PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Choi Siwon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Cicero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cicero has chosen Woke Up This Morning as his entrance music. This should be fireworks!

Siwon
vs
Cicero

179 cm
27
157 lbs
6 - 8 - 0

162 cm
28
158 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Good kicks
Powerful

XTREME PWNAGE: Down Under!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Choi Siwon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Paul Cicero!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, John Mangel and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Siwon avoids the body shot from Cicero.
Cicero with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Cicero slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Siwon on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Siwon tries to clinch up
and Cicero counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Siwon moves out of range of the body kick.
Cicero looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Cicero, right into the meat.
Cicero throws a leg kick but Siwon checks it.
Cicero works Siwon's body with a nice hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Cicero misses the target.
A big right from Cicero misses.
Siwon tries to clinch but Cicero moves away
and Cicero counters with a slapping leg kick.
Siwon shoots and misses
and Cicero makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Nice defenses there by Siwon.

Siwon closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Cicero quickly recovers to half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Cicero is holding on to half guard well.

Siwon is looking for a kimura here.

Cicero actively working from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cicero is looking to control Siwon's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Cicero avoid being mounted?
Siwon trying to control from half guard but Cicero is working away.
Siwon will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Cicero has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Siwon is working away from the top position though.
Siwon wants to advance to full mount but Cicero doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Siwon passes Cicero's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siwon lands strikes from half guard.
Cicero is holding on to half guard well.
Cicero tries to get to full guard but Siwon has control of the leg.
Siwon sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Cicero defending well though.
Cicero trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Cicero is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Siwon tries to control but Cicero wriggling away.

Siwon is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Cicero has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Cicero!
Cicero trying to control but Siwon is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cicero postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Siwon is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Cicero, into his guard.
Siwon wants to control from the top but Cicero keeps moving.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Siwon looking to sit in guard and control but Cicero gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Cicero 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.

Good leg kick by Cicero there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Cicero misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Siwon counters with a nice uppercut.
Siwon avoids the body shot from Cicero.
Cicero scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Siwon blocks a head kick by Cicero.
Cicero keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Siwon sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Cicero moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Siwon takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Good work by Siwon as he checks the leg kick.
Siwon on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Cicero. Cicero obviously looking to wear him down.
Cicero misses with a low kick.
Siwon is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cicero. Siwon does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cicero throws an off balance right hand
and Siwon counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Siwon tries to clinch up.
Cicero throws a front kick aimed at Siwon's knee but Siwon avoids it well.
Siwon takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cicero connects with a right hand. Siwon shakes it off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Siwon shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Cicero pinned against the ropes. Cicero gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Siwon misses with a takedown attempt
and Cicero counters with a good low kick that Siwon was not able to check.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cicero. Siwon does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cicero keeps the fight on the outside.
Cicero scores with a jab to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Cicero.
Siwon tries to clinch
and Cicero counters with a nice uppercut.
Siwon fails with the takedown
and Cicero counters with a slapping leg kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Choi Siwon. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siwon takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Cicero throws a right hand that misses

and Siwon counters with a takedown into side control.
Cicero tries to bench press Siwon off him but Siwon keeps the position.
Cicero gets back to half guard.

Siwon is looking for a kimura here.

Cicero has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Siwon escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Siwon!
Siwon scoring with punches and elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Siwon is looking to take a break and control but Cicero is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cicero manages to get back to half guard.
Siwon slows the pace down in half guard.

Cicero is defending against the submission attempts here by Siwon.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cicero is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Cicero showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring 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.

Siwon chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Cicero can pounce on him.
Cicero defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Siwon.
Siwon on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Siwon checks the leg kick nicely there.
Paul Cicero seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Siwon checks a leg kick.
Cicero looks to score with a jab to the body but Siwon is just out of range.
Donk. Siwon catches Cicero right on the button with a cross.
Siwon takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Siwon misses with a takedown
and Cicero counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cicero smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Cicero throws a looping overhand right but Siwon ducks down to avoid it.
Siwon keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cicero throws a low kick but Siwon moves out of range easily.
Cicero misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Siwon.
Cicero fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Siwon manages to avoid it.
Cicero thows a body shot but no joy.
A good leg kick by Cicero.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cicero misses with a low kick.
Siwon doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Siwon takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Choi Siwon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cicero. Siwon does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cicero looks to score with a jab to the body but Siwon is just out of range.
Cicero swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Siwon misses with a takedown attempt
and Cicero counters with a nice low kick that buckles Siwon's knee momentarily.
Siwon takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Siwon fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cicero throws a solid leg kick but Siwon takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Cicero.
Siwon shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Cicero sprawls well. Cicero wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Siwon gets slowly back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Siwon thows a body shot but no joy.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Cicero, right into the meat.
Cicero throws out a loose jab but Siwon uses good head movement to avoid it.
Paul Cicero is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Siwon with a poor takedown
and Cicero counters with a body kick.
Cicero misses with an uppercut. Siwon saw that one coming.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Siwon doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Nice shot by Cicero.
Cicero scores with the left hand. Siwon knows he should have avoided that one.
Cicero misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nice sprawl there from Cicero as Siwon shoots in.
Choi Siwon has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cicero connects with an inside leg kick.
Siwon fails with a takedown attempt.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Siwon takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paul Cicero comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Cicero winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Eliza Hachem scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paul Cicero!