PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Shalako Carlin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dominick Napolitano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Carlin
vs
Napolitano

178 cm
27
183 lbs
13 - 7 - 1

186 cm
26
184 lbs
14 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Fury Nutrition Inc.

KAISER Nutrition (160!/220$)

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 13 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Shalako Carlin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dominick Napolitano!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Napolitano lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Napolitano checks a leg kick.
Napolitano walks into a jab.
Carlin avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Napolitano tries to clinch up but Carlin circles away and keeps his distance.
Carlin tries to close the distance and clinch but Napolitano swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Carlin wants to clinch.

Napolitano has closed the distance and engaged Carlin in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carlin tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Napolitano avoids it.
Napolitano wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Napolitano wants to get back to striking at distance but Carlin won't allow it.
Carlin pushes off an throws an elbow but Napolitano leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Napolitano tries to circle away but Carlin has him pinned against the cage.
Napolitano wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Carlin has him pressed against the cage.
Carlin tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Napolitano avoids it.
Napolitano blocks an elbow strike from Carlin.

Carlin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Carlin throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Carlin takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Napolitano tries to clinch up but Carlin circles away and keeps his distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Napolitano circles away from the clinch attempt.
Napolitano avoids the head kick by Carlin.
Carlin has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Carlin throws a nice head kick!

It looks like Dominick Napolitano has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Napolitano is looking to clinch but Carlin is avoiding it.
Carlin throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Carlin throws a lazy head kick
and Napolitano counters with a body kick.
Carlin tries to score a power double leg takedown but Napolitano sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Carlin somewhat.
Carlin shoots in for a takedown but Napolitano shows good takedown defense.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carlin avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Carlin throws a head kick that misses.
Napolitano throws a leg kick that is checked

and Carlin counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Carlin is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Napolitano sees it coming and defends easily.
Carlin is looking to advance position but Napolitano won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Napolitano wants to get back to full guard.
Carlin looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Napolitano trying to control here.
Carlin looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Carlin seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Napolitano wants to control but Carlin is keeping busy.

Carlin is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Napolitano doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Carlin.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shalako Carlin dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Dominick Napolitano's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Napolitano wants to clinch.
Carlin is looking to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Napolitano throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Carlin's head.
Carlin goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Napolitano clinches up with Carlin and pushes him back against the cage.
Carlin is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Napolitano is defending well for now.
Carlin has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Napolitano is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Carlin trying to land knees to the body.
Carlin with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Carlin throws an elbow but it misses.
Carlin throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Carlin tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Napolitano avoids it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Napolitano managing to block the knees to the body from Carlin.
Napolitano content to slow the pace in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carlin misses with a knee strike.
Napolitano gets underhooks to prevent Carlin's takedown attempt.
Carlin misses with the head strike.
Carlin misses with an elbow strike.
Carlin pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Napolitano looking to stall.
Napolitano on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Napolitano breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Shalako Carlin is winning the standup battle so far.
A looping hook to the body misses from Carlin. Napolitano does a little dance to reset his feet.
Napolitano tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Napolitano tries to close the distance and clinch up but Carlin swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carlin fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shalako Carlin. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Carlin shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Napolitano manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Carlin wanted to stand there but Napolitano had control of the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Carlin trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Carlin postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carlin wants to control from the top but Napolitano keeps moving.
Carlin trying to stand up but can't free himself from Napolitano's guard.
Napolitano striking off his back, scoring a few points.
Napolitano has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Carlin pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Napolitano is keeping the position for now.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Carlin trying to control the position from guard on top but Napolitano is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shalako Carlin dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Dominick Napolitano's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. 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.

Carlin misses with a wild body shot.
Carlin takes a swing at Napolitano's ribcage but misses.
Carlin darts in trying to clinch
and Napolitano counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Carlin is lucky that one didn't land flush.

It looks like Shalako Carlin has been cut.

Carlin has closed the distance and engaged Napolitano in a clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Carlin unloads a knee to the mid-section.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carlin misses with an elbow over the top.
Carlin misses with a punch to the body.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Carlin just misses with a elbow thrown towards Napolitano's brow.
Napolitano wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Carlin.

Carlin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Napolitano thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Carlin if he has to take too many more of those.
A looping hook to the body misses from Carlin. Napolitano does a little dance to reset his feet.
Carlin moves in looking to clinch but Napolitano pushes him off.
Napolitano does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Napolitano tries to close the distance and clinch but Carlin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Napolitano pushes Carlin up against the cage in a clinch.
Carlin looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Carlin misses with an elbow strike.
Carlin has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Napolitano is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Carlin's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Napolitano tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Carlin manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Carlin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Napolitano was well out of range. Poor timing from Carlin.
Napolitano tries to clinch there but Carlin circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Napolitano tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Carlin paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Carlin wants to clinch.
Dominick Napolitano has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Napolitano tries to close the distance and clinch but Carlin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Dominick Napolitano is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Carlin throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Napolitano's waist but Napolitano gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Carlin off to one side.

Napolitano gets caught napping as Carlin dives in and scores a takedown. Napolitano manages to retain guard.
Carlin wanted to stand there but Napolitano had control of the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carlin wants to control from the top but Napolitano keeps moving.
Napolitano is controlling Carlin's posture.
Napolitano is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Shalako Carlin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Carlin is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Carlin regains full guard. Nicely done.

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 Shalako Carlin.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Carlin, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shalako Carlin!
An out of breath Shalako Carlin thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.