PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Junior Hemingway (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Luiz Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Hemingway
vs
Alvarez

160 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

150 cm
25
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Junior Hemingway!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Luiz Alvarez!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hemingway fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Alvarez avoids it really well and circles away.
Alvarez misses with a wild combination.
Luiz Alvarez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Some wild striking there from Alvarez.
Alvarez tries to bum rush Hemingway with a series of wild strikes but Hemingway uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Alvarez jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hemingway looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Hemingway moves into the clinch.
Hemingway tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alvarez being controlled against the cage.
Alvarez is trying to break the clinch but Hemingway has him pressed against the cage.
Hemingway is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Junior Hemingway. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hemingway manages to break the clinch.
Hemingway is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Alvarez misses with a double jab.
Hemingway is looking to clinch but Alvarez is avoiding it.
Alvarez should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Alvarez swats away the attempt to clinch by Hemingway.
Alvarez throws a nice looking combination but Hemingway bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Alvarez fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Hemingway tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Alvarez paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Hemingway tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Alvarez paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Alvarez looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Alvarez lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hemingway circles away quickly and effectively.
Alvarez swinging wildly here.
Hemingway showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Alvarez.
Hemingway tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hemingway avoids a punch combination nicely.

Hemingway rushes Alvarez and presses him up against the cage.
Alvarez tries to break free but Hemingway pushes him back against the cage.
Hemingway wants a takedown.

Hemingway works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Alvarez working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Hemingway has passed into half guard!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Hemingway seems to be looking for submissions.
Hemingway tries to pass the half guard into mount. Alvarez knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hemingway throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Hemingway is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Alvarez wants to get back to his feet.

Alvarez looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Alvarez is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Hemingway pulls his head out easily.
Alvarez trying to control here.

Alvarez kicks Hemingway off and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez misses with a jab, cross combination.
Alvarez misses with a series of wild punches.
Alvarez circles away from the clinch attempt.
Alvarez misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Alvarez misses with a series of wild punches.
Hemingway will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Alvarez!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hemingway fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Hemingway is breathing heavily.
Alvarez looks to land a combination. Hemingway sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Alvarez misses with a few strikes there.
Sloppy strikes from Hemingway. Those never looked like landing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Junior Hemingway will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Hemingway throws a head kick but Alvarez moves out of range.
Hemingway tries to close the distance and clinch but Alvarez swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Hemingway fails with an attempt to clinch.
Alvarez showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Hemingway.
Some wild striking there from Alvarez.
Alvarez misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Hemingway fails with an attempt to clinch.

Hemingway scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Hemingway tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Hemingway has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Alvarez dodges the ground and pound from Hemingway.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alvarez tries to improve position but can't.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Alvarez can't do much from the bottom here.
Alvarez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
A control attempt from Alvarez but he's now mounted!

Hemingway working for a submission but Alvarez is keeping him at bay.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hemingway avoids the attempt from Alvarez to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hemingway wants to control the pace but Alvarez is squirming around nicely.
Alvarez tries to lock up and control but Hemingway gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Hemingway controlling the pace for now.
Alvarez is trying to reverse the position but instead Hemingway has taken his back - oops!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Hemingway thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Alvarez is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Hemingway can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Alvarez is looking to escape.
Hemingway sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Junior Hemingway overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Alvarez wants to hold on but Hemingway pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez tries to control Hemingway's body but Hemingway pushes him off. Alvarez squirms to his side and now Hemingway has his back!
Alvarez trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Hemingway controlling from the back.
Alvarez trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Alvarez prevents Hemingway from getting a body triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Hemingway dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Alvarez!
Alvarez throws a series of punches but Hemingway moves out of range.
Alvarez fails to land with a series of punches.
No joy there for Alvarez, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Hemingway shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Alvarez manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Hemingway throwing strikes but missing.

Alvarez working for a triangle but Hemingway defends it easily.

Alvarez is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hemingway avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Alvarez keeping full guard, as Hemingway tries to pass.
Alvarez working a defensive guard here.

Alvarez is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Hemingway defends well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hemingway trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Hemingway looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Alvarez trying to control the position.
Hemingway trying to control but Alvarez is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hemingway got a little sloppy there for a moment and Alvarez has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Hemingway has managed to get both his arms back between Alvarez's legs - danger averted.
Hemingway loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Alvarez keeping moving, preventing Hemingway from controlling successfully.
Hemingway postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Alvarez looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Alvarez is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez keeping moving, preventing Hemingway from controlling successfully.
Hemingway is looking to work some ground and pound but Alvarez has wrist control.

Alvarez working for a triangle but Hemingway defends it easily.
Alvarez is trying to control the position from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Luiz Alvarez.
I think Hemingway 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 29:29
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:28
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!