PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mauricio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and guto salles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Rua
vs
salles

179 cm
22
179 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
160 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, guto salles!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Leandro Rodrigues and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rua clinches up against the cage.
salles looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Knees to the body from Rua.
The referee is keeping an eye on Rua - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like guto salles has been cut.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Rua.
Rua landing knees to the body.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua landing knees to the body.
Rua slowing the pace effectively.
salles tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Rua avoids it.
salles looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from salles.
Rua has salles pushed against the cage.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning salles up against the cage.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
salles trying to land knees to the body.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua lands a damaging elbow.
Rua trying to land knees to the body.
Rua with a knee to the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
salles trying to land knees to the body.
Rua lands an elbow just above salles 's eye.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rua gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.

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.
Rua tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and salles avoids it.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
salles misses with a knee to the head.
Rua lands an elbow inside that salles shrugs off.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
salles takes an elbow to the temple.
The referee is keeping an eye on Rua - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Rua landing knees to the body.
salles can't break the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
salles misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rua.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
Rua holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Rua landing knees to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
salles throws a knee to the head but misses.
Rua just leaning against salles, taking a breather.
Rua blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua landing knees to the body.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
salles is looking to break free of the clinch but Rua has double underhooks.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
salles avoiding damage as Rua throws knees to the body.
salles is trying to break free.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from salles.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
salles connects with a knee to the head.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
salles landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rua blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rua lands a damaging elbow.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
salles is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rua is defending well for now.
Rua lands a nice elbow.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's four 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.
salles tries to pull guard but Rua won't allow it.
salles lands a knee to the head.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
Rua lands an elbow just above salles 's eye.
Nice elbow from Rua.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
salles has had enough of the clinch but Rua keeps him there for the moment.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
salles misses with a knee strike.
salles takes a knee right on the jaw!
Rua is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. salles is defending well for now.
Rua misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from salles.
Nice elbow from Rua.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mauricio Rua dominated that round.
The cut man is working on guto salles's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Rua forces salles back against the cage and clinches.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
salles tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Rua with a knee to the head.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from salles.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
salles with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua lands a damaging elbow.
salles managing to block the knees to the body from Rua.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Rua avoids the damage to the body.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from salles.
Mauricio Rua has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Rua stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Rua lands an elbow inside that salles shrugs off.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A bit of stalling here from Rua.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Rua creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through salles's defenses.
salles has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Rua is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that salles can do to turn this around?
salles tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
salles is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
salles on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
A frustrated look appears on salles's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
salles is trying to break the clinch but Rua is controlling him.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rua just leaning against salles, taking a breather.
salles tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
Rua lands a nice elbow.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
salles missing with knees to the body.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.

That's two 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.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through salles's defenses.
salles misses with a knee strike.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
salles is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rua is defending well for now.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
salles tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Rua avoids it.
Rua lands a nice elbow.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
salles missing with knees to the body.
salles is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rua is defending well for now.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
The referee is keeping an eye on Rua - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
salles avoiding damage as Rua throws knees to the body.
Rua trying to land knees to the body.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
salles looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
salles missing with knees to the body.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua landing knees to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua tries to land knees in the clinch but salles avoids the damage to the body.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
salles working hard to break the clinch.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Rua avoiding damage as salles throws knees to the body.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
salles blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
salles misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rua.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Rua landing knees to the body.
salles looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rua creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through salles's defenses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, salles just misses with a elbow thrown towards Rua's brow.

That's four 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.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua lands an elbow inside that salles shrugs off.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rua keeps control of salles as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Rua avoids the damage to the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Rua.
Rua missing with knees to the body.
salles takes an elbow to the temple.
Rua prevents salles from breaking the clinch.
Rua gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
salles can't break the clinch.
Rua comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
salles tries to break free but Rua pushes him back against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
salles with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
salles misses with an elbow over the top.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mauricio Rua dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on guto salles's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Rua instigates a clinch.
Rua lands a knee to the head.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
salles is trying to break free.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.
salles has had enough of the clinch but Rua keeps him there for the moment.
Rua lands an elbow inside that salles shrugs off.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
salles throws a knee to the head but misses.
Rua creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through salles's defenses.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
salles avoiding damage as Rua throws knees to the body.
salles looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Knees to the body from Rua.
salles misses with a knee to the head.
salles takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
salles pushes off an throws an elbow but Rua leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
salles wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Come on Rua - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
salles tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Rua on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
salles misses with a knee to the head.
Rua landing knees to the body.
salles wants to break the clinch but can't.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Knees to the body from Rua.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Rua scores with a knee to the head.

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.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Rua.
salles blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
salles is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rua is defending well for now.
Rua unloads a knee to the mid-section. salles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
salles managing to block the knees to the body from Rua.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Rua landing knees to the head.
Rua lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Rua putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has salles in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua lands a knee to the body.
Rua managing to block the knees to the body from salles.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
salles with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Rua lands an elbow inside.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but Rua blocks with his arms.
Rua crunches a lovely knee into salles's ribcage.
salles lands a nice knee to the body.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
salles with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua working salles over with knees to the body.
Rua landing knees to the body.
Rua with a knee to the head.
salles working hard to break the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
salles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua landing some nice looking knees to the body.
salles takes an elbow to the forehead.
Rua scores a nice knee to the body.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
Mauricio Rua is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nice elbow from Rua.
salles looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
salles jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Rua walks away with a smile on his face. salles gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Rua throws a quick head kick that skims the top of salles's head.
salles takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Rua lands a high kick!
A head kick misses from Rua.

Rua moves into the clinch.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through salles's defenses.
Rua keeps the fight in the clinch, despite salles's efforts to push away.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
Rua is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rua lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Rua lands an elbow that stopped salles in his tracks for a moment.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.
Rua landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
A frustrated look appears on salles's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Knees to the body from Rua.
Rua lands a nice knee to the body.
salles tries to land knees in the clinch but Rua avoids the damage to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rua obliges.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rua using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rua.
salles misses with a knee to the head.
guto salles has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rua utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Rua lands a good knee to the midsection. salles won't want to take too many of those.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mauricio Rua showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Rua 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:26
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:26
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mauricio Rua!