PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rui Ferreira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Haroldson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Ferreira
vs
Haroldson

188 cm
22
206 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

181 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rui Ferreira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ben Haroldson!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Fedor Mirinova and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Haroldson shoots in looking for a takedown. Ferreira tries to sprawl out of it but Haroldson keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Ferreira manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
The fighters circling - Haroldson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

Haroldson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ferreira keeping full guard, as Haroldson tries to pass.
Haroldson stops Ferreira from standing up.
Ferreira working a defensive guard here.
Haroldson wants to control from the top but Ferreira keeps moving.
Ferreira manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Haroldson manages to get himself to full guard.
Haroldson trying to strike off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ferreira won't allow Haroldson to get back to his feet.
Ferreira is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ferreira trying to control the position from guard on top but Haroldson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ferreira sitting in guard here, content to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Haroldson working a defensive guard but Ferreira passes into half guard.
Ferreira content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Ferreira sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Haroldson defending well though.

That's two 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.
Ferreira stalling.
Ferreira has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Ground and pound from Ferreira.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Haroldson can do anything to dispel that myth.
Ferreira seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Haroldson is looking to improve his position.
Ferreira is keen to just control but Haroldson is a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Haroldson trying to control from the bottom.
Still in half guard, Ferreira seems content to control.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Rui Ferreira just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Ferreira doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Haroldson counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Haroldson.
Ferreira keeping full guard, as Haroldson tries to pass.
Haroldson looks gassed!
Haroldson throws and elbow that misses. Ferreira uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Haroldson's guard. Nice move by Ferreira!
Haroldson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ferreira accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haroldson keeping moving, preventing Ferreira from controlling successfully.

Ferreira stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Ferreira slips a straight right by Haroldson.

Haroldson gets a clinch.

Ferreira breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Haroldson throws a right and a left that both miss.
Haroldson pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Ferreira shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Ferreira showed some decent athleticism there.
Ferreira is looking to take a break and control but Haroldson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Rui Ferreira will probably get the nod.
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.

Ferreira defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Haroldson.
Haroldson misses with a few strikes there.
Rui Ferreira is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Haroldson takes one on the button.

Ferreira darts in and clinches Haroldson up against the cage.
Haroldson tries to circle away but Ferreira has him pinned against the cage.
Haroldson has Ferreira pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Ferreira manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Ferreira fails to pull guard.
Haroldson wants to break free but Ferreira has control.

Ferreira pulls guard effortlessly.
Haroldson preventing the sweep.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Ferreira is on top in guard.
Ferreira advances position into side control!
Haroldson is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ferreira working the ground and pound.

Ferreira is working for what looks like an arm triangle here. Haroldson is trying to escape and Ferreira transitions quickly into an armbar! He's slapped it on tight and Haroldson is forced to tap! Nice work there by Ferreira! Very nice indeed!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Rui Ferreira!