PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jimmy Russo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Romulo Barral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Russo's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Destroy Everything. Both these fighters are unbeaten, so somebody's 0 has got to go!Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Russo
vs
Barral

179 cm
21
215 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

190 cm
19
216 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Powerful

5th Round

Grappling Pro Gear
Grappling Pro Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jimmy Russo!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Romulo Barral!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Sosuke Kotani and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barral throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.

Russo shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Russo trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Barral wants to sweep here but Russo controlling him for the moment.
Barral is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Barral 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.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Russo throws a big right hand that misses.
Russo preventing the sweep.
Russo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Russo is in close to Barral's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Russo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Russo with a flurry of punches that miss.
Russo wants to control from the top but Barral keeps moving.
Russo is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Russo stopping the sweep attempt from Barral.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Russo wants to control from the top but Barral keeps moving.
Russo stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Barral swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Russo scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Barral doesn't seem bothered though.
Barral fails with an attempt to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Barral looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Barral throws a sloppy body shot
and Russo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Barral lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Russo has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Russo and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Russo shoots for a double leg takedown but Barral sprawls well. He's pushed Russo's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Russo throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barral throws a sloppy head kick and Russo moves out of range easily.
Barral misses with a low kick.

Russo shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Barral has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Russo is working away from the top position though.
Russo is looking to take a break and control but Barral is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Barral wants to get back to full guard.
Barral moves into full guard.
Russo looking to pass the guard.
Russo trying to control the position from guard on top but Barral is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barral wants to sweep but no luck.
Russo has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Russo misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Russo staying out of range there.
Barral looks to land a left hand but Russo moved out of range nicely.
Russo lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Barral misses with a head kick.
Barral tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Russo paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Barral looks to land a left hand but Russo moved out of range nicely.

Russo shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Russo showed some decent athleticism there.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Barral is looking to improve his position.

Russo wants to work for an arm triangle but Barral is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Russo is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Russo thows a huge punch but Barral dodges it nicely.
Barral is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Russo wants to free his trapped foot but Barral is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Barral is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Russo's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Russo's back!
Barral looking to hold on to the position here but Russo rolls and ends up regaining guard.
Russo keeping full guard, as Barral tries to pass.
Russo trying to keep a closed guard but Barral is proving a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Russo dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

The fighters circle momentarily. Russo darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Barral looks to clinch

and Russo counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Barral is looking to improve his position.
Russo throwing shots but Barral is blocking nicely.
Barral is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Barral wants to control but Russo is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Russo is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

Russo is working for a guillotine from mount but Barral frees his head quite easily.
Russo looking to control but Barral is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barral is working to get back to half guard.
Barral is in a horrible position here. Russo smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Russo is landing with some decent strikes but Barral is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Barral wants to control but Russo is having none of it.
Barral is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Russo is staying active.
Barral is working to get back to half guard.
Russo trying to control but Barral is having none of it.
Barral tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Russo looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Barral tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Russo looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Barral is wriggling around trying to escape.

Russo looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Russo cracks Barral with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Barral is looking to get to half guard.
Russo wants to control the pace but Barral is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barral tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Russo is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Barral is looking to improve his position but Russo isn't that keen on the idea.
Russo controlling from the full mount.
Barral is looking to improve his position but Russo isn't that keen on the idea.
Russo working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Russo landing punches.
Russo scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Barral?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Russo scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Barral is squirming around, avoiding Russo's attempts to control the action.
Russo is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Barral can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Barral really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Russo in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barral really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Russo fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Russo tries to control but Barral wriggling away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Barral keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Barral is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Russo dominated that second 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.

Russo bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Barral sneaks back into half guard.
Barral wants to control but Russo is keeping busy.
Russo landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Russo moves into full mount! Barral won't be happy about that!
Barral gets back to half guard.
Russo scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Barral makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Barral.
Barral tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Barral takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Russo is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Russo postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Russo working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Russo's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Barral is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Russo passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Russo working the ground and pound.
Russo throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Barral is looking for a sweep.

