PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mauricio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joon Joon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mauricio Rua looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Rua
vs
Joon

185 cm
27
275 lbs
6 - 10 - 0

225 cm
20
280 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mauricio Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joon Joon!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Vladimir Khabensky and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rua closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Rua lands in his opponent's guard.
Rua looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Rua wanted to stand there but Joon had control of the position.

Joon looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Joon has control of Rua's left arm, preventing Rua from doing any damage.

Joon looking for subs off his back but Rua has passed one foot through into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joon is trying to get back to full guard.
Joon is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Rua trying to control from half guard but Joon is working away.
Joon wants to improve his position but Rua is controlling well.
Rua missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Joon is looking to escape.

Rua seems to be working for a kimura but Joon defends the submission attempt.
Joon throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Joon tries to get to full guard but Rua has control of the leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Joon does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Rua winds up and cracks Joon with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Rua wants to lay and pray for a moment but Joon keeps working.
Joon is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Rua decides to stand up.

Rua clinches up with Joon and pushes him back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Joon jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Rua walks away with a smile on his face. Joon gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Rua shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Rua showed some decent athleticism there.
Joon is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rua scores with a couple of nice shots.
Joon regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Rua.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Joon wants to sweep here but Rua controlling him for the moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Joon escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Rua gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mauricio Rua 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.

Rua gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Joon jumps guard but Rua turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Joon pressing his opponent against the cage.

Rua successfully pulls guard.
Rua seems keen to control Joon's posture.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Rua wants to stand up but Joon is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rua looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Joon passes into side control.
Joon landing strikes.
Mauricio Rua overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Joon connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Rua some visible discomfort.
Rua stops Joon from passing to mount.
Joon taking a break here but Rua is having none of it and regains half guard.

Joon is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Rua is just riding it out for now. Joon eventually gives up the hold.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joon trying to advance position but Rua counters by regaining guard.
Joon trying to control but Rua is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joon is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Rua looking to control.
Rua tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Joon is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Joon Joon was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Joon takes a head kick and keeps coming.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Joon avoids it really well and circles away.
Joon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rua swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Rua closes the distance and clinches.
Joon tries to land knees in the clinch but Rua avoids the damage to the body.
Rua slowing the pace effectively.
Joon prevents a takedown attempt there.

Rua gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
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 Mauricio Rua will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back 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.

Joon avoids a punch combination nicely.
Horrible takedown by Rua or perhaps it was just good defense by Joon which made him look bad.

Joon throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Rua was covering up waiting for the punch and Joon finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Joon decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Rua, up you get!
Rua throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Joon's head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Joon shoots for a double leg takedown but Rua sprawls well. He's pushed Joon's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Rua scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joon is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Rua is controlling him well.
Joon regains half guard.
Rua tries to stand and escape but Joon is controlling the position.
Joon makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Joon.

Joon has his foot on Rua's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Rua works his way back into a safe position though.
Rua trying to control the position from guard on top but Joon is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rua showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joon is trying to control the position but Rua postures up.
Joon doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Joon looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Rua puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

Joon looking for subs from the bottom but Rua mounts him!
Joon is in all sorts of trouble here.
Rua content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua with shots to the head and body - Joon looks very uncomfortable down there.
Rua trying to control but Joon is having none of it.
Joon is wriggling around trying to escape.
Rua controlling from mount.
Joon is squirming around, avoiding Rua's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Rua.
Joon tries to reverse the position but Rua maintains control.
Rua looking to control but Joon is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Joon keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Joon Joon has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mauricio Rua is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

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 Mauricio Rua.
Well Rua 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:28
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mauricio Rua!