up but Carter keeps it at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carter uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

Tavarez fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Carter, pushing him back against the cage.
Tavarez looking to throw knees to the head but Carter is blocking nicely.
Tavarez drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ariobaldo Tavarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Tavarez has Carter pressed against the cage.
Tavarez lands a good knee to the midsection. Carter won't want to take too many of those.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Carter escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Carter throws an overhand right that lands on Tavarez's shoulder, as Tavarez tries to avoid the shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rubin Carter dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Carter misses with a double jab.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tavarez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Carter is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Carter looks to throw the jab but Tavarez is out of range.
Carter misses with a lunging right hand

and Tavarez holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Tavarez throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Carter wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Tavarez tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Carter has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Tavarez is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Carter wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Tavarez has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavarez throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Tavarez tries a knee to the head but Carter blocks it.
Carter wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Tavarez misses with a knee strike.
Tavarez has Carter pressed against the cage, preventing Carter from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Carter tries a body shot but Tavarez blocks it.
Tavarez misses with a knee to the head.
Tavarez with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Carter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Carter wants to break free but Tavarez has control.
Tavarez missing with knees to the body.
Carter wants to break the clinch but can't.

Carter's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Tavarez tries to clinch but Carter moves away
and Carter counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Tavarez thinking.
Tavarez moves away from the strike by Carter.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez wants to clinch up but Carter keeps it at a distance.
Tavarez moves away from the strike by Carter.
Carter misses with a straight left.
Carter takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Rubin Carter is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Carter lands a head shot.
Carter throws a body punch but Tavarez moves out of range.
Carter circles away from the clinch attempt
and Carter cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carter jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Tavarez has managed to clinch.
Tavarez lands a nice knee to the body.
Tavarez tries to land knees in the clinch but Carter avoids the damage to the body.

Carter pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Carter looks to land a right hand but Tavarez moved out of range.
Tavarez tries to close the distance and clinch up but Carter swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tavarez moves to clinch but Carter breaks away
and Carter cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Rubin Carter seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Tavarez takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Carter throws the left hand but Tavarez avoids the punch easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carter misses the shot to the body.
Danga de danga de dang - Carter scores with a four punch combination!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tavarez tries to clinch up
and Carter counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Tavarez tries to clinch but Carter is having none of it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Carter looks to land a left hand but Tavarez moved out of range nicely.
Carter throws a jab when Tavarez was well out of range.
Carter circles away from the clinch attempt
and Carter counters with a stiff right hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rubin Carter showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Tavarez slips a jab from Carter.
Tavarez uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Carter.

Tavarez darts in and clinches Carter up against the cage.
Tavarez with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Tavarez trying to control the position but instead, Carter has worked for underhooks and has pushed Tavarez into the cage.
Carter tries to break free but Tavarez pushes him back against the cage.
Carter is struggling to control the position.
Tavarez with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carter has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A head punch on the inside from Carter fails to land.
Tavarez throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tavarez misses with a knee to the head.
Tavarez looking to throw knees to the head but Carter is blocking nicely.
Knees to the body from Tavarez.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Tavarez.
Carter looking to slow down the pace here.
Tavarez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Carter blocks it with crossed arms.

Carter breaks from the clinch.
Tavarez staying out of range there.
Carter misses with a wild body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez moves out of range of the strikes.
Carter dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nice defenses there by Tavarez.
Tavarez closes the distance but Carter moves to the side
and Carter counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Tavarez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Carter paws at him with a jab and circles away.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Carter lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Carter swats away the attempt to clinch by Tavarez.
Carter missing with a left hand there. Tavarez was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carter connects with the punch.
Carter ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
A swing and a miss from Carter.
Tavarez closes the distance looking to clinch
letting Carter counter with a right hand.
Tavarez closes the distance but Carter moves to the side
and Carter counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez slips a straight right by Carter.
Carter stuns Tavarez with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Carter throws out a loose jab but Tavarez uses good head movement to avoid it.
Carter circles away from the clinch attempt
and Carter counters with a straight right hand.
Carter cracks Tavarez with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Carter connects with a good right hand that stumbles Tavarez. Tavarez circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Tavarez fails with a takedown attempt.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Tavarez drops his hands momentarily and Carter takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rubin Carter really dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Tavarez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Carter throws a lazy right hand but Tavarez sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A big right from Carter misses.
Tavarez avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Tavarez blocks a jab.
Tavarez has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Carter finds it's way round the side to connect with Tavarez's head.
Tavarez shoots in for a takedown but Carter shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Carter lands with a nice body punch.
Carter misses with a hook. Tavarez ducked under it nicely.
Tavarez keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Carter.
Tavarez shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tavarez darts in trying to clinch
and Carter cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Tavarez bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Tavarez closes the distance and pushes Carter back into the cage.

Carter breaks the clinch.
Tavarez tries to close the distance and clinch but Carter swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Carter throws a body punch but Tavarez moves out of range.
Tavarez takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Tavarez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Carter manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tavarez looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donk. Carter catches Tavarez right on the button with a cross.
Tavarez wants to clinch.
Carter throws out a powerful jab.
Carter avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
A shot to the liver by Carter. Beautiful body shot.
Good standup being displayed there by Carter as he connects with a hook.
Carter throws a hook to the side of Tavarez's head but Tavarez sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez darts in trying to clinch
and Carter counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Tavarez tries to clinch up but Carter circles away and keeps his distance.
Carter ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Tavarez moves away.
Tavarez slips under a jab from Carter.
The fighters circling - Carter throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Tavarez moves to clinch but Carter breaks away
and Carter counters with a stiff right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carter changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Carter digs a good body shot into Tavarez's ribs.
Tavarez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Carter lands with a shot to the body.

Tavarez throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Carter tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Tavarez is in Carter's guard.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Carter holds on and takes a little breather.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Carter wants to stand and escape but Tavarez is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rubin Carter dominated that fourth round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Tavarez avoids the body shot from Carter.
Carter swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Tavarez tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Carter cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Tavarez tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Carter counters with a nice uppercut.
Carter swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Carter scores with a decent looking hook.
Carter just misses with a punch to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tavarez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tavarez tries to clinch but Carter is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carter is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Tavarez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Carter paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Nice uppercut there from Carter.
Jab from Carter.
Tavarez fails with an attempt to clinch.
Carter comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Carter connects with a crisp jab.
Carter thows a left - swing and a miss!
Carter swings widly with a right hand

and Tavarez counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Tavarez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Carter breaks the clinch.
Tavarez tries to clinch up
and Carter counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tavarez tries for a takedown but Carter sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Tavarez wants to clinch up but Carter keeps it at a distance.

Tavarez has managed to clinch.
Carter fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Carter's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tavarez darts in trying to clinch
and Carter counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Carter lands a jab to the nose.
Carter misses with a hook. Tavarez ducked under it nicely.
Tavarez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Tavarez takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
A big left from Carter misses.
Tavarez looks to clinch
and Carter counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carter lands a slapping body shot.
Carter throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Carter scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Carter throws a jab but it's blocked by Tavarez.
Tavarez takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Tavarez wants to clinch
and Carter counters with a straight right hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Carter misses with a straight left.
Ariobaldo Tavarez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rubin Carter is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Carter connects with a jab.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rubin Carter comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Carter winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 45:50
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 45:50
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 45:50

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rubin Carter!