PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Lester Matthews (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ronaldo Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lester Matthews has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Matthews
vs
Garcia

193 cm
24
194 lbs
0 - 5 - 0

170 cm
25
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lester Matthews!
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, Ronaldo Garcia!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Alexandre Firmino and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Garcia wants to clinch but Matthews slips to the side

and Matthews counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Matthews displaying some good clinch control by pressing Garcia up against the cage.
Garcia jumps guard but Matthews turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Matthews breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Matthews closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Garcia is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Matthews is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Matthews sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Matthews is looking to stand but Matthews has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Garcia working to try and regain half guard.
Matthews controlling from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Matthews has hold of Garcia's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Garcia manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Matthews trying to control but Garcia is having none of it.
Garcia is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Garcia is still trying to improve position.
Matthews looking to control and managing it successfully.
Matthews will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Garcia working to try and regain half guard.
Garcia is trying to reverse the position but instead Matthews has taken his back - oops!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia tries to roll but Matthews sticks to his back.
Matthews is throwing strikes by Garcia counters by rolling into a better position. After a scramble, Garcia regains half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Garcia tries to roll over but Matthews keeps him under control.
Matthews is trying to control. Garcia wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Garcia is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Matthews's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Matthews's back!
Matthews is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matthews can't escape the position.
Matthews wants to control his opponent's hands but Garcia gets his hands free.
Garcia trying to control.
Garcia has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Matthews's body.
Matthews trying to get back to his feet but Garcia is in full control for now.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Garcia is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Matthews has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Matthews tries to escape the position.
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 Lester Matthews will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Garcia looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Matthews is fending him off so far but Garcia persists. Nope, Matthews circles away and we're back to standing.

Matthews drives through with a takedown into guard.
Garcia manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Garcia is looking to work his way around to Matthews's back. He needs to be careful though, as he's in danger of losing this dominant position.
Matthews is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Garcia controlling his opponent.
Matthews is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Matthews is looking to escape.
Garcia tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Matthews wants to control but Garcia is having none of it.
Garcia trying to control but he's not successful this time.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ronaldo Garcia has got the better of the ground game so far.
Garcia tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ronaldo Garcia hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Matthews connects with a looping right hand.

Garcia tries to sprawl but Matthews drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Matthews seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Matthews looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Garcia moves into full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia being controlled here, momentarily.
Matthews trying to control the position from guard on top but Garcia is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Lester Matthews.
Matthews lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Garcia tries to keep at a distance but Matthews has taken the fight into the clinch.
Matthews landing some nice looking knees to the body.

Matthews's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Matthews feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Matthews tries to free his leg and advance position but Garcia is retaining full guard.

Garcia is looking for a triangle but Matthews pushes his legs off easily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Matthews postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lester Matthews dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Matthews throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Garcia tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Matthews is in Garcia's guard.

Garcia is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Matthews is aware though and is defending well.
Matthews is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Garcia working a defensive guard here.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Matthews stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Garcia swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Lester Matthews just wasn't active enough.
Garcia fails with a takedown attempt.
Garcia shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Matthews counters with a left and a right that stings Garcia.
Garcia avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Matthews.
Garcia takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Matthews manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Garcia on his heels. He'll look to pass Garcia's guard now, I'm sure.
Matthews pushing down on Garcia's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Matthews knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Garcia on the ground.
Garcia is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia trying to control here.
Garcia won't allow Matthews to pass to mount.
Garcia is trying to control but can't.
Matthews content to control rather than advance.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Garcia is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Lester Matthews wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Garcia takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Matthews tries to clinch there but Garcia circles away.
Matthews is looking to clinch.

Garcia darts in and clinches Matthews up against the cage.

Matthews jumps guard.
Garcia being controlled here momentarily.
Matthews wants to sweep but no luck.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia passes Matthews's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Garcia works his way into full mount!
Matthews is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Ronaldo Garcia has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Garcia wants to control the pace but Matthews is squirming around nicely.
Matthews can't escape the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Garcia is in the full mount, landing strikes.

Garcia has hold of Matthews's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Matthews manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Lester Matthews is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Garcia working some short elbows here. He postures up to throw some more ground and pound but Matthews slips a leg through to get back to half guard. Nice work.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lester Matthews showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Matthews 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lester Matthews!