PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Christian Rudolph (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Robbie Brawler (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brawler comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Nelly - E.I. kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Brawler has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Rudolph
vs
Brawler

190 cm
25
210 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

194 cm
26
220 lbs
10 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Christian Rudolph!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Robbie Brawler!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Jorge Garcia and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Brawler as Rudolph shoots in.
Brawler looks for a takedown but Rudolph sprawls well.

Rudolph looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Rudolph is looking to take a break and control but Brawler is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rudolph throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rudolph throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rudolph trying to control from Brawler's half guard. Brawler has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Rudolph wants to control from the top but Brawler keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rudolph postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rudolph tries to free his leg and advance position but Brawler is retaining full guard.
Rudolph passes Brawler's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Rudolph looks to land a strike but Brawler avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Rudolph wants to pass the guard but Brawler is keeping the position.
Rudolph seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Rudolph loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph trying to control the position from guard on top but Brawler is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Brawler is looking to stand up but Rudolph isn't so interested in that idea.
Brawler utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rudolph throwing strikes from guard but Brawler blocks nicely.
Rudolph is looking to work some ground and pound but Brawler has wrist control.
Brawler utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rudolph is looking to work some ground and pound but Brawler has wrist control.
Rudolph trying to control but Brawler is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph wants to pass the guard but Brawler is keeping the position.
Rudolph trying to control but Brawler is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

We're going to have a standup here because Christian Rudolph wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Rudolph looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Brawler is fending him off so far but Rudolph persists. Nope, Brawler circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Brawler, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Brawler looks gassed!
Nice sprawl there from Rudolph as Brawler shoots in.
Rudolph shoots for a double leg takedown but Brawler sprawls well. He's pushed Rudolph's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Christian Rudolph. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Brawler stuffs the takedown.
Brawler throws a hook to the side of Rudolph's head but Rudolph sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Brawler.
Brawler throws a hook but Rudolph avoids it easily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Rudolph darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Rudolph sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Brawler defending well though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Christian Rudolph dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Rudolph shoots in for a takedown but Brawler shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Brawler throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Rudolph's waist but Rudolph gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Brawler off to one side.

Rudolph shoots in and bounces Brawler off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Rudolph throwing strikes from guard but Brawler blocks nicely.
Rudolph looking to sit in guard and control but Brawler gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Rudolph wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Christian Rudolph overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Brawler is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rudolph looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rudolph has a closed guard, preventing Brawler from standing up.
Rudolph is trying to keep Brawler in close.
Brawler wants to stand and escape but instead Rudolph has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Rudolph has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Rudolph accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Rudolph trying to control but Brawler is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rudolph's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rudolph pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Brawler is keeping the position for now.
Brawler keeping moving, preventing Rudolph from controlling successfully.
Rudolph throwing strikes but missing.
Brawler working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rudolph.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph throws an elbow that misses. Brawler uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rudolph's guard. Nice move by Brawler!
Rudolph is controlling Brawler's posture.
Rudolph controls Brawler momentarily but Brawler frees himself.
Rudolph seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Brawler thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Brawler wants to stand but Rudolph is controlling his posture from full guard.

Brawler drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Brawler jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Brawler trying to control but Rudolph is working from the bottom.
Rudolph tries to land a sweep but no joy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Christian Rudolph dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Horrible takedown by Rudolph or perhaps it was just good defense by Brawler which made him look bad.
Brawler misses with a series of wild punches.
Brawler ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Rudolph shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Rudolph throws an elbow that misses. Brawler uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rudolph's guard. Nice move by Brawler!
Rudolph has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Brawler takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Brawler won't allow Rudolph to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brawler would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Brawler wants to work for an arm triangle but Rudolph is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Brawler sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rudolph defending well though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph wants to get back to full guard.
Rudolph is looking to get back to full guard here but Brawler has managed to pass to side control instead.

Brawler is trying to get an arm triangle but Rudolph is defending well.
Brawler wants to control but Rudolph is keeping him busy.
Brawler working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Brawler decides to stand up, so the ref orders Rudolph to his feet.
Brawler shoots in for a double leg but Rudolph sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Robbie Brawler seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Rudolph shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Rudolph knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Brawler on the ground.
Rudolph controlling the pace for now.
Rudolph throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rudolph looking to finish Brawler with some ground and pound. This is bad for Brawler!
Rudolph breaks from Brawler's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Rudolph breaks from Brawler's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Brawler avoids a series of strikes thrown by Rudolph.
Rudolph can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Brawler is looking to escape.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rudolph misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

And that's the end of the fight!
Christian Rudolph showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Rudolph 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 John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Christian Rudolph!