PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Aiden Rivers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and PoofterCards McVirus (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aiden Rivers has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Rivers
vs
McVirus

176 cm
20
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

186 cm
18
183 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Aiden Rivers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, PoofterCards McVirus!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Eliza Hachem and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rivers drives through with a takedown into guard.
Rivers stops McVirus from standing up.
McVirus is trying to control the position but Rivers postures up.
Rivers loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Rivers tries to free his leg and advance position but McVirus is retaining full guard.
Rivers throwing strikes but missing.
Rivers stopping the sweep attempt from McVirus.

Rivers stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Rivers tries to close the distance and clinch but McVirus swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Rivers clinches up with McVirus and pushes him back against the cage.
McVirus unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rivers lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rivers wants to break free but McVirus has control.
Rivers is trying to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivers prevents the takedown attempt.
McVirus changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Rivers fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Rivers tries to clinch there but McVirus circles away.
Rivers swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Rivers looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Rivers is breathing heavily.
Rivers is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McVirus manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Rivers tries to lock up and control but McVirus gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rivers is squirming around, avoiding McVirus's attempts to control the action.
McVirus thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

McVirus jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Rivers is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Rivers and McVirus has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Rivers holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McVirus misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Rivers isn't going anywhere.
Rivers is looking for a sweep.
McVirus really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rivers. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rivers sneaks back into half guard.
Rivers controlling the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McVirus seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Rivers does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Rivers kicks McVirus off and gets back to his feet.
McVirus gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Rivers counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in McVirus's guard now.
Aiden Rivers has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of PoofterCards McVirus.
Rivers forces his way into half guard.
Rivers thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McVirus is trying to stand up here but Rivers is controlling him well.
Rivers thows a huge punch but McVirus dodges it nicely.
McVirus keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Rivers passes to side control.
Rivers moves into full mount!
Rivers scoring with strikes but McVirus is staying in there.
Rivers controlling from the full mount.
Rivers has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aiden Rivers 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.

McVirus misses with a takedown

and Rivers counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Rivers is stalling in the full guard.
Rivers working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Rivers gets to his feet - McVirus follows without any prompting.
Rivers fakes high and swings low for a body shot but McVirus manages to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McVirus has his takedown stuffed

and Rivers counters with a single leg into guard. McVirus didn't expect that.
McVirus utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
McVirus looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rivers pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. McVirus is keeping the position for now.
Rivers 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.
McVirus trying to keep a closed guard but Rivers is proving a slippery customer.
Rivers stopping the sweep attempt from McVirus.

Rivers stands and steps away. McVirus gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rivers scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Rivers has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for McVirus!
Rivers avoids the attempt from McVirus to control.
Rivers 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.
Rivers looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
McVirus really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Rivers tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Rivers 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.
Aiden Rivers overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rivers moves to take his opponent's back.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Rivers controlling well, preventing McVirus from escaping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivers controls the action.
McVirus wants to get back to his feet.
Rivers has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of McVirus's body.
McVirus trying to control the hands but Rivers breaks the grip.
McVirus covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Rivers missing with strikes from the back.
McVirus has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Rivers.
Rivers punches the canvas rather than the man.

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.
Rivers keeps control of the position easily here as McVirus tries to buck him off.
Rivers keeps control of the position as McVirus tries to break free.
Rivers misses with a punch to the head.
Rivers is throwing strikes by McVirus counters by rolling into a better position. After a scramble, McVirus regains half guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
The fight stays on the outside here - Rivers looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rivers looks to land a combination but McVirus avoids it well.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Rivers.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Rivers stands up and beckons McVirus to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aiden Rivers dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Rivers with a lazy takedown attempt
and McVirus counters with a body kick.
McVirus moves in looking to clinch but Rivers pushes him off.
Rivers throws an off balance right hand
and McVirus counters with a head kick. That will keep Rivers thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
McVirus circles away from the clinch attempt
and McVirus counters with a stiff right hand.
McVirus tries for a takedown but Rivers circles away easily

and Rivers counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
McVirus tries to get to full guard but Rivers has control of the leg.
Rivers is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Rivers's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
McVirus keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivers looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Rivers wants to pass to mount but McVirus is defending the position.

Rivers stands up out of the half guard.

Rivers shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Rivers showed some decent athleticism there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rivers trying to mount his opponent but McVirus defends it.
Rivers stalling.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McVirus is trying to maintain the position but Rivers is very close to passing his half guard.
McVirus is trying to keep from getting into a worse position than he's already in but McVirus is working away and isn't letting himself get tied up.
McVirus is looking to escape.

Rivers stands up from half guard.

Rivers closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Rivers content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Rivers uses his free foot to push down on McVirus's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for McVirus.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivers lands a nice shot to the head.
Rivers thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
McVirus working to try and regain half guard.
Rivers tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
McVirus tries to reverse the position but Rivers maintains control.
McVirus is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Rivers tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant 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.
Rivers 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.
Rivers controlling from the full mount.
McVirus is desperately trying to improve his position but Rivers has a good base and remains in mount.
Rivers can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as McVirus is looking to escape.
McVirus holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Rivers tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Rivers punching from mount but McVirus doing a good job of avoiding damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aiden Rivers showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rivers, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Damien Edna scores the fight 30:26
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:26
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aiden Rivers!