PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Carlos Ruas (ranked 1921 p4p, 235 weight class) and Anthony Griffith (ranked 1939 p4p, 238 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Ruas
vs
Griffith

200 cm
24
280 lbs
10 - 6 - 0

225 cm
25
265 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Decent elbows
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 10 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Carlos Ruas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Anthony Griffith!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, David Schapiro and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Griffith tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ruas was well out of range. Poor timing from Griffith.

Ruas scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Griffith is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Griffith won't allow Ruas to pass to mount.
Griffith felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Griffith controlling the position well.
Griffith slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ruas pushing down on Griffith's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Griffith is staying active underneath Ruas, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Griffith makes his way to full guard, as Ruas worked for a kimura.
Ruas wants to control from the top but Griffith keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruas wants to pass the guard but Griffith is keeping the position.
Griffith keeping moving, preventing Ruas from controlling successfully.
Ruas has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Ruas looking to pass the guard.
Ruas forces his way into half guard.
Ruas not doing much here.
Ruas looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's two 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.
Ruas trying to control from half guard but Griffith is working away.

Ruas is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Griffith sees it coming and defends easily.
Griffith tries to get to full guard but Ruas has control of the leg.
Griffith is not content to let Ruas control the position.
Ruas keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Ruas passes to side control.

Ruas wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Griffith, who protects the arm well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffith can't do much from the bottom here.
Ruas works to advance to full mount. Griffith defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Ruas avoids the attempt from Griffith to control.
Ruas trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Griffith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ruas. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Griffith is wriggling around here but as he tries to escape, Ruas has taken his back.
Griffith wants to escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Griffith defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Griffith is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Ruas.
Griffith staying busy and making it hard for Ruas to control.
Griffith is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Ruas off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.

Ruas is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Griffith has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.

Ruas has got his arm under Griffith's chin working for the choke… has he got it? It looks pretty tight! Oh! Griffith has spun round into Ruas's guard beautifully! Well done that man!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ruas bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Griffith's guard.

And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlos Ruas dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Griffith enables Ruas to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Griffith manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Ruas pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Griffith is keeping the position for now.
Griffith manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Ruas manages to get himself to full guard.

Ruas lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Ruas drops back, looking for a kneebar! Griffith looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Griffith looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Griffith!

Griffith stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Ruas fails to land the takedown.
Ruas jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffith clobbers Ruas with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

It looks like Carlos Ruas has been cut.
Ruas shoots in for a double leg but Griffith sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Anthony Griffith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Griffith fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Ruas looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.

Ruas feints and as Griffith raises his hands in defense, Ruas changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Griffith is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Ruas dives into side control.

Ruas passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Griffith!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Griffith is wriggling around trying to escape.
Ruas tries to take Griffith's back but instead Griffith uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Ruas is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Ruas looking for a guillotine from mount but Griffith is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffith has given up his back.

Ruas is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Griffith defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Griffith is defending well here and trying to improve his position.

Ruas is looking for the choke from the back position but Griffith is controlling his hands well.

Ruas looking for the choke from the back.

Ruas looking for the RNC.

Ruas is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Griffith tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruas tries to take his opponent's back but Griffith turns with him and manages to move into guard on the top. Nice work.
Ruas might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Griffith trying to control but Ruas is working from the bottom.
Griffith looking to pass the guard.
Griffith trying to control the position from guard on top but Ruas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ruas is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Griffith can do to turn this around?
Griffith wants to stand but Ruas is controlling his posture from full guard.

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.
Ruas wants to sweep but no luck.
Ruas is working hard here to advance position.
Ruas manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Griffith manages to get himself to full guard.

Ruas advances position into side control!
Ruas trying to control the position but Griffith is working away.

Ruas is trying to get an arm triangle but Griffith is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlos Ruas dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Carlos Ruas's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Griffith slaps away a takedown attempt from Ruas, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Griffith is looking for the big counter here.
Ruas fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Griffith tries to sprawl but Ruas drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Griffith is looking to get back to is feet but Ruas passes into side control.
Ruas is looking to take a break and control but Griffith is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Griffith keeping his opponent close.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffith tries to bench press Ruas off him but Ruas keeps the position.
Griffith is trying to control Ruas's posture but Ruas avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffith stops Ruas from passing to mount.
Griffith can't do much from the bottom here.

Ruas is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Griffith knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Ruas is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Griffith is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Griffith prevents Ruas from improving position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
You can see the frustration on Griffith's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Ruas is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Griffith has escaped the position, nice work there.
Ruas tries to move into full mount but can't pass Griffith's legs.
You can see the frustration on Griffith's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Ruas wants to control for a moment but Griffith uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruas looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Griffith trying to hold on to Ruas's head to control him but Ruas postures up.
Carlos Ruas overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ruas trying to pass the guard but Griffith defending well.
Griffith is refusing to be controlled, as Ruas sits in half guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Anthony Griffith has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Griffith scores with a shot to the body.
Ruas misses with a takedown attempt - Griffith sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Carlos Ruas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Griffith misses with a wild combination.
Ruas is trying hard to land a takedown here. Griffith sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Griffith now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

Ruas looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Griffith not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Ruas got a little sloppy there for a moment and Griffith has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Ruas has managed to get both his arms back between Griffith's legs - danger averted.
Ruas wants to pass the guard but Griffith is keeping the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Carlos Ruas.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ruas, 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Carlos Ruas!