PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between John Cairo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nonito Donaire (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Donaire has chosen Filipino Flash - Nump as his entrance music. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Cairo
vs
Donaire

170 cm
21
155 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

168 cm
23
158 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Steel Terror-Trition: Video Proven 160Q+Laundry!
Steel Penn's Laundry 93%

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, John Cairo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Nonito Donaire!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Micheangelo Fripello and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cairo connects with a right hand. Donaire shakes it off.
Donaire walks into a jab.
Donaire misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Cairo swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cairo throws a series of punches but Donaire moves out of range.
Cairo swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cairo lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Donaire has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Donaire there as he acknowledges the shot.
A left and a right from Donaire both land. Nice combination.
John Cairo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donaire walks into a straight right hand from Cairo.
Nonito Donaire is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Donaire throws a series of punches but Cairo moves out of range.
Donaire fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Nice defenses there by Donaire.
A lazy left from Donaire finds it's target.
Cairo fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cairo throws a jab but it's blocked by Donaire.
Donaire defending well as Cairo loads up on a big left hand.
Donaire tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Cairo misses with a body punch
enabling Donaire to counter with a crisp jab.
Donaire blocks a jab.
Cairo misses with a series of wild punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donaire defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Cairo.
Nice cross by Donaire.
Cairo misses with a jab to the body
and Donaire counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Donaire throws a nice looking combination but Cairo bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Cairo lands a jab to the nose.
Donaire misses with an uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cairo lands an overhand right.
Donaire will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cairo misses with a hook. Donaire ducked under it nicely.
Cairo takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Cairo fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Cairo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Donaire avoids the body shot from Cairo.
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 John Cairo will probably get the nod.
That's time! Cairo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Donaire displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cairo throws out the jab.
A nice combination there by Donaire.
Donaire throws a jab but it's blocked by Cairo.

Cairo closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Donaire did well to prevent Cairo getting side control.

Cairo is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Donaire defends it well.

Cairo is trying to work for a kimura but Donaire is defending well.
Cairo trying to pass the guard but Donaire defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cairo is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Donaire sees it coming and defends easily.

Cairo is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Donaire has managed to free his arm - good work.

Cairo is looking for a kimura but Donaire is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Cairo to get the leverage.

That's two 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.

Cairo seems to be working for a kimura but Donaire defends the submission attempt.
Donaire tries to roll over but Cairo keeps him under control.

Donaire is defending against the submission attempts here by Cairo.
Cairo wants to pass to mount but Donaire is defending the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cairo is keen to just control but Donaire is a slippery customer.

Cairo is working for a kimura but Donaire is defending it quite comfortably.
Cairo is looking to take a break and control but Donaire is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Cairo tries to pass the half guard into mount. Donaire knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Donaire is trying to stand back up but Cairo is controlling him

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cairo is keen to just control but Donaire is a slippery customer.
Donaire gets full guard.
Cairo wants to pass the guard but Donaire is keeping the position.
Cairo trying to control but Donaire is working from the bottom.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cairo is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Donaire is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Donaire has escaped and now he's on top!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Cairo dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Cairo fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Donaire avoids it really well and circles away.
Cairo looks to land a combination but Donaire avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Donaire lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Cairo misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Donaire.
Cairo rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
letting Donaire counter with a right hand.
Donaire throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Donaire thuds a left hand into Cairo's body.
Donaire scores with a nice right hand.
Cairo looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donaire scores with a decent looking hook.
Cairo looks to land a left hand but Donaire moved out of range nicely.
Cairo ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Cairo misses with a hook
and Donaire counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Cairo tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Donaire was well out of range. Poor timing from Cairo.
Donaire throws an off balance right hand
and Cairo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Donaire misses.
A big left from Cairo misses.
Donaire fails to land with a series of punches.
Donaire uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Donaire throws a good cross that connects.
Cairo's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Donaire connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Cairo scrambles back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Donaire staying out of range there.
Donaire misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Donaire lands a slapping body shot.
Nonito Donaire has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cairo has a takedown stuffed.
Cairo takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Donaire throws a right and a left that both miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nonito Donaire comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Cairo 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 Chris Saunders scores the fight 28:29
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... John Cairo!
John Cairo very nearly forgot to thank Steel Penn's Laundry 93% amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.