PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rick Flare (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Flare comes to the cage accompanied by Also Sprach Zarathustra. Thiago Alves will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Flare
vs
Alves

173 cm
24
180 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

180 cm
23
181 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good takedowns
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

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 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rick Flare!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Thiago Alves !
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Eliza Hachem and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Flare misses with a two punch combination.

Flare feints and as Alves raises his hands in defense, Flare changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Flare stands and throws Alves 's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Alves is looking for a sweep.
Alves is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Flare misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Flare 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.
Flare creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
You can see the frustration on Alves 's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Flare goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Alves rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Flare's guard! Nice work there by Alves !
Flare trying to keep a closed guard but Alves is proving a slippery customer.
Flare keeping moving, preventing Alves from controlling successfully.

Flare looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Alves avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Alves stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Flare swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Flare bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Alves 's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Alves keeping moving, preventing Flare from controlling successfully.
Flare throws and elbow that misses. Alves uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Flare's guard. Nice move by Alves !

Flare looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Alves must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Alves throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Flare looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Alves slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Flare avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Flare looking for a sweep. Not yet Flare, not yet.
Flare is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The fighters are battling for position here. Alves manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Flare stopping the sweep attempt from Alves .
Alves not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Alves wants to sweep here but Flare controlling him for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flare looking to pass the guard.
Alves working a defensive guard here.
Flare trying to control but Alves is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Alves looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Alves lands a nice short elbow.
Flare moves into full guard.
Alves throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Flare works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Flare looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Flare escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Alves gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Flare working for a triangle but Alves defends it easily.
Flare is breathing heavily.
Flare working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Alves .
Alves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Flare is keeping the position for now.
Alves is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Alves wants to control from the top but Flare keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rick Flare dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Alves uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Flare.
Nice uppercut there from Alves .
Alves with a poor takedown

and Flare counters with a nice double leg into side control. Alves won't be happy with that.
Flare slows the pace down.
Flare wants to control but Alves is keeping him busy.
Alves takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Alves tries to bench press Flare off him but Flare keeps the position.
Flare trying to control the position but Alves is working away.
Flare is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Alves will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Flare fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flare trying to control the position but Alves is working away.
Alves is trying to improve his position.
Flare working the ground and pound but Alves is defending the strikes.
Flare working the body and head with strikes.
Alves dodges the ground and pound from Flare.
Flare throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Alves sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Alves wants to improve his position but Flare is controlling well.
Flare thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Alves 's head.
Rick Flare overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Flare not doing much here.

That's two 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.
Flare takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Alves tries to roll over but Flare keeps him under control.
Alves on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Flare sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Alves defending well though.
Flare thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Alves 's head.
Alves flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Flare seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Flare is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Alves sees it coming and defends easily.
Alves is looking to improve his position.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Flare lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flare lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Flare working the head and body with strikes.
Alves wants to control but Flare is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Flare stalling away here and it's allowed Alves to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Alves manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Flare keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Flare sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Alves throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Flare actively working from the bottom here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Alves is keen to just control but Flare is a slippery customer.
Alves scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Flare is pressing down on Alves 's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Alves scoring with punches to the head and body.

Alves avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Alves throws a big right hand that misses.
Flare keeping moving, preventing Alves from controlling successfully.
Flare looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rick Flare 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!

Alves throws a good cross that connects.
Alves scores with a leg kick.
Some bone on bone action there as Flare checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Alves throws a combination that misses

and Flare counters with a nice double leg into side control. Alves won't be happy with that.
Flare tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Flare in side control lands a decent elbow.
Alves is looking for a sweep.
Flare working away.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Alves tries to bench press Flare off him but Flare keeps the position.
Alves dodges the ground and pound from Flare.

Flare looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Flare has knee on belly momentarily but Alves bucks him off and regains half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alves trying to control from the bottom.

Flare is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Alves tries to roll over but Flare keeps him under control.
Flare wants to pass the guard but Alves is defending well.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Alves gets the takedown into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves trying to control the action but Flare is working from the bottom.
Alves might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Flare kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Thiago Alves has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Flare wants to control but Alves postures up.
Flare manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Alves throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Flare wants to improve his position but Alves is controlling well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Alves lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Thiago Alves seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A punch combination from Alves misses.
Thiago Alves is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Alves has his takedown stuffed
and Flare counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Flare ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Rick Flare is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Flare slips a jab from Alves .
Flare misses with a takedown

so Alves counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Flare is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Flare trying to control the position here.
Flare utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Flare has control of Alves 's left arm, preventing Alves from doing any damage.
Alves looking to pass the guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Flare is on top in guard.

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 Rick Flare.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Flare, 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 Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rick Flare!