PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jack Ass (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Carlos Rivera (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rivera has chosen Your Hand in Mine as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Ass
vs
Rivera

180 cm
27
196 lbs
15 - 5 - 1

190 cm
27
197 lbs
20 - 9 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Reaper Combatwear
Rebel Pride Clothing. (Death Before Dishonor) $8 S

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 15 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Jack Ass!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Carlos Rivera!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Anni Minnemäki and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rivera jabs Ass to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Rivera changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ass tries to avoid it but Rivera manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ass to the ground. Ass escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Ass misses the shot to the body.
Ass throws a head kick but Rivera moves out of range.
Ass shoots and misses
and Rivera counters with a leg kick.
Ass misses with a double jab.
Rivera lands with a straight right. Ass didn't see that one coming.
Rivera with a jab.

Ass has taken the fight to the clinch.
Ass makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ass tries for a takedown. No joy.
A right handed body shot lands from Ass.
Rivera wants to break free but Ass has control.
Rivera is trying to break the clinch but Ass is controlling him.
Rivera can't find room to land a body shot as Ass controls the action.

Rivera's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Jack Ass seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ass tries for a takedown but Rivera sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jack Ass. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ass throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Rivera.
Rivera defending well as Ass loads up on a big left hand.
Ass swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ass scores with a jab to the body.
Rivera tries to close the distance and clinch but Ass swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Ass shoots in looking for a takedown but Rivera manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Ass's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Ass throws a lazy uppercut

and Rivera decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Ass's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Ass keeping moving, preventing Rivera from controlling successfully.
Ass controlling the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rivera trying to control but Ass is working from the bottom.
Rivera stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ass swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rivera trying to control the position from guard on top but Ass is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Carlos Rivera has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Nice defenses there by Rivera.
Ass throws a lazy uppercut
and Rivera counters with a nice leg kick.
Ass fails with the takedown.
Ass shoots in and drives through. Rivera sprawls well.
Ass throws a series of punches but Rivera avoids them all with ease.
Ass fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Ass throws a lazy uppercut
and Rivera counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Ass throws a low kick but Rivera avoids it.
Nice takedown defense from Rivera. No joy for Ass on that attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ass is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
The fighters circling - Ass throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Ass swings widly with a right hand
and Rivera connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Rivera throws a head kick but Ass moves out of range.
Left hook, right uppercut from Ass.
Ass tries to clinch up.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Rivera is trying to push Ass away but Ass has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Ass lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

Rivera breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Ass scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Rivera doesn't seem bothered though.
Rivera leaves Ass with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ass gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Rivera.
Ass tries to clinch but Rivera is having none of it.
Ass dives in and grabs Rivera's left leg, looking for a takedown. Rivera pushes down on Ass's head and hops out.
Ass throws a combination that misses
and Rivera counters with a slapping leg kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ass throws a looping overhand right but Rivera ducks down to avoid it.
Ass misses with a body punch
enabling Rivera to counter with a crisp jab.
Rivera avoids the body shot from Ass.
Ass tries to close the distance and clinch but Rivera swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Some bone on bone action there as Ass checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Ass throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Ass takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ass misses with a double jab

and Rivera counters with a single leg into guard. Ass didn't expect that.
Rivera trying to control but Ass is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlos Rivera dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Rivera avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Ass looks to land a right hand but Rivera moved out of range.
Ass misses with a body shot.
Ass throws a sloppy head kick and Rivera moves out of range easily.
Ass is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Rivera's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Ass takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Rivera avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rivera has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Ass looks for a takedown but Rivera sprawls well.
Rivera blocks the body kick.
Ass lands an overhand right.
Ass throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Rivera sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Rivera tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Ass is able to avoid easily.
Rivera slaps away a takedown attempt from Ass, before circling back to the center of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivera misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ass scores with a jab to the head.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Ass.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jack Ass. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ass lands a nice looking body shot.
Ass tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Ass misses with a hook.
Rivera scores with a body shot.
Rivera slips a jab from Ass.
Ass tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Ass looks to score with a jab to the body but Rivera is just out of range.
Ass looks to land a body kick but Rivera moved away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rivera doesn't manage to clinch there - Ass circles away.
Ass throws a hook to the side of Rivera's head but Rivera sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Rivera slips a jab from Ass.
Ass swings widly with a right hand

and Rivera counters by clinching up.
Rivera blocking some punches.
Ass wants to take the fight to the mat but Rivera manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
A frustrated look appears on Rivera's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Rivera breaks the clinch.
Ass is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Rivera.
Ass throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Ass. Rivera does a little dance to reset his feet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rivera tries to close the distance and clinch but Ass swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Ass misses with a hook to the body
and Rivera counters with an outside leg kick.
Some wild striking there from Ass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rivera throws a jab when Ass was well out of range.
Ass fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Rivera connects with a nice looking jab.
Ass steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Rivera.
Ass swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Rivera wants to clinch.
Ass jabs Rivera right on the nose. Rivera blinks but takes it well.
Ass takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Ass lands the left hand.
Rivera lands a nice looking kick to the body. Ass takes a step back to recover.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ass throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Rivera fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Ass avoids it really well and circles away.
Some bone on bone action there as Rivera checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Rivera takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Rivera lands a head shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ass misses with a two punch combination.
Ass misses with a low kick as Rivera jumps back.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ass is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ass fails with the takedown.
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 Jack Ass will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Ass fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rivera fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
A cross from Rivera lands.
Ass wants to clinch.
Rivera dodges the punch combination from Ass.
Ass gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Rivera shoots in and drives through. Ass sprawls well.
Ass ducks under a wild hook from Rivera.
Ass dives in and grabs Rivera's left leg, looking for a takedown. Rivera pushes down on Ass's head and hops out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rivera showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ass.
Ass swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ass misses with a body shot.
Ass throws a lazy right hand but Rivera sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Ass throws a series of punches but Rivera avoids them all with ease.
Rivera misses with a body kick.
Rivera staying out of range there.
Ass ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Rivera moves away.
Ass connects with the punch.
Ass throws a hook but Rivera blocks it.
Rivera misses the shot to the body.
Ass lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Ass fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ass looks to land a right hand but Rivera moved out of range.

Ass feints and as Rivera raises his hands in defense, Ass changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rivera wants to control but Ass passes easily into half guard.

Rivera kicks Ass off and gets back to his feet.
Rivera ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ass throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Ass gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Rivera.
Rivera misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ass.
Rivera connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Rivera blocks the body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ass throws a right hand that Rivera ducks under and follows up with a left that Rivera also avoids with ease.
Ass shoots in and drives through. Rivera sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jack Ass. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ass shoots for a takedown but Rivera saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Ass shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Rivera as he avoids it easily.

Rivera clinches.
Rivera blocks a body shot from Ass.
Rivera blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Ass lands a body punch.
Ass throws a head punch that misses.
Ass tries to work over Rivera's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rivera tries to break free but Ass pushes him back against the cage.
Rivera looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Rivera breaks the clinch.
Rivera keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ass shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Rivera napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Rivera is trying to control Ass's posture but Ass avoids it.
Rivera manages to get back to half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rivera is trying to stand up here but Ass is controlling him well.

Rivera is defending against the submission attempts here by Ass.
Rivera tries to get to full guard but Ass has control of the leg.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rivera wants to control but Ass is keeping busy.

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 Jack Ass.
I think Ass has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:30

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Carlos Rivera!
Carlos Rivera seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.