PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mathias Astala (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Jones (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Astala comes to the cage accompanied by Turisas - Cursed Be Iron. Mathias Astala could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ricardo Jones's chin.

Astala
vs
Jones

196 cm
20
205 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

190 cm
19
210 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Attliction

Advantage XXX nutrition
Advantage XXX nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Mathias Astala!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Ricardo Jones!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Sam Margolis and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jones misses with a double jab.

Astala closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Astala seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Astala prevents Jones from improving his position.
Astala scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Jones tries to roll over but Astala keeps him under control.
Jones won't allow Astala to pass to mount.

Jones actively working from the bottom here.

Jones looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
It looks like Astala is going to stand back up.
Astala takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Astala stands up from half guard.
Ricardo Jones seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Astala tries to clinch up.
Astala tries to clinch up.
Jones fails to land with a series of punches.
Jones looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Jones tries to keep at a distance but Astala has taken the fight into the clinch.
Astala connects with a nasty looking knee right to Jones's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Astala manages to break the clinch.
Jones looks to land a combination but Astala avoids it well.

Astala scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Jones looks gassed!

Jones looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Jones is trying to get back to full guard.
Astala wants to get back to his feet.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Astala gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Astala closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Jones tries to pull guard but Astala won't allow it.
Astala taking a breather.
Astala with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Astala escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Astala fails in his attempt to clinch.
Jones misses with a few strikes there.

Astala scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Astala looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Jones with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Jones wants to get back to full guard but Astala has mounted him!
Astala prevents Jones from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Astala landing strikes, looking to finish!
Astala working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Astala fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Jones is in all sorts of trouble here.
A nice elbow there by Astala.
Astala lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Astala looking to control but Jones is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Astala lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Jones hang on?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mathias Astala dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A punch combination from Jones misses.

Astala closes the distance and clinches.
Astala lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Astala misses with a knee to the head.
Nice elbow from Astala.
Astala tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Astala breaks from the clinch.
Jones will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Jones fails to land with a series of punches.
Jones circles away from the clinch attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jones throws a series of punches but Astala moves out of range.

Astala has Jones up against the cage in a clinch.
Knees to the body from Astala.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Astala manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Astala.
Astala landing knees to the head.
Come on Astala - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Jones drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Astala pressing his opponent against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Mathias Astala.
Jones circles away from the clinch attempt.
Astala tries to clinch up.
Astala tries to clinch but Jones moves out of range.
Astala changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Jones tries to avoid it but Astala manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Jones to the ground. Jones escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Astala is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Jones rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Astala moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Astala showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Jones.
Astala tries to clinch up but Jones circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jones closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Mathias Astala is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Some wild striking there from Jones.

Astala rushes Jones and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Jones avoiding damage as Astala throws knees to the body.
Jones tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Astala just stands there and leans against the cage.
A bit of stalling here from Astala.
Jones fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Mathias Astala has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ricardo Jones.
Astala crunches a lovely knee into Jones's ribcage.

Jones manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Jones looking to hit a scissor sweep but Astala is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jones trying to control the position.

Jones is looking for a triangle but Astala pushes his legs off easily.

Jones has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Astala can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Jones working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Astala doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Astala manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Jones has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Astala can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Ricardo Jones will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Jones misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Astala tries to clinch up.
Jones fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Astala fails in his attempt to clinch.
Jones tries to clinch but Astala moves away

and Astala counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Knees to the body from Astala.
Astala connects with a knee to the head.
Jones fails to pull guard.
Jones takes an elbow to the temple.
Astala looking to throw knees to the head but Jones is blocking nicely.
Astala just leaning against Jones, taking a breather.
Knees in the clinch landing for Astala.
Astala trying to stall but Jones improves his position.
Astala with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jones blocks the elbow strike.
Astala trying to land knees to the body.

Jones jumps guard and drags Astala to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Jones tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Jones had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Astala is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Jones Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Astala's back instead.

Jones working for a choke but Astala is defending well.

Astala preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Jones.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Jones has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.

Jones is working hard for the rear naked choke here.

Jones is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Astala is trying to get back to his feet but Jones has full control of the position and if anything, Astala has just worked his way into a worse spot.

Jones working for the choke.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Astala rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Jones trying to control from Astala's half guard. Astala has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Jones wants to control from the top but Astala keeps moving.
Jones stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Astala swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Jones postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Astala is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Jones, into his guard.

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.

Astala gets to his feet - Jones follows without any prompting.
Jones scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Jones throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Astala counters by clinching up.
Astala tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Astala landing knees to the body.
Astala stalling against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Jones has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Astala is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Astala lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Astala with an attempt at a knee that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ricardo Jones comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Jones 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 James Atkins scores the fight for Mathias Astala!
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight for Mathias Astala!
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight for Mathias Astala!

Mathias Astala wins by unanimous decision!