PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wilmer Rivers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Atanasio Girardot (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Girardot has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Atanasio Girardot looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Rivers
vs
Girardot

185 cm
18
214 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

188 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Wilmer Rivers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Atanasio Girardot!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Matheus Silva and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rivers fails to land the takedown.
Girardot leaves Rivers with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Rivers moves into the clinch.
Rivers wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Girardot has him pressed against the cage.
Rivers wants to break free but Girardot has control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rivers jumps guard.
Girardot wants to stand but Rivers has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Girardot looks winded!
Rivers pulls Girardot in close to his closed guard and prevents Girardot from doing any damage or advancing position.
Rivers has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Girardot must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Rivers.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Rivers gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Rivers wants to take the fight to the mat but Girardot manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wilmer Rivers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Girardot tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Girardot tries to stall but Rivers uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Girardot tries to circle away but Rivers has him pinned against the cage.
Girardot has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Rivers is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Rivers has Girardot pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Girardot manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Rivers wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivers throws a punch but it's blocked by Girardot.

Rivers breaks the clinch.

Rivers pushes Girardot up against the cage in a clinch.

Rivers breaks from the clinch.
Nice sprawl there from Girardot as Rivers shoots in.
Rivers shoots in looking for a takedown but Girardot manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Rivers's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Girardot swats away the attempt to clinch by Rivers.
Rivers is trying hard to land a takedown here. Girardot sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Rivers bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rivers is trying to get an arm triangle but Girardot is defending well.

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

Rivers gets a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Girardot wants a takedown but no success here.
Rivers tries to break free but Girardot pushes him back against the cage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rivers is trying to break free.
Girardot is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Rivers is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wilmer Rivers 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.

Rivers throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Girardot was covering up waiting for the punch and Rivers finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Girardot really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rivers. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rivers postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Rivers postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Girardot is working an open guard so Rivers takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Rivers is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Girardot can do to turn this around?

Rivers drives through and clinches with Girardot against the cage.
Girardot is trying to force a seperation but Rivers has the dominant position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rivers has had enough of the clinch but Girardot keeps him there for the moment.

Rivers escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rivers will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rivers shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Girardot is breathing heavily.
Rivers landing some decent shots from guard.

Rivers stands and steps away. Girardot gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Rivers shoots in for a takedown but Girardot shows good takedown defense.
Rivers is looking to clinch but Girardot is avoiding it.
Girardot stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wilmer Rivers. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Rivers moves into the clinch.
Girardot tries to pull guard but Rivers forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Rivers.

Rivers manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by Rivers or perhaps it was just good defense by Girardot, which made it look bad.

Rivers clinches with his opponent.
Rivers controlling the action here for a moment.
Girardot is looking to control Rivers's arms but Rivers gets an underhook and turns him. Now Girardot has his back to the cage.
Rivers is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Girardot is defending well for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Rivers shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Rivers decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Rivers clinches with his opponent.

Rivers breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rivers moves in looking to clinch but Girardot pushes him off.

Rivers looking to score a takedown here. Girardot is defending well but Rivers drives through and ends up in Girardot's guard.
Rivers chips away with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivers working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Rivers loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Rivers chips away with some ground and pound.

Rivers gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Girardot throws a leg kick that is checked

and Rivers counters by clinching up.
Girardot tries to land a knee to the head but Rivers blocks with his arms.
Rivers looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Girardot is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Rivers is keeping busy.
A frustrated look appears on Rivers's face as he tries to break the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wilmer Rivers 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Rivers tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Girardot paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Girardot fails with a takedown attempt.
Rivers seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

Rivers clinches up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rivers breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Rivers moves in looking to clinch but Girardot pushes him off.
Wilmer Rivers is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rivers misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Girardot unleashes a big counter combination but Rivers bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Girardot stuffs the takedown attempt from Rivers. Rivers gets slowly back to his feet.
Girardot takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Girardot circles away from the clinch attempt.

Girardot closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Rivers can't break the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Rivers - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Rivers tries to work over Girardot's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rivers tries to break the clinch but Girardot is controlling the position.
Girardot has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Rivers is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Rivers breaks from the clinch.
Rivers tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Girardot defends well and Rivers ends up having to push Girardot into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wilmer Rivers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Rivers is defended easily by Girardot.
Girardot lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

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

Rivers pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rivers gets a takedown into half guard.
Rivers throwing shots but Girardot is blocking nicely.
Rivers 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.

Rivers decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Rivers clinches up with Girardot and pushes him back against the cage.
Rivers working aggressively here.
Rivers with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rivers managing to block the knees to the body from Girardot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rivers working hard to break the clinch.
Wilmer Rivers has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Girardot tries for a takedown but Rivers manages to get underhooks.

Rivers pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Rivers fails with a takedown attempt.
Good standup being displayed there by Rivers as he connects with a hook.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Rivers shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Girardot is trying to defend but Rivers finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Atanasio Girardot has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rivers thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wilmer Rivers showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rivers, 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wilmer Rivers!