PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jarvis Messam (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eddie Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Messam's entrance music is Boombastic by Shaggy. A fine choice. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Eddie Alvarez enters the cage!

Messam
vs
Alvarez

168 cm
25
143 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

165 cm
25
140 lbs
7 - 7 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

TFP Graphics - Pit Inc

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 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jarvis Messam!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Eddie Alvarez!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Frank Dennis and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Messam throws a right and a left that both miss.
Alvarez dives in and grabs Messam's left leg, looking for a takedown. Messam pushes down on Alvarez's head and hops out.
Alvarez tries for a takedown but Messam circles away easily
and Messam counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Alvarez takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Messam scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Alvarez gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Messam.
Alvarez tries for a takedown but Messam sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Jarvis Messam has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eddie Alvarez.

Alvarez looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Messam!
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Messam really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Messam is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Alvarez is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Messam is squirming around, avoiding Alvarez's attempts to control the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messam tries to lock up and control but Alvarez gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

Alvarez looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Messam tries to hold on but Alvarez postures up.
Messam is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Alvarez is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Messam tries to reverse the position but Alvarez maintains control.
Messam taking shots to the head.
Alvarez cracks Messam with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Messam wants to hold on but Alvarez pushes him away.
Messam in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Messam keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Alvarez has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Messam's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Alvarez lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Alvarez looking to secure an arm triangle but Messam defends it well.
Messam can't escape the position.
BOOM! Alvarez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Messam wants to control but Alvarez is having none of it.
Alvarez lands with some strikes.
Alvarez lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messam taking shots to the head.

Messam is rocked!
The referee warns Messam that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Oh Messam is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Alvarez lands a big shot there that rocks Messam but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Messam is looking to get to half guard.
Messam wants to hold on but Alvarez pushes him away.
Messam seems to have got his legs back now.
Alvarez scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Messam?
Messam tries to hold on but Alvarez postures up.

Alvarez is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Messam to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Messam shrugs it off.
Messam manages to regain half guard. Good work.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Messam is trying to maintain the position but Alvarez is very close to passing his half guard.
Alvarez working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez lands strikes from half guard.
Alvarez is keen to just control but Messam is a slippery customer.
Messam trying to control here.
Messam wants to get back to full guard.
Messam wants to get back to full guard but Alvarez has passed into side control.
Messam is not content to let Alvarez control the position.
Alvarez works to advance to full mount. Messam defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Messam wants to control but Alvarez is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Messam regains half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eddie Alvarez dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Alvarez shoots in but no luck this time.
Messam 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.
Messam connects with the punch.
Messam dives in and grabs Alvarez's left leg, looking for a takedown. Alvarez pushes down on Messam's head and hops out.
Messam lands a nice shot to the body.
Alvarez shoots in for a double leg but Messam sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Alvarez has his takedown stuffed
and Messam counters with a straight right hand.
Jarvis Messam has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eddie Alvarez.
Messam scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Messam cracks Alvarez with an open hand slap.
Alvarez doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Messam counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Alvarez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Alvarez fails with the takedown
and Messam counters with a nice body shot.
Alvarez is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messam jabs at Alvarez's body.
Messam misses with a jab, cross combination.
Messam explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Messam dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

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

Messam working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Alvarez doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Alvarez manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Messam has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Alvarez can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Alvarez must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
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!

Alvarez got a little sloppy there for a moment and Messam has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Alvarez has managed to get both his arms back between Messam's legs - danger averted.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

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

Messam has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Alvarez can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Alvarez looking to pass the guard.
Alvarez postures up in Messam's guard and throws a big left but Messam blocks it.
Messam utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Messam has his foot on Alvarez's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Alvarez works his way back into a safe position though.
Messam is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Alvarez throwing strikes but missing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Messam looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Messam keeping moving, preventing Alvarez from controlling successfully.

Messam has his foot on Alvarez's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Alvarez works his way back into a safe position though.
Alvarez wants to control from the top but Messam keeps moving.
Alvarez preventing the sweep.
Alvarez working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Messam throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Alvarez thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Alvarez trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Messam pulls Alvarez in close to prevent any damage.
Messam lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Alvarez!
Messam postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Alvarez looks a forlorn figure.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Messam tries to control but Alvarez wriggling away.
Alvarez is looking to improve his position but Messam isn't that keen on the idea.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jarvis Messam dominated that second round.
That's time! Messam's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. 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.

Alvarez takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Alvarez takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Messam digs a good body shot into Alvarez's ribs.
Alvarez shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Messam counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Alvarez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Messam throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Messam goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Messam jabs Alvarez right on the nose. Alvarez blinks but takes it well.
Messam leaves Alvarez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Jarvis Messam has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eddie Alvarez.
Messam connects with a nice looking jab.
Messam fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messam lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Messam lands with a hook. Alvarez tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Messam misses with the combination.
Alvarez doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Messam counters with a right hand to the body.
Alvarez with a lazy takedown attempt
and Messam counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Alvarez takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Messam lands with a hook. Alvarez tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

Messam drives through with a takedown into guard.
Messam in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Messam pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Alvarez is keeping the position for now.
Messam is working hard here to advance position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Messam accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Alvarez holds on and takes a little breather.
Alvarez wants to sweep here but Messam controlling him for the moment.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Messam trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Messam throws a big elbow that misses.
Messam throwing strikes from guard but Alvarez blocks nicely.
Messam trying to control but Alvarez is working from the bottom.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Alvarez is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Alvarez trying to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messam throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Messam won't allow Alvarez to sweep him here.
Messam working some strikes from top position.
Messam prevents Alvarez from getting back to his feet.

Messam drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Messam jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Alvarez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Messam passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Messam wants to control but Alvarez is keeping him busy.
Alvarez tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Messam trying to control the position but Alvarez is working away.

Messam is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Alvarez knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Alvarez is trying to control Messam's posture but Messam avoids it.

Messam tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Alvarez is pushing Messam's head away, looking to escape. Messam manages to hold on to the position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jarvis Messam showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Messam 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 George Francis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jarvis Messam!
An out of breath and clearly excited Jarvis Messam thanked MMA ANIMAL for their help and support (and free stuff they sent him).