PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Raphael Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eilo Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Eilo Garcia is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Alves
vs
Garcia

170 cm
18
141 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
18
134 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

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 Rio de Janeiro, Raphael Alves!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Eilo Garcia!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Daniel Cesar and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Garcia closes the distance but Alves moves to the side

and Alves holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Garcia trying to land knees to the body.
Alves effectively controlling the action here.
Garcia looking to throw knees to the head but Alves is blocking nicely.
Garcia tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alves avoids it.
Garcia wants to stall.
Alves wants to get back to striking at distance but Garcia won't allow it.
Alves looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Garcia tries to land knees in the clinch but Alves avoids the damage to the body.
Alves goes for a takedown in the clinch but Garcia prevents it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Alves is keeping busy.
Alves scores with a knee to the head.
Alves stalling the fight.
Garcia is trying to maintain a safe position but Alves gets an underhook and turns Garcia into the cage.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Garcia.
Alves blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Alves is looking for a takedown.

Alves pulls guard successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Alves manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Garcia manages to get himself to full guard.
Garcia is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Alves missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Alves is pushing down on Garcia's leg trying to pass to half guard. Garcia is fighting to maintain full guard but Alves has managed to sneak the leg through.

Alves stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Garcia stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Raphael Alves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Garcia tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Alves counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Alves.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Garcia misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Alves.
Alves tries to pull guard but Garcia forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia trying to land knees to the body.
Alves is trying to drag Garcia to the mat but Garcia just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Garcia is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Alves is keeping busy.
Alves is pushing Garcia up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Garcia looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Alves tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Garcia smiles and moves away.
Garcia tries to clinch up.
Garcia tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Alves paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Garcia tries to close the distance and clinch but Alves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Garcia moves to clinch but Alves breaks away
and Alves counters with a nice low kick that buckles Garcia's knee momentarily.
Garcia wants to clinch but Alves slips to the side

and Alves counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A head punch on the inside from Garcia fails to land.
Alves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Garcia is defending well for now.
Alves tries to break the clinch but Garcia is controlling the position.
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 Raphael Alves will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Alves moves into the clinch.

Alves breaks from the clinch.
Garcia tries to clinch there but Alves circles away.
Garcia doesn't manage to clinch there - Alves circles away.
Garcia tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Alves counters by moving into the clinch.
Alves wants to get back to striking at distance but Garcia won't allow it.
Alves tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alves is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Alves is trying to drag Garcia to the mat but Garcia just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Raphael Alves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Garcia obliges.
Alves on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia prevents a takedown attempt there.
Garcia tries to land knees in the clinch but Alves avoids the damage to the body.
Garcia trying to land knees to the body.

Alves pulls guard successfully.
Garcia tries to stand but Alves is controlling from the bottom.

Alves looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Alves is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Garcia must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Alves is on top in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves wants to control from the top but Garcia keeps moving.
Alves pushes down on Garcia's leg and manages to get into half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Garcia wants to get back to his feet.
Garcia taking some punishment here, with Alves in his half guard.
Garcia tries to kick Alves off but Alves keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Alves is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia is trying to stand.
Alves controlling the action here.
Garcia pushes Alves off looking to stand but Alves dives back in and keeps control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves controlling the action here.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Raphael Alves has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Garcia is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Garcia misses with a looping left.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Alves avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Alves gets a clinch.
Alves is trying to break free.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Alves dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Alves moves into the clinch.
Alves taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Garcia trying to stall but Alves improves his position.
Alves fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Garcia.
Alves drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Garcia gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Alves blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Alves.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Garcia.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alves is working for takedown but Garcia is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Raphael Alves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alves wants a takedown but no success here.
Garcia throws a knee to the head but misses.
Garcia is looking to control Alves's arms but Alves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Garcia has his back to the cage.
Alves creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alves is defending well for now.
Garcia stalling in the clinch but Alves improves position.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Eilo Garcia.
Garcia fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Alves manages to avoid it.
Garcia moves in looking to clinch but Alves pushes him off.
Garcia tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Alves manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Garcia tries to clinch there but Alves circles away.
Garcia tries to clinch there but Alves circles away.
Alves circles away from the clinch attempt

and Alves counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Garcia.

Alves jumps guard and drags Garcia to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia stopping the sweep attempt from Alves.
Alves is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Alves controlling the action here.
Garcia wants to get back to his feet.
Garcia really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Alves. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Alves content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Garcia for as long as he can get away with.
Alves uses his free foot to push down on Garcia's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Garcia.
Poor strikes thrown by Alves there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

Alves looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Alves controlling the pace for now.
Eilo Garcia has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Raphael Alves is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raphael Alves showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Alves, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raphael Alves!