PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Matt Vbahi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matheus Pinheiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Vbahi might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Pregador Luo - Bate Pesadão. Pinheiro comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Let's Go - Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Vbahi
vs
Pinheiro

175 cm
19
140 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

172 cm
25
135 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Tends to cut

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 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matt Vbahi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matheus Pinheiro!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Mauricio Rocha and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pinheiro closes the distance and clinches.

Pinheiro manages to break the clinch.
Pinheiro blocks a head kick by Vbahi.
Pinheiro tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Pinheiro fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Vbahi, pushing him back against the cage.
Vbahi looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Pinheiro landing knees to the head.
Pinheiro connects with a knee to the head.

It looks like Matt Vbahi has been cut.

Pinheiro is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Vbahi can't fight it off and eventually Pinheiro manages to take the fight to the floor. Vbahi looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Vbahi can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Pinheiro controls the pace.

Pinheiro stands up and waves to Vbahi to follow him.
Vbahi keeps the fight on the outside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pinheiro avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Pinheiro moves to clinch but Vbahi breaks away

and Vbahi holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Pinheiro lands an uppercut.

Pinheiro decides to pull guard.
Pinheiro wants to sweep here but Vbahi controlling him for the moment.
Vbahi is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Pinheiro tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Pinheiro has momentary wrist control but Vbahi slips an elbow through the middle.
Pinheiro is trying to control the position but Vbahi postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pinheiro pulls Vbahi in close to his closed guard and prevents Vbahi from doing any damage or advancing position.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Pinheiro striking from the bottom.
Pinheiro wants to sweep but no luck.
Vbahi is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Vbahi with a nice head shot there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vbahi tries to stand but Pinheiro is controlling from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Pinheiro escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Vbahi gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pinheiro trying to control the position.
Vbahi wants to control from the top but Pinheiro keeps moving.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Pinheiro is on top in guard.
Pinheiro trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Pinheiro looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pinheiro wants to stand but Vbahi is controlling his posture from full guard.
Vbahi is pulling down on Pinheiro's head to control his posture.
Vbahi throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Vbahi keeping moving, preventing Pinheiro from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Pinheiro looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Pinheiro wants to pass the guard but Vbahi is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matheus Pinheiro dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Matt Vbahi's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Pinheiro shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Pinheiro passes to side control.
Pinheiro working the body and head with strikes.

Vbahi throws Pinheiro to one side and escapes!

Pinheiro drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Vbahi is trying to control Pinheiro's posture but Pinheiro avoids it.

Pinheiro has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pinheiro is looking to clinch but Vbahi is avoiding it.

Pinheiro looking to score a takedown here. Vbahi is defending well but Pinheiro drives through and ends up in Vbahi's guard.
Vbahi manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Pinheiro tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Vbahi lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Pinheiro hang on?
Pinheiro regains half guard.

Pinheiro kicks off Vbahi and gets to his feet.
Pinheiro is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Pinheiro looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Vbahi throws a shot to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Pinheiro tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Vbahi changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Pinheiro tries to avoid it but Vbahi manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Pinheiro to the ground. Pinheiro escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Vbahi leaves Pinheiro with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Vbahi looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Pinheiro closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Vbahi makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Vbahi.
Pinheiro trying to control the position from guard on top but Vbahi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Pinheiro wants to get up but he can't break Vbahi's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vbahi working a defensive guard here.
Pinheiro trying to control but Vbahi is working from the bottom.
Pinheiro stopping the sweep attempt from Vbahi.
Pinheiro wants to control from the top but Vbahi keeps moving.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Matheus Pinheiro hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Pinheiro misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Vbahi pushes Pinheiro up against the cage in a clinch.

Pinheiro breaks the clinch.
Vbahi keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Vbahi shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Pinheiro but Pinheiro pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Pinheiro is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Vbahi's half guard.
Pinheiro is pressing down on Vbahi's thigh, looking to free his foot. Vbahi is holding on for now.
Pinheiro winds up and cracks Vbahi with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Pinheiro wants to get back to his feet.

Pinheiro looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matheus Pinheiro showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Matt Vbahi'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. This is the final round!

Vbahi shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Pinheiro napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Pinheiro manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Pinheiro winds up and cracks Vbahi with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Vbahi looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pinheiro works his way into full mount!
Pinheiro looking to control but Vbahi is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pinheiro with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Pinheiro can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Vbahi is looking to escape.
Pinheiro prevents Vbahi from getting the reversal.
Vbahi really wants to buck Pinheiro off and get back to his feet.
Vbahi is working to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pinheiro wants to control the pace but Vbahi is squirming around nicely.
Pinheiro scores with a couple of good head shots there.

Pinheiro goes for an armbar but Vbahi turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Vbahi.
Pinheiro trying to control the position.
Pinheiro trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pinheiro pushes Vbahi off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Pinheiro closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Vbahi gets back to half guard.

Pinheiro is looking for a kimura here.
Vbahi gets back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pinheiro looking to sit in guard and control but Vbahi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Pinheiro wants to stand and escape but Vbahi is having none of it.
Pinheiro wants to improve his position but instead Vbahi has moved into half guard.
Vbahi slows the pace down in half guard.
Pinheiro punching from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matheus Pinheiro comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Pinheiro has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matheus Pinheiro!
Matheus Pinheiro was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.