PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between John Axes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and rafael soares (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). rafael soares will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Axes
vs
soares

176 cm
19
195 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

175 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Intelligent

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Axes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, rafael soares!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Mauricio Rocha and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
soares tries for a takedown but Axes sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
soares looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!

Axes closes the distance and clinches.
Axes gets through soares's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

Axes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Axes drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Axes content to stall in guard here.
Axes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Axes looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
soares has momentary wrist control but Axes slips an elbow through the middle.
Axes sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed soares's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Axes wants to pass the guard but soares is defending well.
Axes moves into full mount! soares won't be happy about that!
Axes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Axes seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down soares for as long as he can get away with.
soares takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Axes controlling from mount.
Axes has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. John Axes just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Axes scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Axes passes to side control.
Axes working away.

Axes stands up and beckons soares to his feet.
Axes is looking to clinch.

Axes fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. soares sprawls well initially but Axes persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Axes keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

Axes gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Axes looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Axes controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Axes connects with a nice short shot to soares's temple.
Axes keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Axes is thwarting soares's attempts to control the position.
Still in half guard, Axes seems content to control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
soares is trying to stand back up but Axes is controlling him
Axes controlling the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Axes dominated that 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.

Axes tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but soares swivels and escapes.
John Axes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Axes decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
John Axes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Axes content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Axes stands up from half guard.

Axes shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Axes stalling.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
soares wants to get back to full guard but Axes has mounted him!
Axes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Axes with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Axes content just to control the position here.

The referee stands the fighters back up. John Axes just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Axes closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming soares to the mat! soares manages to get full guard.
soares is looking to sweep but instead, Axes has passed into half guard.
soares is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Axes scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Axes seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Axes wants to pass to mount but soares is defending the position.
soares wants to sweep but Axes has passed to side control!
Axes working the ground and pound.
soares seems a little lost for a moment, as Axes dominates the positioning.
soares is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

That's four 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.
The referee asks Axes politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Axes prefers to stall for the moment though.
Axes works to advance to full mount. soares defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Axes controlling the pace for now.
Axes working soares over with strikes here.
soares is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Axes 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!

Axes misses with a wild combination.
Axes blocks the body kick.

Axes shoots in and bounces soares off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Axes content to stall in guard here.
Axes landing with the ground and pound.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Axes not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
soares is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Axes controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
soares is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
soares being controlled here, momentarily.
Axes landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two 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.
Axes content to stall in guard here.
soares tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Axes trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Axes is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Axes's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
soares looking for a sweep. Not yet soares, not yet.

Axes gets to his feet - soares follows without any prompting.

Axes shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Axes was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Axes controlling the pace for now.
John Axes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
soares keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Axes controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. John Axes just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
soares swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Axes closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
soares wants to control but Axes postures up.
Axes is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
rafael soares has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Axes is chipping away with strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Axes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Axes has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:26
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:26
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Axes!