PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tristan Barolo (ranked 23037 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bobby Burner (ranked 6231 p4p, 0 weight class). Barolo comes to the cage accompanied by Waltz. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Barolo
vs
Burner

185 cm
21
220 lbs
4 - 7 - 0

180 cm
21
210 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Experienced

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Solid chin

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 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Tristan Barolo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Bobby Burner!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Gregory Folan and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barolo dives in and grabs Burner's left leg, looking for a takedown. Burner pushes down on Barolo's head and hops out.
A jab from Burner misses.
Burner misses with a left hand
and Barolo counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Barolo shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Burner misses with a hook
and Barolo counters with a nice uppercut.
Barolo darts in looking for a takedown but Burner gets double underhooks and turns Barolo into the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tristan Barolo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Burner scores with a nice body kick.
Barolo closes the distance and clinches up with Burner, looking for a takedown. Barolo pushes Burner against the cage but Burner circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Burner looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Barolo has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Burner is on him like a limpet, forcing Barolo back against the cage.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Burner tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Barolo blocks a body shot from Burner.
Barolo changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Burner fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Burner decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burner frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Burner with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Burner trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Burner is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Barolo can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

Burner swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Barolo is now in Burner's guard. A big mistake from Burner there, giving up the dominant position!
Burner is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barolo tries to free his leg and advance position but Burner is retaining full guard.
Barolo trying to control the position from guard on top but Burner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barolo postures up and lands a big shot to Burner's brow.
Barolo wants to control from the top but Burner keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Burner tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Burner looks winded!
Barolo postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barolo postures up in Burner's guard and throws a big left but Burner blocks it.
Burner is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Burner keeping moving, preventing Barolo from controlling successfully.
Barolo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Burner works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Barolo has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Barolo trying to control the position from guard on top but Burner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Burner looking for a guillotine here but Barolo defends easily.

Barolo drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Barolo jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Burner trying to control the position.
Barolo showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Barolo throws a series of strikes that have Burner backpedaling.
Burner should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Burner takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Barolo slips a straight right by Burner.
Barolo doesn't manage to clinch there - Burner circles away.
Barolo throws a leg kick but Burner moved away.
Barolo rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Burner moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Barolo tries to clinch up.
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 Tristan Barolo will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Burner defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Barolo.
A big right from Burner misses.
Barolo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Burner tries to avoid it but Barolo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Burner to the ground. Burner escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Barolo scores with a jab to the jaw.
Burner tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Barolo was well out of range. Poor timing from Burner.
Burner throws a body kick that misses.

Burner shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Burner got a little sloppy there for a moment and Barolo has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Burner has managed to get both his arms back between Barolo's legs - danger averted.
Burner is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burner is continuing to stall.
Burner trying to control but Barolo is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barolo keeping full guard, as Burner tries to pass.
Burner keeps trying to improve his position.
Barolo wants to get back to his feet but Burner is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Burner looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Nice sprawl there from Barolo as Burner shoots in.
Burner is breathing heavily.
Burner throws a sloppy head kick and Barolo moves out of range easily.

Burner manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Barolo on his heels. He'll look to pass Barolo's guard now, I'm sure.
Barolo looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Barolo knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Burner on the ground.

Barolo is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Burner is aware though and is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burner wants to pass the guard but Barolo is keeping the position.
Burner preventing the sweep.
Burner stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Barolo swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Barolo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Barolo is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Burner is aware though and is defending well.
Burner trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Burner forces his way into half guard.
Burner is stalling here. Barolo is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Burner seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Barolo has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burner struggling a bit here.
Burner is looking for a sweep.
Barolo grinds an elbow into Burner's temple.

Barolo thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Barolo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Barolo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Burner looks to move to half guard but instead Barolo has passed into mount! Damn!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burner is looking to get to half guard.
Burner is bucking up trying to escape but Barolo cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Burner tries to hold on but Barolo pushes him away.
Barolo lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Burner taking shots to the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barolo looking to control but Burner is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Barolo is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Burner can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

Barolo wants to finish this one by submission but Burner is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Barolo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tristan Barolo dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Barolo avoids the body shot from Burner.
Barolo fails to land the takedown.
Tristan Barolo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Barolo displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Burner.
Burner will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Barolo is looking for a counter combo.
Barolo's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Barolo duly obliges.
A slow jab from Burner misses its intended target.

Barolo looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Burner!
Tristan Barolo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Both fighters take a look at the clock.
Burner sneaks back into half guard.
Burner takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Barolo looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Barolo is working for a kimura but Burner is defending it quite comfortably.
Burner is controlling Barolo's position as best he can from this difficult position.

Barolo is trying to work for a kimura but Burner is defending well.
Burner wants to control but Barolo is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Barolo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Burner can do to turn this around?
Barolo looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Burner with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Barolo wants to work for an arm triangle but Burner is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Burner is trying to get back to full guard.
Barolo is thwarting Burner's attempts to control the position.
Burner wants to improve his position but Barolo is controlling well.
Burner trying to control here.
Barolo looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Burner with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Barolo looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barolo prevents Burner from improving his position.
It looks like Barolo is going to stand back up.
Burner wants to get back to full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Burner dodges the punch combination from Barolo.
No luck for Barolo with that takedown attempt.
Barolo misses with a head kick.
Tristan Barolo is winning the standup battle so far.
Burner throws a body punch but Barolo moves out of range.
Barolo tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Burner defends well and Barolo ends up having to push Burner into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Burner is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Barolo with a body shot.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tristan Barolo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barolo pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Burner back to the cage. Barolo follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burner throws a hook to the side of Barolo's head but Barolo sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Barolo fails with a takedown attempt.

Burner shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Barolo manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Barolo is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Burner presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Tristan Barolo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Barolo tries to score a body lock takedown but Burner shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Barolo breaks the clinch.
Barolo tries to clinch up.
Bobby Burner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Barolo misses with a head kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tristan Barolo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Barolo, 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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tristan Barolo!
Tristan Barolo was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.