PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alex Escobedo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cain Vitali (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Escobedo comes to the cage accompanied by EL PECADOR. Vitali has chosen Cain's entrance theme as his entrance music. Alex Escobedo has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Escobedo
vs
Vitali

180 cm
22
197 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

187 cm
25
185 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Alex Escobedo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Cain Vitali!
The judges for this bout are Matheus Silva, Edson Gomes and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vitali lands a leg kick that knocks Escobedo off balance momentarily.

Escobedo clinches up with Vitali and pushes him back against the cage.
Vitali looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Vitali wants to break free but Escobedo has control.
Escobedo tries to pull guard but Vitali holds him up against the cage and eventually Escobedo drops back down to his feet.
Vitali wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Vitali pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Vitali misses with a combination
and Escobedo counters with a solid body kick.
Vitali misses with a series of wild punches.
Vitali gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Escobedo counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Vitali tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Escobedo counters with a nice body shot.
Escobedo takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Escobedo shoots in for a double leg but Vitali sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Escobedo dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Vitali. That did some damage!
Escobedo throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vitali displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Escobedo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Escobedo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Escobedo fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Vitali.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobedo fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Escobedo looks to score with a jab to the body but Vitali is just out of range.
Escobedo throws a body kick that misses.
A looping hook to the body misses from Escobedo. Vitali does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vitali misses with a takedown
and Escobedo counters with a nice low kick that buckles Vitali's knee momentarily.
Vitali looks gassed!
A slapping leg kick lands for Escobedo.
Escobedo shoots in for a takedown but Vitali shows good takedown defense.
Escobedo closes the distance and clinches up with Vitali, looking for a takedown. Escobedo pushes Vitali against the cage but Vitali circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A left and a right from Vitali both land. Nice combination.
Some wild striking there from Vitali.
Escobedo wants to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vitali checks a leg kick.
Escobedo fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Vitali gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Escobedo counters with a nice body kick.
Escobedo thows a left - swing and a miss!
A slapping leg kick lands for Escobedo.
Vitali with a lazy takedown attempt
and Escobedo counters with a leg kick.
Vitali looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Vitali takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Escobedo lands a nice shot to the body.
Escobedo is looking to land body kicks.
Escobedo connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobedo smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Escobedo delivers a nice body kick.
Escobedo's jab looks to have found its range, popping Vitali under the eye.
Escobedo is looking to slow Vitali down with leg kicks.
Escobedo thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Vitali if he has to take too many more of those.
Escobedo scores with a head kick. Vitali tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Escobedo fails with an attempt to clinch.
Nice body kick there by Escobedo.
Escobedo misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Escobedo fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Escobedo with a nice cross.
Vitali takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Cain Vitali seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Escobedo shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Escobedo with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Escobedo lands a nice looking body kick.

Escobedo scores with a takedown into Vitali's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Escobedo trying to control the position from guard on top but Vitali is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Escobedo controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Vitali keeping moving, preventing Escobedo from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Escobedo dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Vitali misses with a series of wild punches.
Vitali takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Vitali's jab looks to have found its range, popping Escobedo under the eye.
Vitali attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Alex Escobedo is winning the standup battle so far.
Vitali throws a lazy head kick

and Escobedo counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Vitali!

Escobedo is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Vitali to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Vitali shrugs it off.
Vitali's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Vitali is breathing heavily.
Escobedo wants to control the pace but Vitali is squirming around nicely.

Escobedo wants to finish this one by submission but Vitali is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Escobedo.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Escobedo working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Escobedo looking to control but Vitali is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Escobedo working for a submission but Vitali is keeping him at bay.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Escobedo jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Vitali is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Vitali and Escobedo has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Vitali is not content to let Escobedo control the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Vitali can do anything to dispel that myth.

Escobedo wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Vitali, who protects the arm well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobedo controls the position.
Escobedo trying to control the position but Vitali is working away.

Escobedo tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Escobedo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Escobedo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Vitali really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Escobedo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

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.

Escobedo is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Vitali knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Escobedo is looking to take a break and control but Vitali is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Escobedo dominated that second round.
That's time! Escobedo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Vitali has his takedown stuffed

and Escobedo moves into the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Escobedo takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Vitali is looking to break free of the clinch but Escobedo has double underhooks.
Escobedo landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Escobedo throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Escobedo misses with a hook to the ribs.
Vitali looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Escobedo.
Escobedo jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Vitali walks away with a smile on his face. Escobedo gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Escobedo fails to land the takedown.
Escobedo fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Escobedo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Vitali fails with a takedown attempt.
A slapping body kick lands there for Escobedo.
Vitali takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobedo throws a sloppy head kick and Vitali moves out of range easily.
A slapping leg kick lands for Escobedo.
Vitali shoots and misses

and Escobedo counters with a single leg into guard. Vitali didn't expect that.
Escobedo trying to control but Vitali is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Escobedo slips nicely into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Escobedo is trying to control the action in half guard but Vitali is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

Escobedo looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Escobedo looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Alex Escobedo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Escobedo seems to be looking for submissions.
Escobedo is looking to take a break and control but Vitali is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Escobedo is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Cain Vitali has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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.
Vitali is refusing to be controlled, as Escobedo sits in half guard.

Escobedo seems to be working for a kimura but Vitali defends the submission attempt.
Vitali is not content to let Escobedo control the position.
Escobedo is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Vitali is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Escobedo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Escobedo 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 Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Escobedo!