PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mike Richards (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yair Lopez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Richards
vs
Lopez

175 cm
23
184 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

175 cm
22
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mike Richards!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Yair Lopez!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lopez tries to clinch there but Richards circles away.

Richards forces Lopez back against the cage and clinches.
Richards can't break the clinch.

Richards manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Richards trying to control the position.
Lopez won't allow Richards to get back to his feet.
Richards manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Richards lands a nice shot to the head.

Richards looking to secure an arm triangle but Lopez defends it well.
Richards with a couple of short strikes.
Richards scoring with strikes but Lopez is staying in there.

Richards is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Lopez has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Lopez!
Richards keeping moving, preventing Lopez from controlling successfully.
Lopez must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lopez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Richards is keeping the position for now.
Lopez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Richards looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Richards throwing rabbit punches from the bottom - showing the judges that he's keeping busy.
Lopez looking to sit in guard and control but Richards gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Lopez can't keep his opponent in guard - Richards advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Lopez wants to get back to full guard.

That's two 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.
Richards is nestled in close to Lopez, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Richards looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Lopez misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Richards looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Richards is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Lopez sees it coming and defends easily.
Richards is breathing heavily.
Richards lands strikes from half guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

Lopez looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Richards scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lopez taking some punishment here, with Richards in his half guard.
Richards landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Richards slips a nice elbow through Lopez's hands, connecting with Lopez's forehead.
Lopez is not content to let Richards control the position.
Lopez wants to get back to full guard.
Richards with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Richards wants to take a breather but Lopez is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Richards postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Lopez to stand up.
Richards throws a shot to the body.

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

Lopez is working an open guard so Richards takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Richards throws a sloppy head kick and Lopez moves out of range easily.
Lopez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Richards counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Lopez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Richards counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Lopez has hold of Richards's hands but Richards slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Lopez is trying to control but can't.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Richards sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Richards is thwarting Lopez's attempts to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Richards dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Mike Richards's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Lopez moves out of range of the body kick from Richards.

Richards drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

Richards decides to stand up, so the ref orders Lopez to his feet.
A nice inside leg kick there by Richards. That's going to slow Lopez down.

Richards shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Richards showed some decent athleticism there.
Richards stalling.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Richards is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Lopez doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Richards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Richards is thwarting Lopez's attempts to control the position.

Richards decides to return to a standing position.

Richards shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Richards is thwarting Lopez's attempts to control the position.
Richards works his way into full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Richards lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Lopez hang on?
Richards lands with some strikes.
Richards raining down shots from the mount!
Richards with shots to the head and body - Lopez looks very uncomfortable down there.
Lopez is in a horrible position here. Richards smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Richards lands a big elbow.
Richards looking to control but Lopez is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Richards postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Lopez looks a forlorn figure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lopez is in all sorts of trouble here.

Richards is controlling this nicely and is looking to make no mistakes. Lopez is trying to wiggle out of this horrible position. Lopez flips to his side and attempts to get a leg in for half guard. Richards anticipates the leg and manages to get behind Lopez and secures both hooks! This could be bad! Richards slips an arm under Lopez chin and tries to position for a rear naked choke. Richards has worked the choke in now and it looks tight. Richards is squeezing on Lopez like an anaconda would it's prey. Lopez fails to tap and has fallen unconscious! We've got ourselves a winner by way of a rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Mike Richards!