PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Horacio Sadaval (ranked 594 p4p, 1071 weight class) and Kristo Kivi (ranked 73 p4p, 127 weight class). Sadaval comes to the cage accompanied by Prohibido Olvidar. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sadaval
vs
Kivi

186 cm
26
197
11 - 9 - 0

187 cm
38
191
28 - 18 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Champion Apparel

Conviction

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 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Horacio Sadaval!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 28 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Kristo Kivi!
The judges for this bout are Summer Carpenter, Chris Dean and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sadaval with a poor takedown
enabling Kivi to counter with a crisp jab.

It looks like Horacio Sadaval has been cut.
Sadaval takes one on the button.

Sadaval drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sadaval accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sadaval trying to control but Kivi is working from the bottom.
Kivi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kivi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kivi looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sadaval missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sadaval won't allow Kivi to sweep him here.
Sadaval stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kivi swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sadaval looking to sit in guard and control but Kivi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kivi is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Sadaval keeping moving, preventing Kivi from controlling successfully.
Kivi is looking to advance position but Sadaval has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Sadaval sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Sadaval throws a wild left hand from mount and Kivi manages to wriggle his way back to half guard.
Sadaval is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sadaval throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Sadaval working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Kivi's head.
Kivi looking to control.
Kivi working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Sadaval.
Sadaval throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kivi works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Kivi wants to hit a sweep here but Sadaval passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Kivi there!
Kivi is looking to improve his position but Sadaval isn't that keen on the idea.
Kivi has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
A nice elbow there by Sadaval.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sadaval misses with a head shot.
We've been hearing that Sadaval has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Sadaval landing strikes from the mount.
Sadaval punching from mount but Kivi doing a good job of avoiding damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sadaval unloading with bombs!
Sadaval with a couple of short strikes.
Kivi is in a horrible position here. Sadaval smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sadaval working some short elbows here. He postures up to throw some more ground and pound but Kivi slips a leg through to get back to half guard. Nice work.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kivi trying to control but Sadaval postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sadaval is stalling here. Kivi is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Sadaval seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Kivi has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sadaval is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Kivi is controlling him well.
Kivi is looking to take a break and control but Sadaval is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sadaval tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
Sadaval trying to get back to his feet but Kivi is in full control for now.
Kivi looking to hold on to the position here but Sadaval rolls and ends up regaining guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Horacio Sadaval dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Horacio Sadaval's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Sadaval shoots for a double leg takedown but Kivi sprawls well. He's pushed Sadaval's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A big left from Kivi misses.
Sadaval displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Kivi throws out the jab.
A swing and a miss from Kivi.

Sadaval looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Sadaval throws a strike but Kivi rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kivi accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kivi wants to control from the top but Sadaval keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sadaval is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Sadaval preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kivi lands a couple of digs.
Kivi stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Sadaval swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sadaval keeping moving, preventing Kivi from controlling successfully.
Kivi won't allow Sadaval to get back to his feet.
Kivi keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Sadaval's head.
Sadaval is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Sadaval is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Kivi dives into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kivi prevents Sadaval from escaping the position.
Sadaval bucks up and tries to throw Kivi off but instead Kivi has got his back!
Sadaval takes a big shot to the side of the head.
Kivi scores with punches and elbows.
Sadaval trying to get back to his feet but Kivi is in full control for now.
Kivi trying to control.
Sadaval is trying to get back to his feet but Kivi has full control of the position and if anything, Sadaval has just worked his way into a worse spot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kivi missing with punches from the back.
Sadaval is trying to get back to his feet but Kivi has full control of the position and if anything, Sadaval has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Kivi gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Well, with Kivi on his back, surely it's only a matter of time before Sadaval is tapping out... Can he escape the position?
Sadaval is trying to get back to his feet but Kivi has full control of the position and if anything, Sadaval has just worked his way into a worse spot.

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.
Sadaval covering up well under a series of strikes from Kivi.
Kivi is punishing Sadaval with some ground and pound.
Sadaval trying to get back to his feet but Kivi is in full control for now.
Sadaval covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Sadaval is trying to stand back up.
Kivi has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Sadaval.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Kristo Kivi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Horacio Sadaval's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Sadaval rushes Kivi and presses him up against the cage.
Sadaval fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Sadaval is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Kivi is defending well.
The referee is keeping an eye on Sadaval - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kivi prevents the takedown attempt.

Sadaval is trying to trip Kivi. He has hold of a leg but Kivi is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Sadaval persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Sadaval postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sadaval accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sadaval postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Kivi not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Kivi holds on and takes a little breather.
Kivi bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sadaval's guard.

Sadaval is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Kivi is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sadaval trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Sadaval working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kivi.
Kivi postures up in Sadaval's guard and throws a big left but Sadaval blocks it.
Kivi missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sadaval is looking to stand up but Kivi isn't so interested in that idea.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Sadaval is wriggling around but Kivi manages to pass to half guard.
Kivi looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

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.
Kivi drops an elbow to the side of Sadaval's head.
Sadaval is trying to stand up here but Kivi is controlling him well.
Kivi is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Sadaval wants to get back to his feet but Kivi passes into half guard.
Sadaval is trying to stand up here but Kivi is controlling him well.
Kivi missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Kivi comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sadaval ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Sadaval dives in for a single leg takedown but Kivi sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Horacio Sadaval. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Sadaval breaks from the clinch.

Kivi gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Sadaval to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Sadaval wants to control from the top but Kivi keeps moving.
Sadaval has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Sadaval throws an elbow that misses. Kivi uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sadaval's guard. Nice move by Kivi!

Sadaval avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kivi sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kivi trying to control but Sadaval is working from the bottom.
Kivi stops Sadaval from standing up.
Sadaval keeping moving, preventing Kivi from controlling successfully.
Kivi wants to pass the guard but Sadaval is keeping the position.
Kivi trying to control but Sadaval is working from the bottom.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Kristo Kivi.
I think Kivi 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 Summer Carpenter scores the fight 29:29
Judge Chris Dean scores the fight 28:29
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!