Russo tries for a kimura but Barral is defending well.
Russo looking to control but instead Barral has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Russo prevents Barral from improving his position.
Russo wants to control but Barral is keeping him busy.
Russo lands strikes from half guard.
Russo takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Russo is working for a submission of some sort.
Barral trying to control here.
Barral wants to get back to full guard but Russo has mounted him!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barral is trying desperately to improve position.
A nice elbow there by Russo.
Russo scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Barral?
Barral is looking to get to half guard.
Russo connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Barral really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Barral tries to hold on but Russo postures up.
Russo landing shots from mount.
Russo looking to control but Barral is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Barral keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Russo lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Barral is squirming around, avoiding Russo's attempts to control the action.
Barral wants to control but Russo is having none of it.
Barral keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Russo lands with some strikes.
Russo lands a nice shot to the head.
Russo lands a nice shot to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Russo is in the full mount, landing strikes.

Barral is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barral can't escape the position.
Russo is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Barral can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Barral is still in real trouble! Can Russo finish him?

Barral defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Russo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Russo clearly takes that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Barral misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barral seems to have recovered his senses.

Russo decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Russo not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Russo wants to free his trapped foot but Barral is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Barral is looking to improve his position.
Barral trying to hold on to Russo's head to control him but Russo postures up.
Barral is looking for a sweep. Russo is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Russo thows a huge punch but Barral dodges it nicely.
Barral regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Russo.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Russo missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Russo tries to score a power double leg takedown but Barral sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Russo somewhat.
Barral gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Russo counters with a single leg into guard. Barral didn't expect that.
Barral wants to sweep but no luck.
Russo slips nicely into half guard.
Barral is looking for a sweep. Russo is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Barral is pressing down on Russo's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Russo distracts Barral with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Russo is in close to Barral's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Russo won't allow Barral to sweep him here.
Russo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Barral is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Russo drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Barral dives on top into guard.
Russo not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Barral passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Russo tries to bench press Barral off him but Barral keeps the position.
A lull in the action here.
Russo is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Russo tries to get to full guard but Barral has control of the leg.

Barral is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Russo doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Barral.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo manages to get to full guard.

Russo is looking for a triangle but Barral pushes his legs off easily.
Barral's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four 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.
Let's hope that Barral has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Barral passes Russo's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Barral takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Russo moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Russo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Barral can do to turn this around?
Barral pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Russo is keeping the position for now.
Barral trying to control but Russo is working from the bottom.

Russo looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Russo had his way with Romulo Barral in that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Barral tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Russo shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Barral as he avoids it easily.
Russo slips under a jab.
Russo shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Barral counters with a nice double leg into side control. Russo won't be happy with that.
Russo is not content to let Barral control the position.
Barral is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Barral working away.
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barral trying to control the position but Russo is working away.
Barral tries to score with some ground and pound. Russo controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Russo is not content to let Barral control the position.
Barral tries to move to mount but Russo blocks the move with his legs.
Barral remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Barral pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Barral gets caught flat footed, as Russo shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Russo stopping the sweep attempt from Barral.
Barral is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Barral keeping moving, preventing Russo from controlling successfully.
Barral looking for a sweep. Not yet Barral, not yet.
Russo is pushing down on Barral's leg trying to pass to half guard. Barral is fighting to maintain full guard but Russo has managed to sneak the leg through.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Russo lands a nice short elbow.
Russo lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Russo moves nicely into side control.
Barral is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo trying to control the position but Barral is working away.
Barral gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Barral tries to roll over but Russo keeps him under control.
Russo looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Barral with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Barral tries to get to full guard but Russo has control of the leg.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Russo is looking for a kimura here.
Russo passes the guard and advances to mount!
Russo looking to finish Barral with some ground and pound. This is bad for Barral!
Barral keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Barral tries to hold on but Russo postures up.
Barral is in all sorts of trouble here.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Jimmy Russo.
Well Russo 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 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight for Jimmy Russo!
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for Jimmy Russo!
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight for Jimmy Russo!

Jimmy Russo wins by unanimous decision!
Jimmy Russo retains his light heavyweight title!