PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Miguel Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Clifton Barnes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Alvarez might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Bone Crusher - I Never Scared. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Alvarez
vs
Barnes

180 cm
23
178 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

182 cm
20
180 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Firebird Designs

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Miguel Alvarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Clifton Barnes!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Barnes clinches.
Barnes scores a nice knee to the body.
Barnes has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Alvarez avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Barnes lands a knee to the head.
Barnes connects with a nasty looking knee right to Alvarez's face.

It looks like Miguel Alvarez has been cut.

Barnes has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Alvarez regains guard immediately.
Barnes showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Alvarez controls Barnes momentarily but Barnes frees himself.
Barnes sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Alvarez looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Barnes has picked Alvarez up and slammed him! Alvarez can't keep hold of the triangle and Barnes manages to pass to side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alvarez is not content to let Barnes control the position.
Alvarez tries to buck Barnes off but Barnes is having none of it.
Barnes working away.
A lull in the action here as Barnes stalls from top position.
Alvarez is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Barnes has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Barnes controls the position.
Alvarez regains half guard.
Alvarez is trying to stand back up but Barnes is controlling him

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Barnes trying to control the pace.

Despite being in the dominant position, Clifton Barnes just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Barnes clinches up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Barnes.
Barnes lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Barnes with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Barnes has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Alvarez avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Miguel Alvarez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Clifton Barnes.
Stalling in the clinch from Barnes.
Barnes landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Alvarez jumps guard but Barnes stands there with Alvarez around his waist. Alvarez gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Alvarez tries to pull guard but Barnes won't allow it.

Barnes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Barnes lands a nice looking body kick.
Alvarez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Barnes is fending him off so far but Alvarez persists. Nope, Barnes circles away and we're back to standing.
Alvarez is breathing heavily.

Barnes shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Alvarez's guard.
Barnes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Alvarez is looking to stand back up but Barnes counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Alvarez.
Barnes cracks Alvarez with a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is staying tight to Alvarez's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Barnes moves into full mount!
Alvarez is in a horrible position here. Barnes smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Alvarez is looking to get to half guard.
Barnes controlling from mount.
Barnes is landing with some decent strikes but Alvarez is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Clifton Barnes dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Miguel Alvarez's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Barnes changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Alvarez looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Alvarez tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Barnes presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Alvarez tries to reverse the position but Barnes maintains control.
Barnes looking to finish Alvarez with some ground and pound. This is bad for Alvarez!
Barnes controlling from mount.
Barnes postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Alvarez looks a forlorn figure.
Barnes controlling from the full mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes lands a big shot there that rocks Alvarez but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Barnes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Let's hope that Barnes has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Alvarez really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Barnes controlling from mount.
Alvarez wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Barnes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, Clifton Barnes just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Alvarez fails with the takedown
and Barnes counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Alvarez is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Alvarez throws a nice looking combination but Barnes bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Barnes takes the fight into the clinch.
Barnes with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Barnes turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Barnes manages to end up in side control.
Barnes just content to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez tries to improve position but can't.
Barnes moves into full mount!
Alvarez throwing hammer fists to the chest of Barnes. What's that going to do exactly?
Alvarez is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Barnes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Clifton Barnes showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Miguel Alvarez's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Barnes throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Alvarez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Barnes makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Alvarez really felt that one!

Barnes shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Barnes is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Alvarez isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Barnes stacks Alvarez on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Barnes!
Alvarez is looking to regain half guard here but Barnes keeps moving and retains side control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Barnes content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Barnes working the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes taking a breather here.
Clifton Barnes has got the better of the ground game so far.

Despite being in the dominant position, Clifton Barnes just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Alvarez misses with a takedown

and Barnes counters by moving into the clinch.
Barnes is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Alvarez gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Barnes has picked Alvarez up - he's going for a ride! Barnes dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Alvarez on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Alvarez is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Barnes scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Alvarez is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Well, if Barnes is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Barnes lands with a punch from half guard.
Miguel Alvarez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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.
Barnes perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Alvarez looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Alvarez is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Barnes trying to control the pace.

Despite being in the dominant position, Clifton Barnes just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Barnes clinches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Clifton Barnes comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Barnes has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Clifton Barnes!