PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Assunto Rigoni (ranked 4615 p4p, 25311 weight class) and Cory Ashby (ranked 419 p4p, 524 weight class). Cory Ashby is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Rigoni
vs
Ashby

167 cm
25
147
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
145
0 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Assunto Rigoni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Cory Ashby!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Alyssa Summers and Lou da Vinci.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rigoni takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.

Rigoni clinches.

Rigoni is trying to trip Ashby. He has hold of a leg but Ashby is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Rigoni persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Rigoni might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Rigoni is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Ashby seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Rigoni looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rigoni won't allow Ashby to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ashby trying to keep a closed guard but Rigoni is proving a slippery customer.
Rigoni passes Ashby's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Ashby wants to control but Rigoni is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Ashby tries to get to full guard but Rigoni has control of the leg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rigoni performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Ashby is trying to maintain the position but Rigoni is very close to passing his half guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Ashby looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Rigoni looking to score a takedown here. Ashby is defending well but Rigoni drives through and ends up in Ashby's guard.
Rigoni stops Ashby from standing up.
Ashby looking to control.
Rigoni passes Ashby's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Rigoni controlling the pace.
Rigoni takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Rigoni is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rigoni looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.

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.
Ashby tries to get to full guard but Rigoni has control of the leg.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Ashby shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rigoni as he jumps to the side.
Rigoni swats away the attempt to clinch by Ashby.

Rigoni darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Rigoni winds up and cracks Ashby with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Assunto Rigoni dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Ashby goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Assunto Rigoni is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ashby throws a head kick that half lands.
Ashby moves in looking to clinch but Rigoni pushes him off.
Rigoni is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ashby can do to turn this around?
Ashby tries to clinch up.

Rigoni closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Assunto Rigoni overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ashby can't do much from the bottom here.
Ashby is pushing Rigoni's head away, looking to escape. Rigoni manages to hold on to the position though.
Ashby really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rigoni. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Rigoni is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Ashby has escaped the position, nice work there.
Ashby is trying to escape the position but Rigoni is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rigoni works to advance to full mount. Ashby defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Ashby really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

Rigoni working for a guillotine from mount but Ashby is in no mood to give up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rigoni connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Rigoni looking to control and managing it successfully.
Ashby flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Ashby is in all sorts of trouble here.
Rigoni takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rigoni moves to back control.
Rigoni is riding his opponent, not letting Ashby buck him off.
You can see the frustration on Ashby's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

Rigoni working for a choke but Ashby is defending well.
Rigoni controlling from the back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ashby rolls, trying to escape but Rigoni keeps control of the position.
Rigoni lands a shot to the head.
Rigoni controls the position.

Ashby defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Rigoni's arms.
You can see the frustration on Ashby's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Rigoni has got his arm under Ashby's chin working for the choke… has he got it? It looks pretty tight! Oh! Ashby has spun round into Rigoni's guard beautifully! Well done that man!
Rigoni is striking from the bottom but Ashby uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
Rigoni desperately trying to maintain half guard.

Rigoni looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rigoni keeping control of the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Assunto Rigoni dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Ashby goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Ashby gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Rigoni counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Rigoni is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Ashby can't fight it off and eventually Rigoni manages to take the fight to the floor. Ashby looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Ashby is wriggling around but Rigoni manages to pass to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Ashby manages to get to full guard.
Rigoni controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rigoni works over Ashby with some ground and pound from guard.
Ashby has a closed guard, preventing Rigoni from standing up.

Ashby escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Rigoni gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Rigoni works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Rigoni is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Ashby is defending against the submission attempts here by Rigoni.
Rigoni performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Rigoni 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ashby is looking for a sweep. Rigoni is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Rigoni keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Ashby wants to control but Rigoni is keeping busy.
Ashby is holding on to half guard well.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

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.
Rigoni uses his free foot to push down on Ashby's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Ashby.
Ashby taking shots to the head.
Ashby is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Rigoni tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ashby sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Assunto Rigoni showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rigoni, 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 Reed Andrews scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Assunto Rigoni!
A very excited looking Assunto Rigoni made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.