PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Seve Ballesteros (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lu Hao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lu Hao has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ballesteros
vs
Hao

175 cm
31
154 lbs
15 - 1 - 1

172 cm
30
148 lbs
14 - 12 - 2

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Seve Ballesteros!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 12 - 2, fighting out of Las Vegas, Lu Hao!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, James Atkins and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hao works Ballesteros's body with a nice hook.
Nice jab there from Hao.
Hao ducks right into an uppercut from Ballesteros.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hao. Ballesteros does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hao just misses with a punch to the body.
Hao throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Ballesteros gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Ballesteros uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Hao.
Ballesteros throwing a counter right hand but Hao manages to avoid it.
Ballesteros scoring well with a low kick there.
Ballesteros misses with a lunging right hand
and Hao counters with an outside leg kick.

Ballesteros looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Hao!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ballesteros is looking to take a break and control but Hao is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ballesteros working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Ballesteros misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hao wants to control but Ballesteros postures up.
Hao tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Ballesteros tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Ballesteros cracks Hao with a big elbow.
Ballesteros connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Hao some visible discomfort.
Hao tries to improve position but can't.
Ballesteros throws a strike aimed at the side of Hao's head but Hao avoids it well.
Hao manages to work his way to half guard, despite Ballesteros's best efforts.
Hao trying to control here.
Hao avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Ballesteros.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballesteros working Hao over with strikes.
Hao is trying to maintain the position but Ballesteros is very close to passing his half guard.
Ballesteros thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Hao's head.
Ballesteros throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Ballesteros is nestled in close to Hao, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Ballesteros trying to control the action but Hao is working from the bottom.

Ballesteros is trying to work for a kimura but Hao is defending well.
Hao is controlling Ballesteros's trapped leg to prevent Ballesteros from advancing to side control.
Hao is staying active underneath Ballesteros, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hao actively working from the bottom here.
Ground and pound from Ballesteros.
Hao blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ballesteros.
Hao trying to control from the bottom.
Ballesteros 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.
Hao trying to control but Ballesteros postures up.
Ballesteros stalling away here and it's allowed Hao to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Hao utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballesteros with a nice head shot there.
Ballesteros preventing the sweep.
Ballesteros lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ballesteros postures up and lands a big shot to Hao's brow.
Ballesteros preventing the sweep.
Ballesteros postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Hao has control of Ballesteros's left arm, preventing Ballesteros from doing any damage.
Hao lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Ballesteros is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Hao is controlling him.
Ballesteros keeping moving, preventing Hao from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Seve Ballesteros 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.

Hao takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
A head kick misses from Ballesteros.
Jab by Hao.
Ballesteros blocks a leg kick.
Hao checks a low kick from Ballesteros.
Hao misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Hao avoids the body shot from Ballesteros.
Seve Ballesteros seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ballesteros tries to bum rush Hao with a series of wild strikes but Hao uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Hao, right into the meat.
Ballesteros shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hao defends it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice body punch from Ballesteros.
Hao tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Ballesteros defends well and Hao ends up having to push Ballesteros into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hao closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ballesteros circles away.
Ballesteros is looking for a counter combo.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Ballesteros.

Ballesteros manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Hao on his heels. He'll look to pass Hao's guard now, I'm sure.

Hao is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Hao is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Ballesteros trying to control the position from guard on top but Hao is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hao is controlling Ballesteros's posture.
Ballesteros postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hao not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Ballesteros trying to control but Hao is working from the bottom.
Ballesteros is looking to advance position but Hao has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Seve Ballesteros overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ballesteros in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Hao putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Hao trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Hao lands with some strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ballesteros trying desperately to get to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hao looking to control and managing it successfully.
Ballesteros trying desperately to get to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hao lands a big elbow.
Hao landing punches.
Hao punching from mount but Ballesteros doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Hao tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Ballesteros is trying to stand up.

Hao is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Ballesteros can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Hao looking to control but Ballesteros is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballesteros is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Hao controlling the pace for now.
Let's hope that Hao 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.
Ballesteros is trying to stand.
Hao content just to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lu Hao showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Hao throws a good cross that connects.
Hao throws a shot from downtown. Ballesteros moves away and avoids it.
Ballesteros shoots in but Hao avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Hao with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Hao blocks a head kick by Ballesteros.
Hao thumps Ballesteros with a low kick.

Ballesteros looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Hao working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Ballesteros doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Ballesteros manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Our spies down at at Touch-butt with that dork in the park inform us that Hao has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hao has an active guard here but Ballesteros has managed to pass into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hao is looking to improve his position.
Ballesteros not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Ballesteros tries to pass the half guard into mount. Hao knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Hao has hold of Ballesteros's hands but Ballesteros slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ballesteros drops an elbow to the side of Hao's head.
Ballesteros sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Hao defending well though.
Hao is trying to get back to full guard.

Ballesteros is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballesteros is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hao blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ballesteros.
Ballesteros is thwarting Hao's attempts to control the position.
Hao is staying active underneath Ballesteros, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Hao is trying to get back to full guard.
Ballesteros throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hao is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Ballesteros's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Ballesteros's back!
Ballesteros is trying to get back to his feet but Hao has full control of the position and if anything, Ballesteros has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Ballesteros takes a big shot to the side of the head.

Ballesteros is trying to shake Hao off. He's managed it and has hopped back to his feet! Hao won't be happy about giving up the dominant position.
Hao looks to land a combination but Ballesteros avoids it well.
Ballesteros throws a leg kick which misses Hao's front leg but catches the back leg as Hao tries to avoid it.
Hao walks into a jab.
Hao throws a predictable looking body shot
and Ballesteros counters with a stiff right hand.
A lazy body kick from Hao
and Ballesteros counters with a straight right hand.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ballesteros shoots for a double leg takedown but Hao sprawls well. He's pushed Ballesteros's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Hao misses with an uppercut.
Hao dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hao avoids the head kick by Ballesteros.
A thudding body kick lands there by Hao!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballesteros dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hao. That did some damage!
Hao throws a shot from downtown. Ballesteros moves away and avoids it.
Hao throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A head kick from Ballesteros lands but Hao takes it in his stride.
Hao tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Ballesteros defends well and Hao ends up having to push Ballesteros into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Ballesteros shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Hao wants to improve his position but Ballesteros is controlling well.
Ballesteros perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Ballesteros is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Hao still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Hao has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Ballesteros wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

And that's the end of the fight!
Seve Ballesteros showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Ballesteros 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 29:28
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 29:28
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Seve Ballesteros!
Our winner, Seve Ballesteros, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.