PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Esposito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Umberto Duran (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Esposito's entrance music is Sukh Knight. A fine choice. Duran is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Hatebreed - Live for this. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Esposito
vs
Duran

195 cm
35
285 lbs
23 - 12 - 0

199 cm
29
280 lbs
21 - 15 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Syndicate Nutrition
Milwaukee's Best 160 SALE $150

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, John Esposito!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 15 - 0, fighting out of New York, Umberto Duran!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Duran takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Esposito misses with a low kick as Duran jumps back.
A jab from Duran finds it's way through Esposito's defenses.
Esposito misses with a looping right.
Duran moves out of range as Esposito strikes.
Esposito throws a hook but Duran blocks it.
Esposito misses with an uppercut. Duran saw that one coming.
Duran staying out of range there.
Duran moves in looking to clinch but Esposito pushes him off.
Duran misses with a straight left.

Duran closes the distance and clinches.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Duran has had enough of the clinch but Esposito keeps him there for the moment.
Esposito lands with a light punch inside.
Duran blocking some punches.
Esposito tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Duran's elbow.
Duran misses with the head strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esposito tries to break free but Duran pushes him back against the cage.
Duran taking a breather.
Duran blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Esposito's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Esposito lands a jab to Duran's midsection.
Duran tries to move into range but Esposito moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Esposito takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Duran looks to land a left hand but Esposito moved out of range nicely.
Esposito connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Duran closes the distance and clinches.
A short left from Esposito.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Esposito.
Esposito lands a left hand.

Duran breaks from the clinch.
Duran walks into a jab.
Esposito lands a jab to the head.

It looks like Umberto Duran has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Duran looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Esposito lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Duran moves in looking to clinch but Esposito pushes him off.
Esposito throws a nice inside leg kick.
Esposito thows a body shot but no joy.
Esposito cracks a nice hook into Duran's ribs.
Duran tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Esposito manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Duran moves out of range as Esposito strikes.
Duran keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Duran looks to clinch
and Esposito counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Duran looks winded!
Duran looks to land a combination but Esposito avoids it well.
Esposito fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Duran manages to avoid it.
Esposito throws a quick inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esposito looks to land a right hand but Duran moved out of range.
Esposito lands a jab.
Esposito with a jab.
Esposito misses with a looping left.
Duran uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Esposito.
Duran moves out of range of the strikes.
Esposito is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Esposito keeps Duran at a distance using the push kick.
Esposito misses with a few strikes there.
Esposito scores with a leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Esposito throws a hook but Duran blocks it.
Esposito scores with a hook to the body. Duran takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Duran has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Esposito.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esposito lands a jab.
Esposito misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Duran.
Esposito fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Duran gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Duran wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Esposito has him pressed against the cage.
Duran doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Duran takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

Esposito manages to break the clinch.
Esposito throws a hook but Duran avoids it easily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A low kick from Duran misses
and Esposito connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Esposito looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Duran throws a leg kick
and Esposito connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Esposito dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Umberto Duran's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Esposito throws out a loose jab but Duran uses good head movement to avoid it.
Duran uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Esposito.
Sloppy strikes from Esposito. Those never looked like landing.
Esposito throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Esposito takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Duran keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A shot to the liver by Esposito. Beautiful body shot.
Duran tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Esposito counters with a two punch combo.
Duran lands with a hook. Esposito tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Esposito circles away from the clinch attempt
and Esposito makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esposito scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Esposito throws a poor cross that misses

and Duran counters by moving into the clinch.
Duran looking for a takedown.
Duran tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Esposito's elbow.
Still in the clinch, Esposito scores with a nice short uppercut.
Duran blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A short left from Esposito.
Esposito lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Esposito misses with a punch on the inside.
Esposito working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Esposito tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Duran misses with a short punch on the inside.
Duran has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Esposito after a bit of a struggle.
Esposito is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Duran can do to turn this around?
Stalling in the clinch from Esposito.
Still in the clinch, Esposito scores with a nice short uppercut.
Duran is breathing heavily.
Esposito misses with a punch to the body.
Duran tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Duran takes a shot to the head.

Duran is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Still in the clinch, Esposito scores with a nice short uppercut.
Duran is still on wobbly legs! Can Esposito finish him?
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Esposito throws a punch but it's blocked by Duran.
Esposito effectively controlling the action here.
Esposito misses with a hook from the clinch.
Duran seems to have recovered his senses.

Esposito manages to break the clinch.
Esposito lands a body shot.

Esposito drops Duran with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Duran looks back up at him and smiles so Esposito waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.
Esposito throws a shot from downtown. Duran moves away and avoids it.
Esposito misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Duran.
Esposito connects with an inside leg kick.
Esposito misses with a wild combination.
Esposito bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Duran's head.
Esposito ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Esposito. Duran does a little dance to reset his feet.
John Esposito seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Duran avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Esposito cracks Duran with an open hand slap.

Duran rushes Esposito and presses him up against the cage.
Esposito is pushing Duran up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Duran blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Esposito is struggling to control the position.
Esposito wants to stall.
John Esposito has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Esposito has Duran pressed against the cage.
Esposito misses with a hook to the ribs.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Duran.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esposito blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Duran taking a breather.
Duran scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Esposito is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Duran is keeping busy.
A bit of stalling here from Duran.
Duran takes a shot to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Esposito is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Duran misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Duran misses with the head strike.
Esposito can't break the clinch.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Esposito scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Duran holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Duran blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Duran tries to stall but Esposito uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Esposito dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Umberto Duran's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Esposito lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Duran missing with a left hand there. Esposito was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Esposito buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Duran tries to clinch up
and Esposito counters with a one-two to the body.
Duran ducks under a wild hook from Esposito.
The crowd cheers as Esposito lands an impressive looking overhand right. Duran doesn't seem phased though.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Duran tries to clinch but Esposito moves out of range.
Esposito chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Esposito scoring well with a low kick there.
Duran takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Esposito cracks Duran with a big right hand that sees him stumbling back against the cage! Duran falls to his knees and Esposito doesn't need a second invitatation - he rushes in and fires off several unanswered shots that force the referee to stop the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Esposito!
A relieved looking John Esposito thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.