PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Leonard Messi (ranked 4060 p4p, 3121 weight class) and Jaeden Esparza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Messi
vs
Esparza

165 cm
23
145
1 - 0 - 0

170 cm
23
142
1 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Leonard Messi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jaeden Esparza!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Esparza misses with a jab, cross combination.
Messi blocks a head kick by Esparza.
Esparza fails with a takedown attempt.
Esparza throws a sloppy head kick and Messi moves out of range easily.
Messi misses with a head kick.
Esparza drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Messi defends it well.
Esparza misses with a takedown

and Messi moves into the clinch.

Messi pulls Esparza into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Messi pulls Esparza in close to prevent any damage.
Esparza won't allow Messi to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messi controlling Esparza's posture.
Esparza must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Esparza has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Messi is proving hard to escape from.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Messi is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Messi looking for a guillotine here but Esparza defends easily.
Esparza is fighting to break Messi's control of his arms but Messi is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Messi is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Messi is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Messi is adopting a defensive guard.
Messi looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messi pulls Esparza in close to prevent any damage.
Esparza won't allow Messi to get back to his feet.
Messi trying to control the position.
Messi pulls Esparza in close to prevent any damage.

Messi looking for a guillotine here but Esparza defends easily.
Messi is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Messi manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Esparza manages to get himself to full guard.

Esparza is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Messi defends well.
Messi sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Messi prevents Esparza from getting back to his feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Leonard Messi dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Esparza gets tackled into the cage by Messi. Messi maintains the clinch.
Esparza wants to break free but Messi has control.
Esparza fails to pull guard.
Messi is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Esparza can do to turn this around?

Messi has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Esparza regains guard immediately.
Messi controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Esparza wants to stand and escape but Messi is having none of it.
Messi is stalling in the full guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Esparza can do anything to dispel that myth.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Esparza wants to hit a sweep here but Messi passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Esparza there!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esparza is wriggling around here but as he tries to escape, Messi has taken his back.
Esparza is trying to stand back up.

Esparza preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Messi.
Leonard Messi overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Esparza wants to escape the position.
Messi is working the ground and pound. Can Esparza escape?
Esparza really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Messi. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Esparza wants to control his opponent's hands but Messi gets his hands free.
Messi has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Esparza's body.

Esparza showing good submission defense here.
Messi throwing damaging strikes from the back! Esparza could be in trouble here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Esparza is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Messi gets his way!
I would not like to be Esparza right now.

Messi patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Messi is riding his opponent, not letting Esparza buck him off.
Esparza just trying to survive but Messi is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Messi is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Esparza tries to escape the position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Messi working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Leonard Messi dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Esparza fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Messi sprawls well initially but Esparza persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Esparza missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Messi regains full guard. Nicely done.
Esparza tries to stand but Messi is controlling from the bottom.
Messi is pulling down on Esparza's head. It's preventing any offense from Esparza, at least for the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messi wants to sweep but no luck.
Messi seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Esparza misses with a kick to the body.
Messi was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Messi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Messi was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Esparza moves out of range of the strikes.

Messi fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Esparza, pushing him back against the cage.
Messi trying to land knees to the body.

Messi breaks the clinch.
Messi drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Esparza shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Messi defends it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Esparza goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Esparza closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Messi did well to prevent Esparza getting side control.
Messi preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Messi tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Messi is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Messi makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Messi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messi keeping moving, preventing Esparza from controlling successfully.
Messi is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Esparza wanted to stand there but Messi had control of the position.

Messi throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Esparza throws a big elbow that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Messi has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Esparza can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Messi is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Esparza has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Messi escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Messi!
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Leonard Messi showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Messi, 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight for Leonard Messi!
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight for Leonard Messi!
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight for Leonard Messi!

Leonard Messi wins by unanimous decision!