PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Van Damn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ember Spirit (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ember Spirit acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Damn
vs
Spirit

177 cm
24
135 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

176 cm
24
145 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

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, Van Damn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ember Spirit!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Leandro Rodrigues and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Spirit throws a quick inside leg kick.

Spirit gets a clinch.
Damn throws an elbow but it misses.
Damn dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Damn misses with a body punch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Damn blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Damn lands a nice shot to the body.

Damn breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Damn throws a front kick aimed at Spirit's knee but Spirit avoids it well.

Spirit has taken the fight to the clinch.
Damn throws an elbow but it's blocked.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Spirit effectively controlling the action here.
Damn scores with a nice hook to the head.
Damn scores with a shot to the side of Spirit's head.
Good body shot from Spirit.
Damn is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Spirit misses with an elbow over the top.
Spirit lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Damn or not.

Damn breaks from the clinch.
Damn ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Damn connects with a nice looking jab.
Damn dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Spirit wants to land a leg kick but Damn is out of range.

Damn has closed the distance and engaged Spirit in a clinch.
Spirit stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Damn is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

Spirit breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Damn looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Damn lands a nice elbow.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Spirit takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Spirit being controlled against the cage.
Spirit being controlled against the cage.
The crowd are getting pretty annoyed with Damn for his constant stalling in the clinch and are voicing their displeasure.
Spirit avoiding damage.
Spirit lands a body punch in the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Spirit takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spirit stalling the fight.
Damn has Spirit pushed against the cage.
Damn lands a right hand.
Spirit presses Damn against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Spirit pushes off an throws an elbow but Damn leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Damn goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
The referee calls for Spirit to work.
Spirit doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Spirit blocks an elbow strike from Damn.
Damn taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Spirit utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Damn pushes off an throws an elbow but Spirit leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damn tries to work over Spirit's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Spirit tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Damn's elbow.
Spirit tries a body shot but Damn blocks it.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Spirit lands a nice elbow.
Damn's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Spirit dodges an elbow strike from Damn.
Spirit throws an elbow that misses.
Spirit scores with a hook to the body.
Spirit's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Damn lands an elbow inside.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Spirit lands a nice elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Van Damn will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Damn wants to clinch but Spirit slips to the side
and Spirit counters with a stiff right hand.

Spirit takes the fight into the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Damn.
Damn throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Damn scores with a shoulder strike.
Damn avoids a wild elbow strike from Spirit.
Spirit effectively controlling the action here.

Spirit's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Spirit cracks the inside of Damn's front leg.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Damn clinches up against the cage.
Damn leaning his opponent against the cage.
Spirit prevents Damn from breaking the clinch.

Damn breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Damn really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damn throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Damn takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Spirit tries to clinch up.
Damn swats away the attempt to clinch by Spirit.

Damn darts in and clinches Spirit up against the cage.
Damn lands a shoulder strike.
Damn stalling against the cage.
Damn wants to stall.
Damn throws a punch but it's blocked by Spirit.
A shot in the inside from Damn.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Damn takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damn scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

Spirit clinches up with Damn and pushes him back against the cage.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Damn avoiding damage as Spirit throws knees to the body.
Spirit lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Damn is trying to force a seperation but Spirit has the dominant position.
Spirit looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Spirit as Damn tries to tie him up.
Spirit looking to slow down the pace here.
Come on Spirit - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Damn creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Spirit's defenses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damn is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Damn stalling in the clinch but Spirit improves position.
Damn can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Damn is struggling to control the position.
Damn manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Van Damn.
Spirit avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Spirit pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Damn instigates a clinch.
Damn misses with an elbow strike.
Damn trying to stall but Spirit improves his position.
Damn throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Damn takes an elbow to the temple.
Damn misses with an elbow strike.
Damn avoiding damage.
Spirit lands with a short head shot on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Spirit displaying some good clinch control by pressing Damn up against the cage.
Spirit creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Damn blocking some punches.
Damn lands an elbow inside that Spirit shrugs off.
Spirit has Damn pushed against the cage.
Damn slowing the pace effectively.
Damn is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Spirit has Damn pushed against the cage.
Spirit has Damn pressed against the cage.
Spirit has Damn pushed against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Van Damn will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Spirit tries to keep at a distance but Damn has taken the fight into the clinch.
Spirit stalls.
Spirit lands a nice elbow.
Damn stalling in the clinch.
Damn pressing his opponent against the cage.
Spirit pushes Damn back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Damn takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Damn trying to control the position but instead, Spirit has worked for underhooks and has pushed Damn into the cage.
Damn lands a hook to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Spirit.
Damn trying to stall but Spirit improves his position.
Damn manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Van Damn.

Spirit has closed the distance and engaged Damn in a clinch.
Damn struggles to land a body shot inside as Spirit controls his hands.
Spirit stalling the fight.
Spirit creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Spirit just leaning against Damn, taking a breather.
Spirit blocks an uppercut.
Spirit tries to throw a body punch but Damn avoids it by throwing Spirit back against the cage.
Spirit's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Spirit lands an elbow inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damn tries to stall but Spirit uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Damn dodges an elbow strike from Spirit.
Spirit lands a left hand.
Spirit wants to get back to striking at distance but Damn won't allow it.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Damn just misses with a elbow thrown towards Spirit's brow.
Spirit pushes off an throws an elbow but Damn leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
A bit of stalling here from Damn.
Damn looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
With the fighters up against the cage, Damn throws an elbow but misses.

Damn manages to break the clinch.
Damn checks a leg kick.

Spirit has closed the distance and engaged Damn in a clinch.
Spirit lands an elbow that stopped Damn in his tracks for a moment.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

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

Spirit moves into range and clinches up with Damn.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spirit creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Damn's defenses.
Damn lands a damaging elbow.
Damn prevents Spirit from breaking the clinch.
Damn is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Damn tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Spirit's elbow.
Damn lands with a short shot to the head.
Damn tries to break the clinch but Spirit is controlling the position.
Spirit blocks a body shot from Damn.
Spirit misses with a hook to the ribs.
Spirit looks to throw an elbow but misses.
A bit of stalling here from Spirit.
Spirit's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Damn comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damn prevents a body shot from Spirit.
Damn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Damn takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Damn missing with knees to the body.
Damn avoids the elbow strike from Spirit, against the cage.
Damn is looking to control Spirit's arms but Spirit gets an underhook and turns him. Now Damn has his back to the cage.
Spirit throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Spirit will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Damn up against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Damn.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Damn comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Spirit scores with a shoulder strike.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ember Spirit comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Damn has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Daniel Cesar scores the fight for Van Damn!
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight for Van Damn!
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight for Van Damn!

Van Damn wins by unanimous decision!