PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Massimo Paterno (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rodrigo Rojas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rojas has chosen Apaga Mas Não Bate as his entrance music. 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.

Paterno
vs
Rojas

185 cm
26
185 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

195 cm
25
200 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Vikai Gear

Alcatraz Apparel

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 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Massimo Paterno!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Rodrigo Rojas!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Bart Greer and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rojas stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Rojas wants it to stay on the feet.
Rojas stuffs the takedown.
Paterno backing away here, and Rojas unleashes a leg kick that just misses.

Paterno feints and as Rojas raises his hands in defense, Paterno changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Rojas looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Paterno looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Rojas throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rojas throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Paterno escapes and throws Rojas's legs to the side, diving into side control!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Paterno tries to move to mount but Rojas blocks the move with his legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Rojas's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Paterno working the ground and pound but Rojas is defending the strikes.
Paterno is looking to take a break and control but Rojas is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Paterno is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Rojas is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Rojas is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Paterno working away.
Rojas tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Paterno wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rojas keeps working.
Rojas avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Paterno.
Rojas tries to improve position but can't.
Rojas is being controlled here.
Paterno is looking to take a break and control but Rojas is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Paterno slows the pace down.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Paterno shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Rojas is refusing to be controlled, as Paterno sits in half guard.

Paterno is working for a kimura but Rojas is defending it quite comfortably.

Rojas is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Paterno pulls his head out easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Paterno trying to control the action but Rojas is working from the bottom.
Rojas trying to control from the bottom.

Rojas actively working from the bottom here.
Paterno slows the pace down in half guard.

Rojas looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Paterno controlling the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Rojas dives in and grabs Paterno's left leg, looking for a takedown. Paterno pushes down on Rojas's head and hops out.

Paterno darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Rojas is refusing to be controlled, as Paterno sits in half guard.
Rojas wants to control but Paterno is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Rojas actively working from the bottom here.

Rojas looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Paterno wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rojas keeps working.
Rojas is looking for a sweep. Paterno is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Paterno definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rojas is not content to let Paterno control the position.

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

Rojas looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Paterno wants to take a breather but Rojas is having none of it.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Rojas ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Paterno moves away.
Paterno half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Paterno shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Rojas as he avoids it easily.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Rojas lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Paterno has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Paterno and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.

That's two 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.
Rojas misses with a right hand

so Paterno counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
We've been informed that Rojas has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.

Paterno drops back looking for a leg! Rojas is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Rojas manages to kick Paterno off! Paterno jumps back into Rojas's guard.

Rojas is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Paterno is aware though and is defending well.
Paterno sitting in guard here, content to control.
Rojas avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Paterno postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Rojas is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Paterno is aware though and is defending well.
Paterno has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Paterno trying to control the position from guard on top but Rojas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paterno looking to pass the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Paterno wants to control from the top but Rojas keeps moving.
Massimo Paterno overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Paterno tries to free his leg and advance position but Rojas is retaining full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Paterno fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Rojas to the ground. Paterno is now in Rojas's guard.
Paterno trying to control the position from guard on top but Rojas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Paterno lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Rojas working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Paterno doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Paterno manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Paterno thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Paterno pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rojas is keeping the position for now.
Paterno pushes down on Rojas's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Paterno is trying to control the action in half guard but Rojas is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rojas keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Paterno trying to pass the guard but Rojas defending well.
Rojas wants to control but Paterno is keeping busy and won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Massimo Paterno dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Rojas throws a right and a left that Paterno avoids nicely.

Paterno shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Rojas avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Paterno.
Paterno scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Rojas actively working from the bottom here.
Paterno is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Rojas!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Paterno jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Rojas manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Rojas is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rojas gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Paterno not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Paterno passes to side control.
Rojas parries the strikes from Paterno easily there. Paterno is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Rojas to escape.

Paterno wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Rojas, who protects the arm well.
Rojas is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Paterno 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.
Rojas is trying to control Paterno's posture but Paterno avoids it.
Rojas defending against the ground and pound.
Paterno tries to move into full mount but can't pass Rojas's legs.
Rojas tries to bench press Paterno off him but Paterno keeps the position.
Paterno lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paterno wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rojas keeps working.
You can see the frustration on Rojas's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Paterno taking a break here but Rojas is having none of it and regains half guard.

Paterno looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Paterno is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rojas can do to turn this around?

Paterno is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Rojas doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Paterno.

That's four 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.
Rojas is pressing down on Paterno's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Rojas looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Paterno is defending well. Rojas quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Paterno has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Rojas celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Rodrigo Rojas!
A relieved looking Rodrigo Rojas thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.