PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Lionel Messi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Until Forever (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Messi
vs
Forever

191 cm
18
187 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

185 cm
24
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lionel Messi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Until Forever!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Paulo Santos and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Forever stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Forever wants it to stay on the feet.
Forever throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Forever misses with a series of wild punches.

Messi changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Forever looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Messi looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Forever avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Messi.
Messi throws an elbow but Forever slips to the side and avoids it well.
Messi has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Forever regains half guard, as Messi was trying to land strikes.

Messi wants to work for an arm triangle but Forever is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messi is looking to take a break and control but Forever is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Messi frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Messi with good strikes from the mount here!
Forever really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Messi. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Forever tries to hold on but Messi pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Messi goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Forever is on top in guard.
Messi trying to control the position.
Forever in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Forever preventing the sweep.
Messi working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messi pulls Forever in close to prevent any damage.
Messi trying to keep a closed guard but Forever is proving a slippery customer.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

We're going to have a standup here because Lionel Messi wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Forever misses with a wild combination.
Messi fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Forever lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Forever looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Forever throws a series of punches but Messi moves out of range.
Forever thows a left - swing and a miss!
Messi takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Forever misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Messi.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Messi.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lionel Messi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Forever throws the kick towards the body but Messi avoids it.
Decent striking displayed by Forever there.
Forever scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Forever lands an overhand right.
Forever scores with a head kick. Messi tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Until Forever seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Messi moves out of range of the body kick from Forever.
Forever looks gassed!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Messi misses with an uppercut. Forever saw that one coming.
Forever scores with a nice right hand.
Forever throws a hook but Messi blocks it.
Messi fails with a takedown attempt.
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 Lionel Messi will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Messi shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Messi closes the distance and clinches up with Forever, looking for a takedown. Messi pushes Forever against the cage but Forever circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Messi takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Forever moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Messi tries to move into range but Forever moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Messi.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lionel Messi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Forever throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Messi with a poor takedown
and Forever counters with a nice kick to the body.
Forever lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Forever throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Messi's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Forever lands with a kick to the temple. Messi shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Forever throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Forever bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Forever shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Messi eats them both and turns towards Forever to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Forever.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Messi has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Messi will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Messi shoots in but no luck this time.
Messi on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Forever is looking to slow Messi down with leg kicks.
Forever lunges at Messi with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Messi's hand.
Forever keeps Messi at a distance using the push kick.
Messi throws a lazy head kick
and Forever counters with a big head kick but Messi shrugs it off.
Forever pushes Messi away with a front kick.

Messi looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Forever!
Forever is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Messi misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

Messi goes for an armbar but Forever turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Forever.
Messi trying to keep a closed guard but Forever is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messi lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Forever!
Messi trying to control but Forever is having none of it.
Messi throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Messi tries to control but Forever wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Forever blocking the ground and pound.
Forever is squirming around, avoiding Messi's attempts to control the action.

Messi working for a submission but Forever is keeping him at bay.
Forever is in a horrible position here. Messi smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Until Forever showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Horrible takedown by Messi or perhaps it was just good defense by Forever which made him look bad.
Forever bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Messi's head.
Forever displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Forever defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Messi.
Forever fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Messi.
Forever buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Forever connects with an inside leg kick.
A slapping body kick lands there for Forever.
Forever thows a body kick. Messi tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Forever lands with a nice combination. Messi backs away looking to recover.
Forever moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Forever lands a nice looking kick to the body. Messi takes a step back to recover.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Forever swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Messi.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Forever misses with a two punch combination.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Forever.
Forever looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Messi looks to land a combination but Forever avoids it well.

Messi shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Forever makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Forever.
Messi trying to control the position from guard on top but Forever is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Forever wants to sweep but no luck.
Messi is looking to work some ground and pound but Forever has wrist control.
Messi won't allow Forever to sweep him here.
Messi wants to control from the top but Forever keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Lionel Messi.
Good exchange - Forever coming out on top.
Forever feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Messi's calf.
Messi closes the distance and clinches up with Forever, looking for a takedown. Messi pushes Forever against the cage but Forever circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lionel Messi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Forever tries a head kick but it misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Forever rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Messi moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Forever misses with the combination.
Forever keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Messi avoids the head kick by Forever.
Messi changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Forever tries to avoid it but Messi manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Forever to the ground. Forever escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That kick from Forever tenderised Messi's leg. Messi is trying to keep his angry face on.
Forever scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Nice takedown defense from Forever. No joy for Messi on that attempt.
Messi looks for a takedown but Forever sprawls well.
Messi has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

Messi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Messi trying to control the action but Forever is working from the bottom.
A lull in the action here as Messi stalls from top position.

Messi looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Messi throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Until Forever comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Forever has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Until Forever!