PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Marcus Nogueira Junior (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Carlos Salles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marcus Nogueira Junior looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Nogueira Junior
vs
Salles

175 cm
22
176 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

183 cm
20
175 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Good elbows
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Marcus Nogueira Junior!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Salles!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Edson Gomes and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Junior drives through and clinches with Salles against the cage.
Junior avoiding damage as Salles throws knees to the body.
Salles is pressed up against the cage. Junior has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Salles down to the mat. Salles avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Salles misses with a double jab.
Salles lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Junior circles away quickly and effectively.
Salles throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Junior's waist but Junior gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Salles off to one side.
Salles shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Junior as he jumps to the side.
Junior tries to close the distance and clinch but Salles swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Salles misses with a few strikes there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Junior slips under a jab.
Salles fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Marcus Nogueira Junior has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Carlos Salles.
Salles looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Junior is fending him off so far but Salles persists. Nope, Junior circles away and we're back to standing.
Salles clinches but Junior breaks the clinch

and Junior counters with a shoot takedown. Salles fights it but they end up in guard.
Salles looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salles is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Junior is looking for a sweep. Salles is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Salles performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Junior is trying to maintain the position but Salles is very close to passing his half guard.
Salles really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Junior. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Junior regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's two 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.

Junior has his foot on Salles's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Salles works his way back into a safe position though.
Junior looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Salles wants to get up but he can't break Junior's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Junior working for submissions but it's allowed Salles to get to half guard.
Salles prevents Junior from improving his position.
Junior wants to control but Salles passes into side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Junior is trying to escape the position but Salles is controlling the position.
Junior wants to control but Salles postures up.
Junior is trying to get back to half guard.
Junior wants to control but Salles postures up.
Junior is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Salles is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Junior is looking to reverse the position.

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.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Salles tries to clinch but Junior moves away

and Junior counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Junior wants to control from the top but Salles keeps moving.
Junior stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Salles swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Junior missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Salles is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Nogueira Junior dominated that round.
That's time! Junior's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Salles fails with an attempt to clinch.
No luck for Salles with that takedown attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Salles.
Junior shoots in for a double leg but Salles sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Salles fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Marcus Nogueira Junior has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Carlos Salles.
Salles with a lazy takedown attempt
and Junior counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Salles is looking to clinch.
Salles throws a combination that misses

and Junior counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Junior wants to control from the top but Salles keeps moving.
Junior stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Salles swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Junior trying to control but Salles is working from the bottom.
Junior throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Salles is pulling down on Junior's head to control his posture.

That's two 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.
Salles wants to stand but Junior is controlling the position.
Salles keeping full guard, as Junior tries to pass.

Salles is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Junior avoids the damage to the body.
Junior avoiding damage as Salles throws knees to the body.
Junior wants a takedown but no success here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Junior avoids the damage to the body.
Junior managing to block the knees to the body from Salles.
Junior is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Salles breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Salles gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Salles takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Junior showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Salles.
Junior takes one to the chin there.
Salles closes the distance but Junior moves to the side

and Junior decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Salles's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Junior stopping the sweep attempt from Salles.
Junior forces his way into half guard.
Junior has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Salles is trying to stand up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Nogueira Junior 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!

Salles tries to clinch
and Junior counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Salles moves in looking to clinch but Junior pushes him off.
Salles misses with an uppercut.
Salles tries to clinch but Junior moves away
and Junior counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Salles shoots in looking for a takedown. Junior tries to sprawl out of it but Salles keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Junior manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Salles tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Junior counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Junior.
Junior won't allow Salles to get back to his feet.
Junior trying to control the position from guard on top but Salles is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Junior works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Salles pushes Junior off and gets back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nice sprawl there from Salles as Junior shoots in.
Salles swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Junior holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
A right hand to the body from Salles.
Junior blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Junior changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Salles fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Salles moves into range and clinches up with Junior.
Salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Junior avoids the damage to the body.
Salles pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salles taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Salles lands an elbow inside.
Junior tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcus Nogueira Junior. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Salles misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Junior.
Salles misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Junior.
Junior managing to block the knees to the body from Salles.
Salles is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Junior gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Salles tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Junior smiles and moves away.

Salles shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Junior punching from the bottom.
Salles wants to stand up but Junior has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Junior is looking to improve his position.
Junior tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Salles has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Carlos Salles has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Junior is desperately trying to improve his position but Salles has a good base and remains in mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Junior sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Junior makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Junior.
Salles wanted to stand there but Junior had control of the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcus Nogueira Junior showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Junior, 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcus Nogueira Junior!