PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Richard Aziz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tandi Barsolo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tandi Barsolo told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Aziz
vs
Barsolo

175 cm
18
164 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

150 cm
18
165 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Prefers standup

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 New York, Richard Aziz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tandi Barsolo!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Franklyn Lucas and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Aziz showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Barsolo.
Barsolo tries to bum rush Aziz with a series of wild strikes but Aziz uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A combination from Barsolo does no damage.
Aziz shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Barsolo as he jumps to the side.
Aziz closes the distance and clinches up with Barsolo, looking for a takedown. Aziz pushes Barsolo against the cage but Barsolo circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Aziz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Barsolo circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Aziz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barsolo throws a nice looking combination but Aziz bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Aziz shoots in but no luck this time.
Aziz ducks under a wild hook from Barsolo.
Aziz shoots in looking for a takedown. Barsolo tries to sprawl out of it but Aziz keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Barsolo manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Barsolo lands with an overhand left.

It looks like Richard Aziz has been cut.

Barsolo lands a left and a right that sends Aziz crashing to the canvas! Barsolo dives into mount looking to finish!

Aziz is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Aziz keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Barsolo takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aziz sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barsolo tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Aziz.

Barsolo stands up and beckons Aziz to join him on the feet.
Aziz shoots in for a takedown but Barsolo shows good takedown defense.
Barsolo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Aziz changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Barsolo tries to avoid it but Aziz manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Barsolo to the ground. Barsolo escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Barsolo uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Aziz has time to react.

Richard Aziz's cut is getting worse.
Aziz avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barsolo misses with a jab, cross combination.
Barsolo keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Aziz is breathing heavily.
Barsolo connects with a nice looking jab.
Barsolo misses with a double jab.
Barsolo throws a right and a left that Aziz avoids nicely.
Barsolo misses with a two punch combination.
Barsolo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Barsolo fails to land with a series of punches.

Aziz shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Barsolo is trying to defend but Aziz finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Barsolo is staying active underneath Aziz, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aziz wants to pass the guard but Barsolo is defending well.
Aziz seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Barsolo does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Barsolo is trying to stand.

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.

Aziz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Barsolo sees it coming and defends easily.
Barsolo looks like he's trying to stand up.
Barsolo tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Aziz manages to move to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tandi Barsolo dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Richard Aziz'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.

Aziz throws a hook but Barsolo avoids it easily.
Aziz ducks under a wild hook from Barsolo.
Tandi Barsolo seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Barsolo throws a right and a left that Aziz avoids nicely.
Aziz closes the distance and clinches up with Barsolo, looking for a takedown. Aziz pushes Barsolo against the cage but Barsolo circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Aziz loads up on a big right hand but Barsolo slips the punch.

Aziz feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Aziz trying to control but Barsolo is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barsolo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aziz looking to sit in guard and control but Barsolo gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Aziz is looking for a triangle here but Barsolo uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Aziz tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Barsolo wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

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.

Barsolo has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Barsolo throws a head kick but Aziz moves out of range.
Barsolo defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Aziz.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Aziz is defended easily by Barsolo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Aziz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Aziz dodges the punch combination from Barsolo.
Barsolo cracks Aziz with a right hand to the side of the head.
Barsolo misses with a double jab.
Tandi Barsolo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Aziz tries to score a power double leg takedown but Barsolo sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Aziz somewhat.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Aziz throws a leg kick but Barsolo moved away.
Some wild striking there from Barsolo.
Aziz uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Barsolo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barsolo displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Aziz throws out the jab.
Barsolo misses with a double jab.
Barsolo staying out of range there.
Aziz showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Barsolo.
Barsolo slips under a jab from Aziz.
Barsolo swats away the attempt to clinch by Aziz.
Barsolo waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Aziz.
Barsolo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Barsolo misses with a series of wild punches.
Barsolo misses with a wild combination.
Barsolo misses with a jab, cross combination.
Aziz will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Aziz throws out a loose jab but Barsolo uses good head movement to avoid it.

Aziz scores with a takedown into Barsolo's guard.
Aziz 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aziz stops Barsolo from standing up.
Aziz wants to control from the top but Barsolo keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Richard Aziz will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Richard Aziz'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!

Barsolo misses with the combination.
Barsolo throws a right hand that Aziz ducks under and follows up with a left that Aziz also avoids with ease.
Aziz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Barsolo circles away.
Barsolo slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Barsolo misses with a two punch combination.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Aziz.
Aziz shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Richard Aziz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barsolo misses with a few strikes there.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Aziz.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Barsolo!
Aziz shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Barsolo sprawls well. Barsolo wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Aziz gets slowly back to his feet.
Barsolo keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Barsolo lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Barsolo.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Barsolo.
Barsolo tries to bum rush Aziz with a series of wild strikes but Aziz uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Barsolo misses with a series of wild punches.
Barsolo keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Barsolo lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Barsolo.
Barsolo staying out of range there.
Aziz throws a body punch but Barsolo moves out of range.
Aziz uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Barsolo.
Barsolo throws a head kick but Aziz moves out of range.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Aziz shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Barsolo as he jumps to the side.
Barsolo connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Aziz's hands.
Barsolo misses with a looping left.
Aziz tries to close the distance and clinch up but Barsolo swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's two 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.
Nice takedown defense from Barsolo. No joy for Aziz on that attempt.
Barsolo looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Barsolo might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

Barsolo gets caught flat footed, as Aziz shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Aziz trying to control the position from guard on top but Barsolo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barsolo wants to stand but Aziz is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aziz is looking to work some ground and pound but Barsolo has wrist control.
Aziz prevents Barsolo from getting back to his feet.
Aziz trying to control the position from guard on top but Barsolo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.

Barsolo is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Barsolo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Barsolo blocks a jab.
Barsolo misses with a two punch combination.
Barsolo stuffs the takedown.
Aziz dives in and grabs Barsolo's left leg, looking for a takedown. Barsolo pushes down on Aziz's head and hops out.
Horrible takedown by Aziz or perhaps it was just good defense by Barsolo which made him look bad.
Barsolo lands with a nice combination. Aziz backs away looking to recover.

Richard Aziz's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Aziz dodges the punch combination from Barsolo.
Aziz avoids a punch combination nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tandi Barsolo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Barsolo has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 John Roberts scores the fight 28:29
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 28:30
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tandi Barsolo!