PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Loyoto Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jonnis Koc (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Rua
vs
Koc

185 cm
20
138 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

171 cm
23
142 lbs
2 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Loyoto Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jonnis Koc!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Felipe Paraventi and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Koc drives through and clinches with Rua against the cage.
Rua looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Rua throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Rua throws an elbow but it misses.
Nice elbow from Rua.

It looks like Jonnis Koc has been cut.

Koc is trying to trip Rua. He has hold of a leg but Rua is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Koc persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Koc controls from within his opponent's guard.

Rua escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Koc gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Koc scoring with punches to the head and body.
Koc controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Let's hope that Koc has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Koc makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Koc is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Koc is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua looking for a sweep. Not yet Rua, not yet.
Koc wants to control from the top but Rua keeps moving.
Koc content to stall in guard here.
Koc lands a couple of digs.
Koc distracts Rua with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Koc passes Rua's left leg - he's now in half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Koc passes to side control.
Koc works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Koc working the ground and pound from side control.
Koc happy to just control the position for now.
Koc connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Rua some visible discomfort.
Rua is not content to let Koc control the position.

Despite being in the dominant position, Jonnis Koc just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Rua does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Rua really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Koc changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Rua looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Koc is putting a hurting on Rua here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua is trying to get back to half guard.

Koc has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

Koc gets the takedown into side control.
Rua prevents Koc from improving position.

Koc is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Rua knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Koc tries to move into full mount but can't pass Rua's legs.
Koc is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Rua's shoulder. That is not cool.
Rua is looking for a sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Koc scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Rua to see if he's OK.
Rua regains half guard.
Koc works his way into side control.
Rua gets back to half guard.
Rua wants to get back to full guard.
Koc wants to pass to mount but Rua is defending the position.
Rua is looking to improve his position.
Rua is refusing to be controlled, as Koc sits in half guard.
Koc has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Rua wants to improve his position but Koc is controlling well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jonnis Koc dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jonnis Koc'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.

Koc tries to clinch up but Rua circles away and keeps his distance.
Rua will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Koc is looking to clinch.

Koc drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Koc looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Rua tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Koc sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Rua's guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Koc working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Rua wants to get back to full guard.
Koc has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Rua in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua is desperately trying to improve his position but Koc has a good base and remains in mount.
Koc lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Koc controlling the pace for now.

Koc with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Rua regains half guard.
Rua wants to get back to full guard but Koc has mounted him!
Rua is squirming around, avoiding Koc's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Koc is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Rua has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Rua tries to improve his position but instead Koc has taken his back!
Koc is trying to stick to Rua's back but Rua is turning into Koc. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Koc's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Rua.
Rua stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Koc swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Rua drops back looking for a leg! Koc is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Koc manages to kick Rua off! Rua jumps back into Koc's guard.
Koc is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Koc has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Rua can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rua avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Koc can't keep his opponent in guard - Rua advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

Rua seems to be working for a kimura but Koc defends the submission attempt.
Koc is controlling Rua's trapped leg to prevent Rua from advancing to side control.
Koc trying to control but Rua postures up.
Koc preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Rua is trying to work for a kimura but Koc is defending well.
Koc misses with some strikes from the bottom.

Rua seems to be looking for submissions.

Rua wants to work for an arm triangle but Koc is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Rua circles away from the clinch attempt.
Koc moves in looking to clinch but Rua pushes him off.

Koc moves into the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jonnis Koc showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Jonnis Koc's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Koc shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Koc was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Koc looking to finish Rua with some ground and pound. This is bad for Rua!

Koc with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Koc takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Rua working to try and regain half guard.
Koc lands a big shot there that rocks Rua but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Koc punishing his opponent with strikes.

Koc looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Rua is wriggling around here but as he tries to escape, Koc has taken his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Rua breaks Koc's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Rua stands and throws Koc's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Koc stops Rua from passing to mount.
Koc can't do much from the bottom here.
Koc tries to improve position but can't.
Koc regains half guard.

Rua seems to be looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Rua is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Koc defends it well.
Koc moves into full guard.

Rua is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Rua trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Koc scores with a short punch from the bottom.

Koc escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Rua gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Koc has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Rua can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua passes into half guard.

Rua is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Koc defends it well.
Koc slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Rua drops back looking for a leg! Koc is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Koc manages to kick Rua off! Rua jumps back into Koc's guard.
Rua pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Koc is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Jonnis Koc has got the better of the ground game so far.
Koc is controlling Rua's posture.

Koc is looking for a triangle but Rua pushes his legs off easily.

Rua thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Koc working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Rua doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Rua manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Koc pulls Rua in close to his closed guard and prevents Rua from doing any damage or advancing position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rua works a leg free and moves into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jonnis Koc comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Koc 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 27:30
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jonnis Koc!