PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Anderson Shiva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Tualagi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shiva comes into the arena with DMX - Ain't No Sunshine blaring out of the sound system. Eric Tualagi is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Shiva
vs
Tualagi

198 cm
25
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

189 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Anderson Shiva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Eric Tualagi!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Damien Edna and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Tualagi gets tackled into the cage by Shiva. Shiva maintains the clinch.

Shiva manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Shiva has a closed guard, preventing Tualagi from standing up.
Shiva trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tualagi tries to stand but Shiva is controlling from the bottom.
Shiva has control of Tualagi's left arm, preventing Tualagi from doing any damage.

Tualagi gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Shiva fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tualagi avoids it really well and circles away.
Shiva will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shiva takes one to the chin there.
Shiva blocks a head kick by Tualagi.
Shiva tries to score a power double leg takedown but Tualagi sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Shiva somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Anderson Shiva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shiva shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Tualagi as he jumps to the side.
Shiva avoids a punch combination nicely.
Shiva moves to clinch but Tualagi breaks away
and Tualagi counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Shiva tries to close the distance and clinch but Tualagi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Tualagi clinches.
Shiva leaning against his opponent.
Tualagi is looking to break free of the clinch but Shiva has double underhooks.
Tualagi can't break the clinch.
Tualagi is trying to push Shiva away but Shiva has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Shiva breaks the clinch.
Tualagi shoots in but no luck this time.
Shiva moves out of range of the strikes.
A head kick by Tualagi misses
and Shiva finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Tualagi looks winded!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Shiva wants to clinch up but Tualagi keeps it at a distance.
Shiva fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Shiva keeps the fight on the outside.
Tualagi misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Shiva leaves Tualagi with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Shiva shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Tualagi defends it nicely.

Tualagi takes the fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shiva is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Tualagi is defending well.
Tualagi is trying to break the clinch but Shiva is controlling him.
Tualagi has had enough of the clinch but Shiva keeps him there for the moment.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Shiva obliges.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Tualagi wants to break free but Shiva has control.
Shiva keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Tualagi's efforts to push away.
Shiva connects with a knee to the head.
Tualagi wants to break the clinch but can't.
Tualagi wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Shiva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Tualagi misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tualagi looks to land a combination but Shiva avoids it well.
Tualagi throws the left hand but Shiva avoids the punch easily.
Tualagi tries to clinch up but Shiva circles away and keeps his distance.
Tualagi on the wrong end of a nice hook.

Shiva instigates a clinch.
Stalling in the clinch from Shiva.
Tualagi wants to get back to striking at distance but Shiva won't allow it.
Shiva crunches a lovely knee into Tualagi's ribcage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Shiva ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Shiva no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Tualagi would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Shiva wants to stand up but Tualagi is controlling him.
Tualagi must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Tualagi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Shiva is proving hard to escape from.
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 Anderson Shiva will probably get the nod.
That's time! Shiva's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Shiva misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Tualagi blocks a head kick by Shiva.
Nice sprawl there from Shiva as Tualagi shoots in.
Shiva throws a leg kick which misses Tualagi's front leg but catches the back leg as Tualagi tries to avoid it.
Tualagi closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Tualagi is trying to break free.
Shiva is trying to drag Tualagi to the mat but Tualagi just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Shiva is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Tualagi pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Anderson Shiva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Shiva has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Tualagi uses from the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tualagi decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Shiva, up you get!
Shiva misses with a few strikes there.
A punch combination from Tualagi misses.
Tualagi swinging wildly here.
Nice sprawl there from Tualagi as Shiva shoots in.
Tualagi looks for the body kick but Shiva saw that one coming.
Horrible takedown by Shiva or perhaps it was just good defense by Tualagi which made him look bad.
Tualagi looks for a takedown but Shiva sprawls well.
Tualagi scores with a three punch combo!
Shiva tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Tualagi closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Shiva's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Tualagi can't break the clinch.
Shiva looking for a takedown.
Tualagi is trying to break the clinch but Shiva has him pressed against the cage.
Tualagi can't break the clinch.
Tualagi working hard to break the clinch.
Tualagi wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Shiva throws an elbow but it misses.
Tualagi wants to break the clinch but can't.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shiva tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Tualagi just stands there and leans against the cage.
Tualagi can't break the clinch.
Shiva is trying to stall.
Tualagi can't break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tualagi looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Shiva misses with a punch to the body.
Anderson Shiva has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Tualagi is trying to force a seperation but Shiva has the dominant position.
Tualagi wants to break free but Shiva has control.
Tualagi has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Shiva leaning against his opponent.
Shiva landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Shiva tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Tualagi just stands there and leans against the cage.
Shiva has Tualagi pressed against the cage, preventing Tualagi from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Shiva fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Tualagi blocks an elbow strike.
Shiva trying to land knees to the body.
Shiva prevents Tualagi from breaking the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shiva tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Tualagi wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Tualagi manages to break the clinch.
Tualagi moves in looking to clinch but Shiva pushes him off.
Shiva fails to land the takedown.
A combination from Tualagi does no damage.
Tualagi scores with a three punch combo!
Tualagi throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Shiva.
Shiva is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tualagi throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Shiva shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Tualagi as he jumps to the side.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Eric Tualagi will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Tualagi swats away the attempt to clinch by Shiva.
Shiva tries to close the distance and clinch but Tualagi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Tualagi steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Shiva. That one must have hurt.
Shiva tries to clinch but Tualagi is having none of it.

Shiva takes the fight into the clinch.

Tualagi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Tualagi shoots in but no luck this time.
Anderson Shiva is winning the standup battle so far.
Tualagi circles away from the clinch attempt.

Tualagi instigates a clinch.
Tualagi is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Shiva lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Tualagi tries to break free but Shiva pushes him back against the cage.
Tualagi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Shiva breaks from the clinch.
Shiva fails in his attempt to clinch.
Shiva fails with the takedown.
Tualagi looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Shiva tries for a takedown but Tualagi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Shiva defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Tualagi.
Anderson Shiva has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Eric Tualagi.
Nice defenses there by Shiva.
Shiva changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Tualagi tries to avoid it but Shiva manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Tualagi to the ground. Tualagi escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Shiva throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Tualagi was covering up waiting for the punch and Shiva finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Shiva trying to control but Tualagi is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Anderson Shiva.
Tualagi shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Shiva sprawls well. Shiva wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Tualagi gets slowly back to his feet.

Shiva drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shiva throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Shiva trying to control but Tualagi is working from the bottom.

Shiva stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Shiva tries to close the distance and clinch but Tualagi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Tualagi throws out a powerful jab.
Tualagi listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Shiva tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Tualagi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Shiva shoots in for a double leg but Tualagi sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tualagi lands a head kick. Shiva smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Tualagi fails with the takedown.
Shiva fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tualagi avoids it really well and circles away.
Shiva shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Tualagi defends it nicely.
Tualagi tries to score a power double leg takedown but Shiva sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Tualagi somewhat.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Shiva scores with a jab. Tualagi acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Tualagi rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Shiva moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Anderson Shiva showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Shiva has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Steve Erwin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 28:29
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Eric Tualagi!
A less than humble Eric Tualagi misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.