PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Lyoto The Dragon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gene Upshaw (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

The Dragon
vs
Upshaw

185 cm
21
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
20
160 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lyoto The Dragon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gene Upshaw!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Daniel Cesar and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The Dragon shoots in but no luck this time.
The Dragon tries for a takedown but Upshaw sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Upshaw takes one to the side of the head.
No luck for The Dragon with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyoto The Dragon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Upshaw misses with a body kick.
The Dragon checks a leg kick.

Upshaw looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Upshaw is looking to work some ground and pound but The Dragon has wrist control.
Upshaw looks gassed!
Upshaw throws and elbow that misses. The Dragon uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Upshaw's guard. Nice move by The Dragon!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The Dragon drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Upshaw manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now The Dragon has Upshaw in his guard.
The Dragon looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Upshaw working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Upshaw passes into half guard.

Upshaw is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. The Dragon doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Upshaw.
The Dragon wants to get back to full guard.

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.
Upshaw is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
The Dragon wants to control but Upshaw is keeping busy.
Upshaw controlling the action here.
The Dragon is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Upshaw is keen to just control but The Dragon is a slippery customer.

Upshaw is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and The Dragon defends it well.
The Dragon wants to get back to his feet.
Upshaw with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Upshaw thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed The Dragon's head.

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.
Upshaw wants to take a breather but The Dragon is having none of it.
Upshaw missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
The Dragon tries to clinch but Upshaw moves out of range.
A head kick misses from Upshaw.
Upshaw avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
The Dragon misses with a takedown attempt

and Upshaw counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Upshaw passes into half guard.
Upshaw is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Upshaw wants to take a breather but The Dragon is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gene Upshaw 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.

The Dragon with a poor takedown

and Upshaw counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The Dragon is trying to keep Upshaw in close.
The Dragon working a defensive guard but Upshaw manages to pass into side control anyway.
You can see the frustration on The Dragon's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Upshaw is trying to get an arm triangle but The Dragon is defending well.

Upshaw is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but The Dragon is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Upshaw throws an elbow but The Dragon slips to the side and avoids it well.
The Dragon really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
The Dragon is looking to regain half guard here but Upshaw keeps moving and retains side control.

Upshaw thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
An elbow from Upshaw crashes against the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Upshaw wants to control but The Dragon is keeping him busy.
Upshaw content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
The Dragon is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Upshaw is controlling him well.
The Dragon is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Upshaw off and has taken his back!

Upshaw is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Upshaw turns into The Dragon and is now in his guard.
Upshaw missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The Dragon is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The Dragon working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Upshaw.
Upshaw controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Upshaw with a flurry of punches that miss.

Upshaw drops back looking for a leg! The Dragon is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and The Dragon manages to kick Upshaw off! Upshaw jumps back into The Dragon's guard.

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.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
The Dragon tries to close the distance and clinch but Upshaw swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Upshaw throws a nice looking combination but The Dragon bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Upshaw throws a body kick that misses.
The Dragon misses with a takedown

so Upshaw counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

The Dragon looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Upshaw passes into side control.
Upshaw has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Upshaw is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but The Dragon is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gene Upshaw showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Upshaw misses with a hook.
Upshaw misses with a kick to the body.
The Dragon will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
The Dragon looks for a takedown but Upshaw sprawls well.
Upshaw throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Upshaw swats away the attempt to clinch by The Dragon.
The Dragon shoots in looking for a takedown. Upshaw tries to sprawl out of it but The Dragon keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Upshaw manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyoto The Dragon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Upshaw looking to land some kicks to the body here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The Dragon with a poor takedown

and Upshaw counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for The Dragon!
Upshaw sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Upshaw thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Upshaw controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Upshaw misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
The Dragon is trying to reverse the position but instead Upshaw has taken his back - oops!

Upshaw has both hooks in and is working for a choke. The Dragon is in real trouble here. Upshaw gets an arm under the chin and tightens the submission attempt... is this the end? Yes, The Dragon is tapping out! Upshaw wins by rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:46 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Gene Upshaw!