PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Romulo Barral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcus Fritzel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Barral
vs
Fritzel

190 cm
19
216 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

182 cm
20
224 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Grappling Pro Gear
Grappling Pro Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Romulo Barral!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Marcus Fritzel!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Hirohito Nitta and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Barral clinches up against the cage.

Barral tightens his grip and picks Fritzel up, before dumping him to the ground. Fritzel manages to land in guard.
Barral's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Barral wants to pass the guard but Fritzel is keeping the position.
Barral lands a couple of digs.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Fritzel can do anything to dispel that myth.
Barral works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Barral tries to pass to full mount but Fritzel defends it.
Barral slows the pace down in half guard.
Fritzel regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fritzel is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Barral seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Fritzel has his hands on Barral's head, controlling the position.
Barral's corner is telling him to maintain position.

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.
Barral looking to pass the guard.
Barral controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Barral trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Barral passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Fritzel gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Fritzel really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barral trying to control but Fritzel is having none of it.

Barral is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Fritzel has managed to escape the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barral looking to control and managing it successfully.

Barral is working for a guillotine from mount but Fritzel frees his head quite easily.
Barral trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Romulo Barral 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.

Barral is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Fritzel's half guard.
Barral looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Barral takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Fritzel wants to improve his position but Barral is controlling well.

Barral is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Barral prevents Fritzel from improving his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Barral is looking for a kimura here.
Barral is stalling here. Fritzel is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Barral seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Fritzel has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Barral tries to bench press Fritzel off him but Fritzel keeps the position.
You can see the frustration on Barral's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

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.
Barral sneaks back into half guard.
Barral has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Fritzel is working away from the top position though.
Barral is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Fritzel fails to land with a series of punches.

Barral shoots in and bounces Fritzel off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Fritzel wants to sweep but no luck.
Barral tries to free his leg and advance position but Fritzel is retaining full guard.
Barral won't allow Fritzel to sweep him here.
Barral trying to control the position from guard on top but Fritzel is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.
Fritzel manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Barral manages to get himself to full guard.
Barral controls Fritzel momentarily but Fritzel frees himself.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Barral is on top in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barral sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Fritzel's guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barral is controlling the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Romulo Barral dominated that second round.
That's time! Barral's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Barral doesn't manage to clinch there - Fritzel circles away.
A left and a right from Fritzel both land. Nice combination.

Fritzel gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Barral wants a takedown.
Barral has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Fritzel is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Fritzel is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Barral dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Fritzel looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Barral changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Fritzel fights it off and pushes away nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Romulo Barral. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Fritzel fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Barral tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Fritzel swivels and escapes.
Fritzel lands a two punch combo.
No joy there for Fritzel, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Fritzel connects with a crisp jab.
Fritzel takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Barral drives through with a takedown into guard.
Barral passes Fritzel's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Barral content to control rather than advance.
Fritzel is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Fritzel avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Barral.
Barral is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Fritzel really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Barral. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barral passes to side control.
Barral is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Barral is looking to take a break and control but Fritzel is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barral is staying tight to Fritzel's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Barral wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fritzel keeps working.
Fritzel is being controlled here.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Romulo Barral just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
No luck for Barral with that takedown attempt.

Fritzel rushes Barral and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Fritzel wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Barral has him pressed against the cage.

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.
Barral keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Fritzel's efforts to push away.
A frustrated look appears on Fritzel's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Barral goes for a takedown attempt but Fritzel pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Fritzel tries to keep at a distance but Barral has taken the fight into the clinch.

Barral breaks the clinch.
Fritzel tries to clinch up but Barral circles away and keeps his distance.
Barral circles away from the clinch attempt.

Fritzel clinches.
Fritzel is trying to force a seperation but Barral has the dominant position.
Fritzel wants to get back to striking at distance but Barral won't allow it.
Barral goes for a takedown attempt but Fritzel pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Fritzel lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Marcus Fritzel has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Romulo Barral is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Barral closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcus Fritzel comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Barral has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Romulo Barral!