PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mauricio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Diego Bruxo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rua has a slight injury, which hopefully won't affect the fight too much. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Rua
vs
Bruxo

185 cm
22
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

186 cm
22
203 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Intelligent

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Diego Bruxo!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Alexandre Firmino and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Bruxo clinches up against the cage.
Bruxo lands with a right to the head.

Bruxo manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Bruxo wants to stand up but Rua is controlling him.
Bruxo looking for a sweep. Not yet Bruxo, not yet.
Bruxo is controlling Rua's posture.
Rua is breathing heavily.
Bruxo manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Rua manages to get himself to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Bruxo wants to control from the top but Rua keeps moving.

Bruxo gets to his feet. Rua looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

Bruxo changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Rua looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The referee asks Bruxo politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Bruxo prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bruxo working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Bruxo remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

Bruxo stands up.

Bruxo shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Bruxo showed some decent athleticism there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua won't allow Bruxo to pass to mount.
Bruxo controlling the action here.
Bruxo not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

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.
Bruxo performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Bruxo stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Bruxo shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Rua as he avoids it easily.

Bruxo scores a takedown into full mount!
Bruxo tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diego Bruxo dominated that round.
That's time! Rua's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Bruxo has managed to clinch.
Rua is trying to break the clinch but Bruxo has him pressed against the cage.

Bruxo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rua throws a sloppy head kick and Bruxo moves out of range easily.

Bruxo shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Rua's guard.

Bruxo thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Bruxo slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Bruxo has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Rua!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bruxo content just to control the position here.
Rua tries to lock up and control but Bruxo gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

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.

Bruxo is standing up, even though he is in mount.

Bruxo gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Bruxo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Bruxo shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Bruxo showed some decent athleticism there.
Bruxo trying to control the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua is in trouble now - Bruxo has advanced to mount!
Bruxo controlling from the full mount.
Bruxo thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

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.
Bruxo controlling the pace for now.
Rua keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Rua is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diego Bruxo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Bruxo shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Bruxo throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Bruxo thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

Bruxo wants to finish this one by submission but Rua is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Bruxo.
Bruxo controlling his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bruxo lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Rua hang on?

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.
Rua avoids a series of strikes thrown by Bruxo.
Bruxo controlling his opponent.

Despite being in the dominant position, Diego Bruxo just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Bruxo has closed the distance and engaged Rua in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bruxo jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Rua walks away with a smile on his face. Bruxo gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Mauricio Rua is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A head kick by Bruxo misses
and Rua counters with a big head kick but Bruxo shrugs it off.
Bruxo shoots for a takedown but Rua saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Bruxo misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Mauricio Rua has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Diego Bruxo.
Bruxo lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

Bruxo closes the distance and clinches.

Bruxo manages to break the clinch.
Mauricio Rua is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Bruxo rushes Rua and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Bruxo breaks from the clinch.
Bruxo misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown by Bruxo or perhaps it was just good defense by Rua which made him look bad.
Bruxo fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Rua throws a lazy head kick
and Bruxo counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Rua throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

Bruxo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Bruxo slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Bruxo throws a strike but Rua rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Diego Bruxo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Bruxo winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 27:30
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 27:30
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Diego Bruxo!