PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raimundo Oliveira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Howard
vs
Oliveira

178 cm
36
200 lbs
22 - 18 - 2

187 cm
34
200 lbs
18 - 4 - 2

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 22 - 18 - 2, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Howard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 4 - 2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Raimundo Oliveira!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Paul Aken and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard throws a body punch but Oliveira moves out of range.
Oliveira lands a slapping body shot.
Howard swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Oliveira stuns Howard with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Howard walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Oliveira pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Howard takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Howard connects with a good right hand that stumbles Oliveira. Oliveira circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Oliveira slips under a jab from Howard.
Oliveira closes the distance and clinches up with Howard, looking for a takedown. Oliveira pushes Howard against the ropes but Howard circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
John Howard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Howard throws a looping overhand right but Oliveira ducks down to avoid it.
Oliveira uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Howard.
Oliveira swats away the attempt to clinch by Howard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oliveira throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Oliveira throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Howard sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Howard tries to clinch there but Oliveira circles away.
John Howard is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Howard takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Howard keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Oliveira.
Oliveira avoids the body shot from Howard.
Oliveira keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Oliveira scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Oliveira throws a strike aimed at the side of Howard's head but Howard avoids it well.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Howard defending against the ground and pound.
Oliveira misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Howard is trying to get back to half guard.

Oliveira decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Oliveira shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Howard manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Oliveira pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Howard is keeping the position for now.
Oliveira in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Howard looking for a sweep. Not yet Howard, not yet.
Oliveira throwing strikes from guard but Howard blocks nicely.
Howard trying to keep a closed guard but Oliveira is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Oliveira.
Howard working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Oliveira.
Howard is trying to keep Oliveira in close.
Oliveira stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Howard swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Howard pulls Oliveira in close to his closed guard and prevents Oliveira from doing any damage or advancing position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of John Howard.
Oliveira dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Howard lands with a cross.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira throws a hook but Howard blocks it.
Howard is looking to clinch.
Howard misses with a hook. Oliveira ducked under it nicely.
Oliveira is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Howard.
Oliveira pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Oliveira changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Nice defenses there by Oliveira.
Good standup being displayed there by Oliveira as he connects with a hook.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Oliveira drives through with a takedown into guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Oliveira preventing the sweep.
Oliveira is looking to work some ground and pound but Howard has wrist control.
Oliveira loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raimundo Oliveira dominated that round.
That's time! Howard's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Oliveira looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Howard throws a body punch but Oliveira moves out of range.
Howard moves in looking to clinch but Oliveira pushes him off.
Oliveira takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Nice shot lands for Howard.
Howard misses with a wild body shot.
Howard misses with a few strikes there.
A slow jab from Howard misses its intended target.
Left hook, right uppercut from Oliveira.
Howard wants to clinch but Oliveira slips to the side
and Oliveira counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Oliveira closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oliveira scores with a hook to the body. Howard takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Howard swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Howard gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Oliveira throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Oliveira working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Oliveira working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Oliveira content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Howard knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Oliveira on the ground.
Oliveira throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Howard works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Oliveira is looking to work some ground and pound but Howard has wrist control.
Oliveira postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira throws a big right hand that misses.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Oliveira throws a big elbow that misses.
Howard working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Oliveira.
Howard keeping full guard, as Oliveira tries to pass.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Howard has momentary wrist control but Oliveira slips an elbow through the middle.
Oliveira trying to control but Howard is working from the bottom.
Howard avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Howard controls Oliveira momentarily but Oliveira frees himself.
Oliveira missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Howard works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Oliveira working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Howard is looking to sweep but instead, Oliveira has passed into half guard.
Oliveira lands strikes from half guard.
Oliveira thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Howard's head.
Oliveira tries to pass to full mount but Howard defends it.
Oliveira thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Howard's head.
Oliveira throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Oliveira winds up and cracks Howard with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Oliveira scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Oliveira has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howard tries to roll over but Oliveira keeps him under control.
Oliveira tries to pass the half guard into mount. Howard knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Howard is in trouble now - Oliveira has advanced to mount!
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!
Oliveira sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Howard tries to hold on but Oliveira postures up.
Howard blocking the ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Oliveira throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Oliveira thowing shots but they're missing.
Howard in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raimundo Oliveira showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Howard moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Oliveira with a jab.
Oliveira scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Oliveira stuns Howard with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.

