PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Pete Sproles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fuego Salsa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sproles's entrance music is can't be touched -Roy Jones Jr. A fine choice. Pete Sproles could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Fuego Salsa's chin.

Sproles
vs
Salsa

174 cm
29
185 lbs
21 - 22 - 1

168 cm
32
172 lbs
14 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Cardio machine

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

- - - - - All Nutrients 160 - - - - -

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 21 - 22 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Pete Sproles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Fuego Salsa!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Yves DeLean and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sproles steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Salsa.
Sproles misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Salsa throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sproles sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Salsa throws a looping overhand right but Sproles ducks down to avoid it.
Sproles misses with a few strikes there.
Sproles blocks a jab.
Sproles moves out of range as Salsa strikes.
Sproles stalks Salsa and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Salsa's face. Salsa staggers backwards, shaken.

It looks like Fuego Salsa has been cut.
Sproles misses with a series of wild punches.
Sproles ducks under a wild hook from Salsa.
Salsa avoids a punch combination nicely.

Salsa shoots in and gets a takedown into Sproles's guard.
Salsa looking to pass the guard.
Sproles keeping moving, preventing Salsa from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salsa tries to free his leg and advance position but Sproles is retaining full guard.
Salsa trying to control but Sproles is working from the bottom.
Sproles looking to control.
Sproles controlling Salsa's posture.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Pete Sproles.
Sproles tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Sproles misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Salsa jabs Sproles right on the nose. Sproles blinks but takes it well.
Sproles misses with the combination.
Salsa looks to land a right hand but Sproles moved out of range.
Pete Sproles is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sproles misses with a few strikes there.

Salsa feints and as Sproles raises his hands in defense, Salsa changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salsa sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Salsa looking to pass the guard.

Salsa drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Salsa jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Salsa stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Sproles swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Salsa passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
You can see the frustration on Sproles's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Salsa tries to move to mount but Sproles blocks the move with his legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salsa swings around for an armbar but Sproles sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Salsa's guard.
Sproles stopping the sweep attempt from Salsa.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Salsa is looking for a triangle but Sproles pushes his legs off easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Salsa looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sproles is one step ahead there.
Sproles is looking to stand up but Salsa won't let him.
Sproles wants to control from the top but Salsa keeps moving.
Sproles preventing the sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sproles content to stall in guard here.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Pete Sproles wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Sproles throws a hook but Salsa avoids it easily.
Sproles bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Sproles fails with an attempt to clinch.
Sproles defending well as Salsa loads up on a big left hand.
Sproles tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Salsa paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Salsa scores with a crisp jab that stopped Sproles in his tracks.
Sproles looks to score with a jab to the body but Salsa is just out of range.
Sproles swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Salsa counters with a nice double leg into side control. Sproles won't be happy with that.
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.
Sproles tries to bench press Salsa off him but Salsa keeps the position.
Sproles is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Salsa is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Sproles is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fuego Salsa dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Fuego Salsa's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Sproles wants to clinch but Salsa slips to the side
and Salsa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Good shot there by Sproles.

Sproles drives through and clinches with Salsa against the cage.
Salsa tries to pull guard but Sproles won't allow it.

Salsa turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Salsa manages to end up in side control.
Sproles struggling a bit here.
Sproles is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Salsa trying to control the action but Sproles is working from the bottom.
Sproles manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Salsa wants to get back to full guard.
Salsa regains full guard. Nicely done.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sproles wants to get up but he can't break Salsa's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sproles controls from within his opponent's guard.
Sproles trying to control the position from guard on top but Salsa is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sproles stays in close to Salsa's body and controls the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Pete Sproles wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Sproles blocks a jab.
Pete Sproles seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Good shot there by Sproles.
Sproles staying out of range there.
Some bone on bone action there as Salsa checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Sproles tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Sproles avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sproles looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sproles takes a swing at Salsa's ribcage but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salsa dodges the punch combination from Sproles.
Salsa takes one to the chin there.
Sproles throws a lazy right hand but Salsa sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Salsa fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Salsa shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Salsa was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sproles is squirming around, avoiding Salsa's attempts to control the action.
Sproles looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
Salsa trying to control.
Well, with Salsa on his back, surely it's only a matter of time before Sproles is tapping out... Can he escape the position?

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salsa is persistently looking for the submission but Sproles is defending it well.

Salsa looking for the RNC.
Sproles trying to control the position but Salsa manages to sink in the hooks.
Fuego Salsa has got the better of the ground game so far.

Sproles preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Salsa.
Salsa has good solid back control here.
Sproles tries to escape but Salsa has the hooks in and won't let him break free.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sproles has hold of Salsa's arm. He needs to escape this position sooner or later but for now he's happy enough to control the position and prevent the submission attempts.
Sproles rolls, trying to escape but Salsa keeps control of the position.

Sproles preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Salsa.
Sproles can't escape the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Salsa is trying to stick to Sproles's back but Sproles is turning into Salsa. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Salsa's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Sproles.
Sproles wants to control from the top but Salsa keeps moving.
Salsa keeping full guard, as Sproles tries to pass.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Salsa keeping moving, preventing Sproles from controlling successfully.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Salsa looking for a sweep. Not yet Salsa, not yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Pete Sproles will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Fuego Salsa's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Sproles misses with a combination

and Salsa counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Salsa engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Salsa being controlled here momentarily.
Salsa trying to control but Sproles is working from the bottom.
Sproles managing to control the position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Sproles fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Salsa throws out a loose jab but Sproles uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sproles lands with an overhand left.
Sproles throws a lazy right hand but Salsa sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Salsa shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Sproles defends it nicely.
Sproles misses with a straight left.
Salsa loads up on a big right hand but Sproles slips the punch.
Salsa shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Sproles but Sproles pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Sproles missing with a left hand there. Salsa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Salsa dodges the punch combination from Sproles.
Salsa slips a jab from Sproles.
Salsa throws a hook to the side of Sproles's head but Sproles sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sproles moves out of range as Salsa strikes.
Salsa fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Pete Sproles has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fuego Salsa.
Sproles tries to clinch there but Salsa circles away.
Salsa fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sproles throws a right hand that Salsa ducks under and follows up with a left that Salsa also avoids with ease.
Salsa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sproles.
Sproles tries to clinch up but Salsa circles away and keeps his distance.
Sproles uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Salsa.
Sproles closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Sproles tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Salsa paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Salsa misses with a looping right.
Nice defenses there by Salsa.
Sproles loads up on a big right hand but Salsa slips the punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sproles scores with a punch to the head.
Sproles swings for the body but Salsa moves out of range.
Sproles uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Salsa.
Salsa blocks a jab.
Salsa swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Sproles tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Salsa manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Salsa throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sproles sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sproles misses with the combination.
Salsa throws a good cross that connects.
Sproles is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Salsa throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Salsa throws a jab when Sproles was well out of range.
Sproles ducks under a wild hook from Salsa.
Sproles misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A slow jab from Salsa misses its intended target.
Sproles lands a glancing blow to the side of Salsa's head.
Sproles tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Salsa manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Sproles lands a nice hook to Salsa's body. Salsa takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Salsa pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Sproles loads up on a big right hand but Salsa slips the punch.
Salsa 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.
Nice cross by Sproles.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sproles paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Sproles tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Salsa paws at him with a jab and circles away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sproles tries to clinch there but Salsa circles away.
Sproles waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Salsa.

Salsa shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Sproles manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Pete Sproles.
I think Sproles 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 29:28
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Pete Sproles!
A very excited looking Pete Sproles rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.