PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Randy Sosa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ambo Balisi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sosa
vs
Balisi

216 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Inexperienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Randy Sosa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Ambo Balisi!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Paul Gruel and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Balisi throws a left and a right that both miss

and Sosa counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Sosa breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Sloppy strikes from Balisi. Those never looked like landing.
Balisi tries a head kick but it misses.
Balisi swinging wildly here.
Balisi throws a nice looking combination but Sosa bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Balisi throws a series of punches but Sosa avoids them all with ease.

Sosa has closed the distance and engaged Balisi in a clinch.

Sosa manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Sosa looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Sosa seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Sosa has a closed guard, preventing Balisi from standing up.

Sosa pushes Balisi off and scrambles back to his feet.
Sloppy strikes from Balisi. Those never looked like landing.
Balisi moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sosa looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sosa throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Balisi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sosa.
Balisi wants to get back to his feet.
Sosa controlling the pace.
Sosa not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balisi on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Sosa scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sosa trying to control the pace.

Sosa decides to return to a standing position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sosa is looking to clinch.
Sosa is looking to clinch.
Balisi lands a jab-cross combination.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch but Balisi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sosa takes a body punch but keeps moving.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sosa looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Balisi throws a right and a left that Sosa avoids nicely.
Balisi throws the kick towards the body but Sosa avoids it.
Crunch! Balisi slams his shin into Sosa's torso.
Balisi fails to land with a series of punches.
Balisi feints a jab promting Sosa to slip. Balisi then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Sosa slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

Sosa moves into the clinch.

Balisi turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Balisi looks winded!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Sosa manages to get back to half guard.

Sosa pushes Balisi off and gets back to his feet.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Sosa clinches up against the cage.

Sosa jumps guard.
Balisi is fighting to break Sosa's control of his arms but Sosa is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Sosa will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Sosa has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Balisi wanted to stand there but Sosa had control of the position.
Sosa is looking to stand up but Balisi isn't so interested in that idea.

Sosa pushes Balisi off and gets back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Balisi circles away from the clinch attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Randy Sosa dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Sosa tries to clinch up.
Balisi swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Balisi paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A punch combination from Balisi misses.
Sosa is looking to clinch.
Balisi throws a push kick but Sosa slaps the foot to one side.
Balisi misses with a body kick.
Sosa tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Balisi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Balisi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sosa wants to clinch up but Balisi keeps it at a distance.
Balisi throws a series of punches but Sosa moves out of range.
Balisi swinging wildly here.
Balisi misses with a series of wild punches.
Balisi fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sosa looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Balisi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch up but Balisi swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Balisi keeps the fight on the outside.
Balisi moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Balisi rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sosa moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Balisi keeps the fight on the outside.
Sosa fails with an attempt to clinch.
A combination from Balisi does no damage.
Balisi is breathing heavily.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch but Balisi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Balisi swinging wildly here.
Balisi throws a series of punches but Sosa avoids them all with ease.

Sosa rushes Balisi and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Balisi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balisi tries to land a front kick but Sosa steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

Balisi tries to keep at a distance but Sosa has taken the fight into the clinch.
Sosa tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Balisi just stands there and leans against the cage.
Sosa jumps guard but Balisi stands there with Sosa around his waist. Sosa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Sosa manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Sosa is pulling down on Balisi's head to control his posture.
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!

Sosa is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Balisi presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.

Sosa drags the fight down to the ground.

Sosa manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.

Sosa has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Balisi uses from the top position.
Sosa has a closed guard, preventing Balisi from standing up.
Sosa is trying to control the position but Balisi postures up.
Balisi is looking to stand up but Sosa won't let him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Balisi decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Sosa, up you get!
Sosa fails with an attempt to clinch.
Sosa tries to clinch but Balisi is having none of it.

Balisi closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Balisi lands in his opponent's guard.
Sosa controlling Balisi's posture.
Sosa manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Balisi in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sosa looking to finish with strikes here!
Sosa misses with a head shot.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Balisi is squirming around, avoiding Sosa's attempts to control the action.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sosa tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Randy Sosa dominated that second round.
That's time! Sosa's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Some wild striking there from Balisi.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch but Balisi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Ambo Balisi seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Balisi fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Sosa, pushing him back against the cage.

Sosa gets control of Balisi's arms and successfully pulls guard. Sosa will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Sosa seems keen to control Balisi's posture.
Balisi wanted to stand there but Sosa had control of the position.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

Sosa has scooted to the edge of the canvas and used the cage to get back to his feet. Balisi has stuck on his opponent and is forcing him back against the cage.
Sosa prevents Balisi from breaking the clinch.
Sosa can't get the takedown.

Sosa breaks from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Balisi.
Sosa is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Sosa forces Balisi back against the cage and clinches.
Sosa tries to pull guard but Balisi holds him up against the cage and eventually Sosa drops back down to his feet.

Balisi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sosa tries to close the distance and clinch but Balisi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sosa really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

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

Balisi pulls guard effortlessly.
Sosa slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Sosa postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sosa drops back looking for a leg! Balisi is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Balisi manages to kick Sosa off! Sosa jumps back into Balisi's guard.
Sosa has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Sosa working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Balisi's head.
Balisi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sosa is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Sosa trying to control but Balisi is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Randy Sosa just wasn't active enough.
Balisi tries a head kick but it misses.
Sosa tries to clinch but Balisi moves out of range.

Balisi throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Sosa was covering up waiting for the punch and Balisi finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Balisi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Sosa scrambles and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sosa fails with an attempt to clinch.
Balisi circles away from the clinch attempt.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Sosa manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Balisi tries to stand but Sosa is controlling from the bottom.
Balisi being controlled here momentarily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Balisi wanted to stand there but Sosa had control of the position.
Ambo Balisi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Randy Sosa is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sosa wants to stand and escape but Balisi is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Randy Sosa showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sosa, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Chris Saunders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Randy Sosa!