PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between George Baba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raul Rodriguez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rodriguez has chosen Spanish guitar as his entrance music. Both these fighters are unbeaten, so somebody's 0 has got to go!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.

Baba
vs
Rodriguez

182 cm
21
200 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

187 cm
25
190 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Walhalla Clothing (25 $ / piece)

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 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, George Baba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Raul Rodriguez!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Frank Dennis and Stewart Dunkirk.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No joy there for Rodriguez, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Baba uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Rodriguez.
Baba looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Rodriguez jabs Baba right on the nose. Baba blinks but takes it well.

It looks like George Baba has been cut.
A combination from Rodriguez does no damage.
Rodriguez falls off balance throwing a combination

so Baba counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Baba wants to pass the guard but Rodriguez is keeping the position.
Baba slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Rodriguez on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Rodriguez prevents Baba from moving into mount.
Baba 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.
Baba remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Baba has knee on belly and moves into mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez tries to hold on but Baba pushes him away.
Rodriguez is trying to escape the mount.
Baba sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Baba takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Baba lands a heavy elbow.
Baba has his opponent pinned against the ropes, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Rodriguez's face.
Rodriguez blocking the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baba throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Baba landing strikes from the mount and Rodriguez is in trouble!
Baba tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Baba breaks from Rodriguez's wrist control and lands an elbow.
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.
Baba throwing strikes here but Rodriguez is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Baba lands with some strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rodriguez is working to get back to half guard.
Baba controlling his opponent.
Rodriguez blocking the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baba trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Rodriguez can't escape the position.
Baba controlling the position easily from mount.

Baba is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Rodriguez has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Rodriguez!

Baba isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Rodriguez stacks Baba on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Rodriguez!
Rodriguez has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Nonprofit Vegas Elite $50 ($1000 value). Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Baba's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Baba is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Rodriguez off and has taken his back!
Baba just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Rodriguez covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
Rodriguez tries to roll but Baba sticks to his back.
Baba lands strikes to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Baba dominated that round.
The cut man is working on George Baba's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Baba pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Baba throws a head kick that misses.
Rodriguez throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Rodriguez throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Baba counters with a shoot takedown. Rodriguez fights it but they end up in guard.
Baba controlling from the top position.
Baba passes into half guard.
Baba seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Rodriguez does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Baba throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Baba is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rodriguez can do to turn this around?
Baba sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Baba is looking to advance position but Rodriguez won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baba not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Baba uses his free foot to push down on Rodriguez's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Rodriguez.
Baba lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Rodriguez hang on?
Rodriguez wants to control but Baba is having none of it.
Baba prevents Rodriguez from getting the reversal.
Baba scoring with strikes but Rodriguez is staying in there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Nice strikes from Baba there.
Rodriguez has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Baba is working away from the top position though.
Baba slows the pace down in half guard.
Baba has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Baba is landing with some decent strikes but Rodriguez is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baba misses with a head shot.
Baba is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Rodriguez can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Baba controlling his opponent.
Baba has his opponent pinned against the ropes, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Rodriguez's face.
Baba with good strikes from the mount here!
Baba trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Baba prevents Rodriguez from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez is still trying to improve position.
Baba sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Baba working Rodriguez over with strikes here.
Baba controlling the pace for now.

Baba working for a submission but Rodriguez is keeping him at bay.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Baba is in the full mount, landing strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George Baba dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on George Baba's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Baba moves out of range as Rodriguez strikes.

Baba drives through with a takedown into guard.
Baba preventing the sweep.
Baba slips nicely into half guard.
Baba passes to full mount!
Baba raining down hammerfists from mount.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A nice elbow there by Baba.
Baba controlling his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baba working the ground and pound effectively.
Rodriguez wants to use the ropes to get back to his feet here.
Baba connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Rodriguez working to try and regain half guard.
Baba in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Baba scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Rodriguez?
Baba lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Rodriguez is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baba postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Rodriguez in real trouble here! The ref calls for Rodriguez to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:22 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). George Baba!
After winning the bout, George Baba thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.