PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mohammad Al Nasser (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mohammad Al Nasser has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Almeida
vs
Al Nasser

191 cm
26
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
27
190 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Brawler
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rafael Almeida!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mohammad Al Nasser!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Igor Prikhodko and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Al Nasser as Almeida shoots in.

Al Nasser rushes Almeida and presses him up against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Almeida's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Al Nasser is trying to trip Almeida. He has hold of a leg but Almeida is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Al Nasser persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Almeida is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Almeida tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Almeida has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Al Nasser can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Al Nasser tries to stand but Almeida is controlling from the bottom.

Almeida escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Al Nasser gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Almeida trying to control the position here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida looking to control but Al Nasser passes into half guard.
Almeida is trying to get back to full guard.
Al Nasser is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida is looking for a sweep. Al Nasser is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Almeida has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Al Nasser is working away from the top position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Al Nasser has decided to stand back up but his arm is trapped. Whilst he's worrying about his arm, Almeida works to full guard.
Al Nasser is looking to stand up but Almeida won't let him.
Almeida is trying to keep Al Nasser in close.
Almeida wants to control the position but Al Nasser says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida is trying to stand back up but Al Nasser is controlling him
Almeida wants to control but Al Nasser is keeping busy.
Al Nasser tries to stand and escape but Almeida actually recovers to full guard.
Almeida looking to control but Al Nasser passes into half guard.
Al Nasser prevents Almeida from standing back up.
Al Nasser tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Almeida.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Al Nasser's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Al Nasser's back!

Almeida looking for the choke from the back.

Almeida is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Al Nasser defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Almeida is breathing heavily.
Al Nasser holding both Almeida 's hands and preventing any damage.

Almeida working for a choke but Al Nasser reverses nicely into Almeida 's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Almeida is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Almeida dominated that round.
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.

Al Nasser keeps the fight on the outside.
Al Nasser shoots in but Almeida avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Al Nasser leaves Almeida with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Al Nasser tries to clinch up but Almeida circles away and keeps his distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Al Nasser looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Almeida tries to close the distance and clinch but Al Nasser swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Al Nasser doesn't manage to clinch there - Almeida circles away.
Al Nasser dodges the punch combination from Almeida.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida looks for a takedown but Al Nasser sprawls well.
Almeida tries to score a power double leg takedown but Al Nasser sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Almeida somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rafael Almeida. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Al Nasser moves into the clinch.

Al Nasser gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Almeida scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Al Nasser manages to mount him!
Almeida is trying desperately to improve position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Al Nasser controlling the position easily from mount.
Al Nasser is looking to stand but Al Nasser has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You get the feeling that Almeida really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Almeida wants to control but Al Nasser is having none of it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Almeida is in all sorts of trouble here.
Almeida tries to lock up and control but Al Nasser gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Al Nasser controlling his opponent.
Almeida bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Al Nasser wants to get back to his feet but Almeida is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Al Nasser moves into the clinch successfully.
Almeida is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Al Nasser is keeping busy.

Al Nasser lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Almeida wants to get back to full guard.
Almeida is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mohammad Al Nasser showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Almeida misses with a takedown attempt

and Al Nasser counters by moving into the clinch.
Almeida has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Al Nasser avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Al Nasser gets underhooks to prevent Almeida's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rafael Almeida. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Almeida has Al Nasser pressed against the cage, preventing Al Nasser from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Almeida wants a takedown but no success here.

Al Nasser manages to break the clinch.
Rafael Almeida is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Al Nasser misses with a low kick as Almeida jumps back.

Al Nasser has closed the distance and engaged Almeida in a clinch.
Al Nasser prevents the takedown attempt.
Al Nasser looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Al Nasser is looking to break free of the clinch but Almeida has double underhooks.
Al Nasser wants to get back to striking at distance but Almeida won't allow it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Almeida prevents Al Nasser from breaking the clinch.
Almeida is looking for a takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Al Nasser lands a takedown into guard.
Almeida is looking to stand up but Al Nasser isn't so interested in that idea.
Al Nasser wants to get up but he can't break Almeida's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Al Nasser decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Al Nasser looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Al Nasser dives in and grabs Almeida's left leg, looking for a takedown. Almeida pushes down on Al Nasser's head and hops out.
Almeida shoots in for a takedown but Al Nasser shows good takedown defense.
Al Nasser is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Al Nasser.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Al Nasser shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Al Nasser was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Almeida is looking to get back to his feet here but Al Nasser is keeping cool and he's managed to take Almeida's back.
You can see the frustration on Almeida's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Al Nasser is trying to stand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida trying to control the hands but Al Nasser breaks the grip.
Almeida trying to get back to his feet but Al Nasser is in full control for now.
Almeida is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Al Nasser is trying to stand.
Almeida tries to break free.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Al Nasser is trying to stand.
Almeida trying to control the action but Al Nasser just sinks the hooks in.
Almeida is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Al Nasser keeps control of the position as Almeida tries to break free.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mohammad Al Nasser comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Al Nasser 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mohammad Al Nasser!