Oliveira closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Howard parries the strikes from Oliveira easily there. Oliveira is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Howard to escape.
Oliveira throws an elbow but Howard slips to the side and avoids it well.
Oliveira throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Oliveira in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Oliveira misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
The ground and pound from Oliveira seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Howard is not content to let Oliveira control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oliveira in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Oliveira misses with the ground and pound.
Oliveira throws a strike aimed at the side of Howard's head but Howard avoids it well.
Howard takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Oliveira landing strikes.
Howard dodges the ground and pound from Oliveira.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Oliveira trying to control the action but Howard is working from the bottom.
The strikes coming from Oliveira are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Howard tries to bench press Oliveira off him but Oliveira keeps the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira lands a nice forearm strike.
Oliveira fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Howard parries the strikes from Oliveira easily there. Oliveira is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Howard to escape.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Oliveira throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Oliveira throws an elbow but Howard slips to the side and avoids it well.
Oliveira throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Raimundo Oliveira has got the better of the ground game so far.
Oliveira landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Howard on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Howard tries to get out of the position.
Oliveira tries to score with some ground and pound. Howard controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Howard on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Oliveira throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Oliveira throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Oliveira postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard is not content to let Oliveira control the position.
Oliveira throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Oliveira looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Howard is avoiding damage well.
Oliveira looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Howard is avoiding damage well.
Oliveira working the head with strikes.
Oliveira tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Oliveira working the ground and pound from side control.
Oliveira in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Oliveira misses with the ground and pound.
Oliveira throwing shots but missing, from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira working the ground and pound but Howard is defending the strikes.
Oliveira looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Howard is avoiding damage well.
Oliveira throws an elbow but Howard slips to the side and avoids it well.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Oliveira misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Oliveira working the ground and pound but Howard is defending the strikes.
Howard on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Oliveira wants to lay and pray for a moment but Howard keeps working.
Oliveira sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Howard is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Oliveira misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Oliveira lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Howard down.
Oliveira lands some shots froms side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raimundo Oliveira really dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Oliveira.
Howard fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A slow jab from Howard misses its intended target.
Howard tries to clinch up but Oliveira circles away and keeps his distance.
Oliveira takes a swing at Howard's ribcage but misses.
Oliveira shoots in but no luck this time.
Howard fails with an attempt to clinch.

Oliveira gets a takedown into half guard.
Oliveira thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Oliveira has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Oliveira.
Oliveira thows a huge punch but Howard dodges it nicely.
Oliveira passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Howard!
Howard keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.
Oliveira sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Oliveira punching from mount but Howard doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Oliveira lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Howard hang on?
Oliveira punching from mount but Howard doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Oliveira pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howard is looking to get to half guard.
Oliveira pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Oliveira sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Oliveira throws some wild stikes that Howard manages to avoid easily.
Howard wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Oliveira.
Oliveira looking to ground and pound but Howard is blocking nicely.
Oliveira pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Oliveira landing shots from mount.
Howard in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

Howard is rocked!
Howard has worked his way to half guard, taking advantage of Oliveira's lack of action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Oliveira missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Oliveira thows a huge punch but Howard dodges it nicely.
Oliveira not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Oliveira missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Oliveira throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Oliveira missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Oliveira thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Howard's head.
Oliveira not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Oliveira missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Oliveira throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Howard with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Oliveira moves into full mount! Howard won't be happy about that!
Oliveira landing punches.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Oliveira is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Howard can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Oliveira throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Howard avoids a series of strikes thrown by Oliveira.
Oliveira throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Oliveira is landing with some decent strikes but Howard is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A nice elbow there by Oliveira.
Oh Howard is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Oliveira thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raimundo Oliveira dominated that fourth round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Oliveira lands with a straight right. Howard didn't see that one coming.
Howard seems to have got his legs back now.
Oliveira swings away with a body shot that misses
and Howard counters with a right hand to the body.
Oliveira thows a body shot but no joy.
Howard throws a predictable looking body shot
and Oliveira cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Oliveira's corner calls for a 1-2. Oliveira obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Howard walks into a straight right hand from Oliveira.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Oliveira is defended easily by Howard.
Howard ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Oliveira moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Oliveira fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Howard sprawls well initially but Oliveira persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Howard trying to control here.
Howard keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Oliveira thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Howard's head.
Howard wants to improve his position but Oliveira is controlling well.
Oliveira wants to pass to mount but Howard is defending the position.
Howard trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Oliveira manages to pass to mount!
Oliveira unloads with some shots from mount but Howard bucks and avoids them well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Oliveira thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Oliveira throws some wild stikes that Howard manages to avoid easily.
Oliveira can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Howard is looking to escape.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Oliveira landing strikes from the mount.
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.
Howard tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Oliveira is landing with some decent strikes but Howard is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Oliveira thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Oliveira cracks Howard with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Oliveira with the ground and pound from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Oliveira looking to ground and pound but Howard is blocking nicely.
Oliveira throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Oliveira throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Howard because Oliveira loaded up on that one.
Oliveira lands a heavy elbow.
Oliveira looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Oliveira throws some wild stikes that Howard manages to avoid easily.
Oliveira throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Oliveira is landing with some decent strikes but Howard is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Oliveira cracks Howard with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 5, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Raimundo Oliveira!
Raimundo Oliveira looked relieved post fight as he said the following; 'Não gosto de decisões, sou um nocauteador artístico. I don't like decisions, I'm a knockout artist.'.