PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Simo Katama (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Augusto Gai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gai has chosen Hammerhead as his entrance music. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Katama
vs
Gai

195 cm
21
265 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
18
219 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Simo Katama!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Augusto Gai!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Mauricio Rocha and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice inside leg kick there by Katama. That's going to slow Gai down.
Katama shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Gai pinned against the cage. Gai gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Katama has picked Gai up - he's going for a ride! Katama dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Katama prevents Gai from improving his position.
Katama slips a nice elbow through Gai's hands, connecting with Gai's forehead.
Katama moves into side control, avoiding the strikes from Gai.
Katama is staying tight to Gai's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Gai is looking to reverse the position.

Katama decides to stand back up. Katama steps back and let's Gai get back to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Katama throws a right and a left that both miss.

Katama shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Katama was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gai is wriggling around trying to escape.
Katama landing strikes from the mount.

Katama looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Katama wants to control the pace but Gai is squirming around nicely.
Katama 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.

Katama with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Katama is breathing heavily.
Gai looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!

Katama patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gai tries to break free.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gai really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Katama. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Katama lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Katama.
Gai tries to escape the position.
Gai is trying to get back to his feet but Katama has full control of the position and if anything, Gai has just worked his way into a worse spot.

Katama looking for the choke but no joy.
Gai wants to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gai is taking damage to the body and head.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Katama's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Gai tries to break free.
Katama gets his hands free as Gai looks to control.
Gai rolls, trying to escape but Katama keeps control of the position.
Katama controls the 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.
Katama has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

Gai defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Katama's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Katama keeps control of the position as Gai tries to break free.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Katama tries to keep control of the position but Gai is staying busy.
Katama is hanging on to Gai's back as he tries to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simo Katama dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Katama shoots in but Gai avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Gai closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Katama regains half guard.
Gai lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Gai trying to mount his opponent but Katama defends it.
Ground and pound from Gai.
Katama is not content to let Gai control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Katama wants to improve his position but Gai is controlling well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Katama regains full guard. Nicely done.
Katama keeping moving, preventing Gai from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katama manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gai manages to get himself to full guard.
Katama throwing strikes but missing.
Gai wants to stand but Katama is controlling the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Katama is pushing down on Gai's leg trying to pass to half guard. Gai is fighting to maintain full guard but Katama has managed to sneak the leg through.
Katama prevents Gai from improving his position.
Katama is trying to control the action in half guard but Gai is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Gai can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Gai trying to control here.
Gai pushes Katama off looking to stand but Katama dives back in and keeps control.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Gai darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Katama keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gai is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Katama is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Gai's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Gai's back!
Katama tries to keep control of the position but Gai is staying busy.
Gai trying to control the action but Katama just sinks the hooks in.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gai can't escape the position.
Katama looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Katama tries to keep control of the position but Gai is staying busy.
Katama keeps control of the position as Gai tries to break free.
Katama has good solid back control here.
Katama is not going to allow Gai to sit and survive in this position.
Katama controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gai wants to escape the position.
Gai trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Gai tries to roll but Katama sticks to his back.
Katama lands punches and elbows.

Gai defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Will Katama go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Gai is really stuck here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Augusto Gai will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Katama shoots and misses

and Gai counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Katama!
Katama keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gai lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gai lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Katama is looking to get to half guard.
Gai with a couple of short strikes.
Gai wants to control the pace but Katama is squirming around nicely.
Gai with shots to the head and body - Katama looks very uncomfortable down there.
Katama is squirming around, avoiding Gai's attempts to control the action.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Gai scoring with strikes but Katama is staying in there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gai avoids the attempt from Katama to control.
Gai lands a nice shot to the head.
Katama is trying desperately to improve position.
Gai working the ground and pound effectively.
Gai lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Gai scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Katama is bucking up trying to escape but Gai cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katama tries to hold on but Gai pushes him away.
Gai with a couple of short strikes.
Katama working to try and regain half guard.
Katama tries to lock up and control but Gai gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Gai looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Gai fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gai cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Gai looking to finish Katama with some ground and pound. This is bad for Katama!
Gai putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Gai has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Katama's face.
Gai landing punches.
Gai working the ground and pound effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gai with good strikes from the mount here!
Katama tries to hold on but Gai pushes him away.
Katama is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Gai working the ground and pound effectively.
Katama really wants to buck Gai off and get back to his feet.
Gai postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Katama looks a forlorn figure.
Gai lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Gai cracks Katama with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gai cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Gai looking to finish Katama with some ground and pound. This is bad for Katama!
Katama wants to hold on but Gai pushes him away.
Gai scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Katama?
Katama is squirming around, avoiding Gai's attempts to control the action.
Gai looking to finish Katama with some ground and pound. This is bad for Katama!
Katama is squirming around, avoiding Gai's attempts to control the action.
Gai with good strikes from the mount here!
Katama manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Gai sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Katama defending well though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Augusto Gai comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Gai has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 29:28
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:27
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Simo Katama!