PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Carlos Rigo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stefanno Morrone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Rigo
vs
Morrone

175 cm
18
158 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
18
163 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Powerful

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Rigo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Stefanno Morrone!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Alexandre Firmino and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morrone wants to clinch.
Morrone tries to close the distance and clinch but Rigo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Rigo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Morrone tries to avoid it but Rigo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Morrone to the ground. Morrone escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Morrone is looking to clinch but Rigo is avoiding it.
Morrone tries to clinch up but Rigo circles away and keeps his distance.
Rigo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Morrone is fending him off so far but Rigo persists. Nope, Morrone circles away and we're back to standing.
Rigo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Rigo closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Rigo is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Morrone is just riding it out for now. Rigo eventually gives up the hold.
Still in half guard, Rigo seems content to control.
Rigo uses his free foot to push down on Morrone's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Morrone.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rigo is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Morrone to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Morrone shrugs it off.
Morrone gets back to half guard.
Morrone really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rigo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Well, if Rigo 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.

Rigo is working for a kimura but Morrone is defending it quite comfortably.
Rigo is controlling the pace.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morrone wants to get back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rigo perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Rigo is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Morrone defends it well.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rigo looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Carlos Rigo has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Morrone clinches up with Rigo and pushes him back against the cage.
Morrone unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Morrone is looking to control Rigo's arms but Rigo gets an underhook and turns him. Now Morrone has his back to the cage.
Morrone is stalling here.
Rigo is trying to pull guard but Morrone turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Carlos Rigo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rigo is breathing heavily.
Morrone lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morrone is pushing Rigo up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Morrone missing with knees to the body.
Morrone is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Rigo is trying to pull guard but Morrone turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morrone misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rigo.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Morrone.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Stefanno Morrone.
Morrone tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Morrone displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Rigo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Carlos Rigo will probably get the nod.
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.

Rigo keeps the fight on the outside.
Stefanno Morrone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morrone tries to clinch up but Rigo circles away and keeps his distance.
Morrone wants to clinch but Rigo slips to the side

and Rigo counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Morrone!
Rigo controls the position.

Rigo tries for a kimura but Morrone is defending well.
Morrone is looking for a sweep.

Rigo is trying to get an arm triangle but Morrone is defending well.
Morrone wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rigo slows the pace down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrone wants to control but Rigo postures up.
You can see the frustration on Morrone's face as Rigo controls the position.
Rigo's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Morrone wants to control but Rigo postures up.
Morrone is looking to regain half guard here but Rigo keeps moving and retains side control.
Carlos Rigo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Rigo slips a straight right by Morrone.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rigo closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Rigo lands in his opponent's guard.
Rigo is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Rigo stops Morrone from standing up.
Rigo not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Morrone is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Rigo passes easily into side control. Nice work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A lull in the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rigo working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Morrone prevents Rigo from improving position.

Rigo working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
You can see the frustration on Morrone's face as Rigo controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morrone is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Morrone is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Rigo trying to control the action but Morrone is working from the bottom.
Morrone is trying to control Rigo's posture but Rigo avoids it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Morrone is looking for a sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlos Rigo dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Morrone tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rigo paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Morrone clinches up against the cage.
Morrone is looking to control Rigo's arms but Rigo gets an underhook and turns him. Now Morrone has his back to the cage.
Rigo avoiding damage as Morrone throws knees to the body.
Rigo has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Morrone is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Morrone is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Morrone seems frustrated at his inability to get double underhooks.
Rigo tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Morrone smiles and moves away.
Rigo throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Morrone's waist but Morrone gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Rigo off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Carlos Rigo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morrone looks to clinch

and Rigo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Rigo.
Rigo slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Rigo loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Morrone wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Rigo is now in half guard.
Morrone misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Rigo controlling the action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morrone scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Rigo manages to mount him!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Rigo has hold of Morrone's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Morrone manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Rigo controlling from the full mount.
Morrone working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rigo looking to isolate an arm here. Morrone doesn't see it coming and as Rigo extends the arm, he's forced to tap out! Nice submission by Rigo!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Carlos Rigo!